#26 in US Sushi at Sushi Hut in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget
I just had to try Sushi Hut in Salinas, California when I saw that the sushi restaurant was named #26 Best Sushi Restaurant in the US according to a national YELP poll on a local TV station.
Prior to visiting Sushi Hut, I had eaten sushi as an exchange student in Japan and as an organizer of the first Japan Festival in Chicago when I would eat sushi at Suntory and Hatsuhana downtown.
When I walked into Sushi Hut in Salinas, I felt like I was in a neighborhood sushi place in Osaka, Japan, because most of the boxed, ready-to-go sushi was rolls or round maki slices that you find in Osaka. Oval-shaped rice mounds with raw fish on top called nigiri sushi typically come from Tokyo.
Sushi Hut can make all kinds of sushi on demand for sushi (raw fish and vinegared rice) and sashimi (raw fish alone).
However, I was so impressed by the boxed sushi at the entrance that my daughter Florence Paget and I focused on trying those on several occasions including the following sushi types:
-California rolls made with a dark black nori seaweed wrapper, sushi rice, sesame seeds, avocado, cucumber, and crabmeat mayonnaise.
-Rainbow roll made with a black nori seaweed wrapper, sushi rice, sesame seeds, avocado, crabmeat mayonnaise, cucumber, and for fish – raw tuna, salmon, shrimp, halibut, and yellowtail.
-Spicy Shrimp with tuna and jalapeño pepper roll with a black nori seaweed wrapper, sesame seeds, butterflied shrimp, avocado, tuna, 1 jalapeño pepper, and a spicy sauce made with mayonnaise, chile powder, hot chile sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, scallions, and dried fish shavings.
-Shrimp tempura roll made with a black nori seaweed roll, sushi rice, sesame seeds, deep-fried tempura shrimp, avocado, cucumber, crab meat mayonnaise, radish sprouts, and spicy sauce made with mayonnaise, chile powder, hot chile sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce, scallions, and dried fish shavings.
-California creamy roll made with black nori seaweed wrapper, chopped tuna, and creamy sauce made with sesame seeds, rice vinegar, vegetable oil, sugar, soy sauce, and mayonnaise.
-Crunchy roll made with a black nori seaweed roll, sushi rice, sesame seeds, avocado, deep-fried tempura shrimp, tempura crumbs, and eel sauce made with sugar, water, soy sauce, and mirin sake.
Everything was fresh and made you feel like you were sitting at an ocean-side sushi restaurant.
Note: For more information about sushi, diners might have fun consulting the following books:
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Sushi by James O. Fraioli and Chef Kaz Satao
Sushi for Dummies by Judi Strada.
Sushi Hut is customer friendly and offers a wide variety of Asian soda, boba, and teas as well as chips. I like it that customers of all ages are coming in to try the 26th Best Sushi in the Country at Sushi Hut.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France and creator of the games Sommelier, Thutmose III, and Bento.
