After I graduated from college, I worked at a sushi restaurant for several years.
During that time, I learned the Japanese names of most kinds of fish, the different varieties of roe, and that uni (sea urchin) is referred to as “the pudding of the sea” and is disgusting.
We were encouraged to try everything on the menu (hence how I know that uni is disgusting). Sometimes, if the head sushi chef had a surplus of a fish, we’d offer a special for the evening and the service staff would be treated to a shared roll or two to test them out.
Needless to say, one would assume that I sampled a lot of sushi during those days. And I did, to a point.
The only thing was that if we wanted a shift meal, we had to pay 50% of the menu price for it.
And we all know how cheap…*ahem*, frugal, I am.
There were limited items that we could eat for free, like edamame and miso soup. And rice. And most sauces.
A bowl of plain rice does not an exciting meal make, though. So what I ended up eating during plenty of my shifts was rice with scallions, little chunks of tofu (from the miso soup condiments) and spicy mayo.
White rice and mayonnaise.
Yup. I ate that for dinner a LOT.
Let me tell you, I know it’s sort of random and not very healthy (considering it was white rice and all), but it was surprisingly delicious.
Now, it’s been years since I’ve had a bowl of that goodness, so I figured that now was the time to bring it back.
With some tweaks, of course.
This isn’t really a recipe today- just an idea, a method, a what-have-you.
This is the spicy mayo:
I stirred together about 1 1/2 tablespoons of mayo and 1/2 – 1 tablespoon of Sriracha, tasted it, sprinkled in a little garlic powder and called it good.
And instead of white rice, I used brown jasmine rice.
Plus, in addition to my scallions, I added bell peppers, some corn, some extra spices (like chili powder, garlic powder- whatever I could find) plus a cooked chicken sausage to the rice.
And of course, I added a side of brussels sprouts, because those are my new normal dinner fare.
I’m sure putting mayo on rice sounds weird if you’ve never had it, but if you don’t have a weird aversion to the mayo, try it. It’s oddly satisfying.
That actually sounds amazing – and looks awesome, too! Thanks for the heads up on uni. 🙂
Yes please. You know I’m all over that!
So question – do you know what it is that sushi chefs say/yell when new people walk in? We’ve had it happen twice now in LA…never experienced it in Minnesota but we are curious. 🙂
Hmm, no, I don’t know what that is! I’m assuming it’s probably just a welcome?
Yessssssss…Another use for Sriracha! My bottle is almost empty, if you can believe that. I know – me either. Maybe this spicy mayo will help me like brussel sprouts…It’s worth a shot!
I think you just need to upgrade to a larger bottle. Just do it, there’s no shame.
I enjoy your ways of sneaking sriracha into anything… lol. Although I’m not sure how up on the mayo sauce I’d be. I’m very picky when it comes to mayo…
I wonder when the sriracha people are finally going to ask us if they can put our faces on the bottle?
Maybe we should make a prototype and send it to them?
I am a spicy mayo FIEND. I love it. I put it on sushi constantly, so, why not rice itself? Definitley bookmarking this 🙂
Get it, girl!
Ummm spicy mayo and white rice sound like an amazing combination to me. I was always a big fan of white rice and any kind of sauce if we’re being honest. I used to just eat bowls of rice covered in whatever my mom had in the fridge. I probably shouldn’t admit that eh?
Hey, I totally admitted that I did it! No shame. 🙂
I love putting any sauce I have random leftovers on rice, and I love spicy mayo. I would have done the same thing in your shoes back in the day. And probably today as well, although my deep love for sushi would have tempted me to pay the 50% occasionally.
I’ve only had sea urchin once, and it wasn’t my fave.
[…] a big batch of this spicy mayo. Put it on homemade veggie burgers and pretzel rolls from the Green City Market (thanks, Deitra!). […]