Tako Tako Tako! If you haven’t had octopus, you’re really missing out. It’s got a fantastic texture and a delicate flavor and it’s a much more approachable dish than most people assume. We serve Mushi Tako, a more common octopus to the Japanese, but a rare treat for patrons of Sticky Rice. Here’s the low-down on tako from the Sushi Encyclopedia:

Octopus is always poached for sushi, and the leg is the section used. It is eaten raw as a sashimi plate, but it requires to be sliced very thinly because it is tough to chew on. The second reason it is cooked is because it is too bland when it is raw. It has sweet aromas, but it is very hard to taste.

After poaching, the octopus’s sweet aromas are enhanced, though still very faint. Like the squid, it is hard to make into a nigiri because the slice is flat and stiff. A belt of nori is commonly used to fasten the octopus to the sushi rice. Some people like the crunchy texture of the tentacles, so they are sometimes all removed, one by one, and served as a boat roll or gunkanmaki.

via www.sushiencyclopedia.com

For the movie critic in all of us there is a social site dedicated to breaking down the best of the best and getting you into the conversation.

Talk about the acting of Jeff Bridges as “the dude” in Big Lebowski, the directing job by Wes Anderson with Life Aquatic or just read the mountain of opinions that everyone else is writing about them.

On top of that, find movies that are impossible to find and watch the next generation of filmmakers from around the world make their mark.

Now if we only had time to watch movies.

www.theauteurs.com

Have you ever played Bingo at high speed with reckless abandon? Have you pulled your shirt off and ran down the street like a man on fire? Watched people fight over a banana hidden in someone’s pants?

All this and more is possible in the wonderful world of BLINGO!! at Sticky Rice hosted by Brandon and his lovely assistant Karen every Thursday night. No more lonely nights plus great prizes. Everything is possible, impossible is nothing to steal a phrase.

Here is our documentation from last night. Hope to see you there.

If you get a chance the Godzirra artwork behind the bar was done by none other than local artist and sushi chef Oura Sananikone. Scratchy and hectic, his work is a hairy illustrative bomb of motion.

Check out more of his stuff at www.ourasananikone.com. Or say hi to him at Sticky ToGoGo right across the street from Sticky Rice in the Fan.

Judging from the looks of these videos- Tuesday was really fun. There were some great performances and some reaaaly bad ones but the drinks were flowing and people were ganging up on the mike – getting nutz.

Vote for your favorites and we will see you next week.

One of my friends was telling me about this from his recent hiking trip along the Pan American Highway. I decided to look it up because it sounded kinda surreal. Wow. Wanted to share this with you.

It’s one of the highlights of the Pan-American Highway, an eerie hand reaching out of the desert, fingertips pointed at the sky. Like something out of Gulliver’s Travels, La Mano del Desierto is in fact the creation of Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrázabal, built in 1992 in the Atacama Desert.

One well worth the drive. RM

via www.been-seen.com

A photo homage to things we cherish very much at Sticky Rice. We especially like the bats.

WHAT. THE. FUCK? 5 minutes after I met this guy he dumped a giant beer on my best friend, called her a “fat bitch” several times and threatened to beat up her boyfriend. He’s covered in these god awful satanic tattoos and when we got to his place he made me watch Sixteen Candles and listen to a bunch of gangsta rap. He slapped me around and choked me the whole time we boned, then he held my hand and walked me to the train in the morning. I’m still confused. via sorry-mom.com

Salmon are not trout! They get confused for each other all the time but salmon migrate into the oceans for awhile and their cousins stay in the rivers being lazy. Salmon make their way back into fresh water to lay their eggs then they die. I guess, they get depressed having fulfilled their life duty.

On a lighter note, salmon tastes way better than trout on sushi rice and we can prove that. Come in and try the Salmon Rolls, Spicy Salmon Rolls, and a number of our delicious specials year round.

Now onto the facts!

