More on that. Tojo claimed to have created uramaki in Vancouver in the late 70s, along with the California roll.
So, who really invented the California Roll?
I’m regretting I never visited Tojo’s when I was visiting Vancouver more frequently.https://tojos.com/
Mashita in LA may have offered uramaki as early as the late 60s.
I guess the answer is probably both.
I’m either lucky or cursed in that I was an itamae for about six years, and have literally had my fill of those stupid rolls. Hence, when I want sushi I usually make it at home, but it’s mostly sushi that you would find in the average Japanese-American home, not the bread-and-butter of a typical sushi bar: Traditional futomaki, inarizushi, saba oshizushi (usually, since it’s so much easier than making saba nigiri), and maybe a smattering of nigiri offerings from easy to acquire ingredients. I do have a friend whose husband brings yellowfin or big eye and other varieties of tuna home from Hawaii and gives me chunks now and then, so sometimes I’ll go wild on maguro. With the bits and bobs of whatever is left, I’ll make a chirashi.
I am not a fan of big multi-fish rolls, or fusion-y stuff like Philadelphia rolls. So that limits me to more expensive places, unfortunately. Luckily there’s a very nice neighborhood place near me that I can go to once a month or so.
I’ve made uni hand rolls a few times, but they would not win any beauty contests.
I don’t think anything made with uni would win a beauty contest. I’m still surprised at how many people willingly try it after seeing it. It looks like it was sourced from a diaper. Don’t get me wrong: good, fresh uni is ethereal. It tastes like an ocean breeze. But it just looks wrong.
[And while fresh uni tastes like an ocean breeze, old uni tastes like a tidepool.]
Now I gotta ask – what’s your preferred ratio for the ideal shari?
It’s a LOT. A bit more than @Desert-Dan. I use about 1/4 cup of my premixed su per cup of raw rice. Note, however, that my “cup of raw rice” is not a standard 8 oz cup, but the cup that came with my rice cooker. IIRC, it measures about 3/4 of a cup. Every few months I mix up about a gallon of su and put it in the pantry, using proportions pretty close to @Desert-Dan’s ratios, to make it easier to whip up a small batch of sushi on a whim. I also usually use plain ol’ white vinegar because I’m cheap, but I’m not picky. I have even used red wine vinegar, which gives the shari a pinkish hue.
At the restaurant, we actually used commercial premixed su, and the okasan used to bitch at me that I was using too much. Her husband admitted it tasted better, but she was in charge of controlling expenses, and I’m sure she could see a few pennies going down the drain with every batch of shari I made. Every time he gave away a beer, she’d shoot him a dirty look.
In the extended family, I inherited the role of Sushi Maker when my grandmother’s arthritis got too bad, and I tried to make everything taste the way she made it (and the taste we all grew up with and knew as “authentic”). Over the years, I had a few niggling doubts about whether obaachan’s taste buds had faded and what we were used to was really overseasoned. The aforementioned immigrant friend, however, confirmed for me that my shari tasted like what she knew as sushi in Japan, but definitely not like what she gets in the US.
It’s really just a matter of preference, though. Sort of like Coke or Pepsi, Hunt’s or Heinz, Big Mac or Whopper.
I am lucky … or cursed. The first sushi I ever had (and as often as I could!) probably 45 years ago, was in a Japanese restaurant in DC. The proprietors were Japanese and by observation and reputation, so were the vast majority of the clientele (expats/diplomats). I distinctly remember the flavor of the rice: that is, I notice to this day how that flavor is missing from most of the sushi I get now. Perhaps I should attempt chirashi so I won’t have to “roll my own” - I can get sushi-grade salmon and tuna, at least.
I would have to imagine that as long as you like the vinegar to begin with, then whatever you choose is probably ok, right (I mean, maybe short of Chinese black vinegar (more because it’s pretty low acid) or balsamic…and maybe not sherry vinegar…but the rest of them!)? I’ve seen a lot of nerding out on sushi boards (even the Japan board back on CH) about the type of vinegar that gets used.
Well, I’d eat those 
It’s not like they’re still on the counter!
No dry-aged uni for you, eh?
Is there such a thing? No, I get mine either at Aquabest or Lobster Place in Chelsea Market or Union Market on Ave A.
twas a joke 
I figured aged uni might be a thing. Even though I’ve never heard of it.
Mayhaps… although the main selling point of it seems to be its freshness.
Ah, I see. Futomaki still has the seaweed on the outside. Thanks!
Futo = thick
Hoso = thin
Ura = back/backwards, reverse
