bitofarambler

Sushi Miyagi in Panama City, a parting gift from the chef.

Sorry about the picture quality, I was so excited and this nigiri is so time-sensitive that I snapped a quick pic and didn't check it before digging in.

Sushi rice, wasabi, sea salt and fatty tuna belly heated from a good distance away to avoid blackening the fat or cooking the meat.

This was a very impressive piece of sushi.

Salmon belly is often difficult to bite apart because of the stringy fat and I don't usually like the small fat deposits either, "but" if it is heated, the fat becomes very malleable and enhances the flavor without interfering with the soft texture of the salmon flesh.

This thing melted in my mouth, it was made perfectly. Just a couple chops of green onions for a subtle countertaste, a hint of wasabi and a sprinkle of sea salt on the rice under the salmon belly.

This actually made my eyes pop open.

The heat balance is critical. You could use a microwave to heat the fat and make it soft, but you'll destroy the salmon flesh texture.

What most restaurants use is a small butane torch, but it's almost always held within 6 inches of the salmon, which means you blacken the fat, adding a bitter, unpleasant taste with crumbs of burnt, crackled fat. Ruins the nigiri.

This was amazing. Heating was still done with a butane torch, but rapid swipes and closer to a foot away, and once the fat was softened, the salmon was added to the waiting seasoned sushi rice and then immediately served with a few green onion slivers.

So smart to use salt instead of soy sauce here too, salmon belly has a very light flavor and can be overrun by soy sauce way too easily, but a few grains of sea salt enhances the flavor and provides points of texture.

Freaking amazing. Amazing!

During my last meal at Sushi Miyagi in Panama, the chef surprised me with this, his favorite way to eat salmon. Cooked like this, it is certainly my favorite salmon as well now. What a boss.