How did they do it?

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Sprout

Sous Chef
Joined
Sep 5, 2010
Messages
557
Location
Usa, Michigan
I ordered something the other night at a sushi restaurant called "The Magic Ball"
It mainly consisted of of spicy tuna or salmon (I can't recall) wrapped in avocado slices. The top was then slit in an x, opened, and it was topped with flying fish roe and crispy tempura bits. It was served over a sweet syrupy sauce, garnished with wasabi, pickled ginger, and seaweed salad. It was absolutely delicious, and has confounded me for days.

How did they manage to completely wrap a ball of minced fish with avocado? The consistency of the fish mixture was typical as expected for spicy tuna/salmon-similar to that of room-temperature ground turkey, but not nearly as sticky. The avocado was very fresh, with no indication of any additive (lemon juice, etc) to keep it from oxidizing, so I have to assume this was made immediately before serving. The fish was chilled, but not enough to have been recently thawed.

Is this just the work of a very skilled set of hands used to making art with such a loose medium? Or is there a trick to it? By the time the picture was taken, I'd already eaten a few bites from the closest side. Sorry, I should have taken it before I started eating!
 

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It looks like the avo was sliced very thin and shingled then wrapped around the fish. I'd guess the starch in the avo caused the slices to stick together enough to hold shape.
 
I will say this much, it was thought up by a head chef and the poor underling in charge of that station probably groans everytime he has to stop what he is doing to make it :) But it is a very beautiful and ingenious design. Amazing what you can creat with common ingredients
 
Andy, that's what it is, I'm just not sure how they got the soft ball of fish to hold together enough to be wrapped. Looks like I'll just have to sit at the sushi bar next time and see if I can watch them make it. :)

sxolso1, I'm glad I ordered it when they were slow so it wouldn't be quite as much of a pain!
 
That looks wonderful. The avocados I tote to work, I don't even cut into them until I'm ready to eat! Was the avocado a little salty or did you notice?
 
nope, no saltiness, either. Just clean, fresh, buttery avocado flavor.

Hmm...just wondering if they dip their hands in the same solution they use to keep the rice from sticking to their hands when shaping Onigiri.
 
Hard to say from the photo after you've taken a bite, Sprout, though I don't blame you for eating first and thinking later! It looks really good.

Bamboo mats for rolling sushi have a flip side which has a sheet of plastic woven in. This is the side used for inside-out type rolls and probably for your dish. I've seen advocado quarters sliced and perfectly fanned by retaining its knobby end, but most likely, slices were carefully layered on top of the mat, the spicy tuna tartare was spooned across the middle, and then simply rolled. Depending on how the dish originally looked, the other possibility is that it was made delicately but quite simply using an onigiri rice ball mold.
 
I woulda guessed they layered the avo on some cling film before spooning the fish mixture over it, but I could easily imagine it having been a film wrapped bamboo mat ;)
 

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