Some salmon are extinct or gone.
When salmon die they are food for many animals like eagles, otters,and bears.
People that study fish are called ichthyologists.
All salmon know when to return to their spawning grounds by how long the day is and they can feel what season it is.
Most salmon can swim about 14 km per hour.
It is against the law to fish in spawning grounds.
Salmon change to red a couple of days after spawning, then they die.
Since salmon are nearsighted they have to always use low frequency sound waves to find food in far away places.
Chinook salmon or king salmon are the largest in the Pacific Ocean. They can weigh over 100 pounds.
Polluted waters can kill both baby salmon that are developing and adult salmon on their way to spawn.
In the wild, less then one out of 1,000 salmon eggs laid live to be spawning adults.
In order for the salmon to survive and be comfortable the temperature of the water should be 55 degrees F (12.8 C).
All salmon spend part of their life in fresh water and part of their life in salt water.
Salmon can find the right stream to spawn in by the smell of it.
Rainbow trout can be called steel head trout. They are really Pacific salmon.
Female salmon may lay 1,200 eggs into the nest.

PS- Sticky Rice and Cous Cous are working on the latest edition of the KARAOKE CUP !! Come back to the site or follow up on twitter @verystickyrice for more details.

From a collection of lost Sticky Rice training videos found in an old nori box.

Bamboo Forest: An inside-out roll with bamboo shoots, blanched carrots and tempura fried asparagus.

From a collection of lost Sticky Rice training videos found in an old nori box.

Seahorse Monster Roll: monster roll with cucumber, shittake mushroom, hamachi (yellowtail), mackerel and sesame seeds.

Saw this on Comedy central and thought i should share. The deforestation of america is causing eagles as such to get other jobs then modeling for flags and working in the house. I hope that people wake up and get to know their surroundings. Whats killing us is this. and if you don’t know then your in the dark. And it is dark.

From a collection of lost Sticky Rice training videos found in an old nori box.

Gunkan Hamachi: a battleship style nigiri with spicy yellowtail and avocado.

Have you ever had a craving for something crispy but “shrimpy” at the same time? How about adding carrots, carrots, sprouts, and some cucumbers to the mix? Add the the Nouc Mam (Vietnamese dipping sauce) and you got a delicious app.

Hopefully, you are getting that thought in your head.
Putting a spell on you now.
Come in and try it out.

Brent o’ Donnell has won a spot on the PHOTOFILE PHOTO CONTEST with this pic of Erich Bielefeldt pulling off a crooked grind. Congrats to him; its a win for the local scene when stuff like this happens.

Yellowtail is a Sticky Rice favorite and we use it in many of our base dishes and specials. The taste is buttery smooth, textured and not too salty. Close to bluefin tuna but with its own flavor personality.

Try it in the G.I. Joe, Billy Goat’s Gruff, and Starter combo.

The Japanese amberjack or yellowtail, Seriola quinqueradiata, is a fish in the family Carangidae. It is native to the northwest Pacific, from Japan to Hawaii.

The small fry are grown until they reach 10 to 50 grams in mass. They are then sold to farmers, who grow them until they reach 3 kilograms called hamachi, or 5 kilograms called buri. These days, most farmers use extruded pellets to feed the fish. via wikipedia

Sushi is the main attraction here, but don’t expect delicate rolls of raw fish. The Godzirra roll is a massive log of crunchy shrimp, avocado, cream cheese and spicy/crunchy toppings. Wasabi peas add fire to a roll of yellowtail, cream cheese and scallions. Sticky Balls, deep-fried packets of tuna, crab and rice, are the restaurant’s specialty. Vegetarians and vegans will find many options here, chief among them the Garden Balls, a variation on the Sticky Ball theme. Tater tots (yes, the fried-potato snacks) are among the most popular side dishes. They’re sold by the bucket. Is Sticky Rice the kind of place the sushi gods intended? Probably not. But it’s one of the most entertaining places to grab a bite on H Street NE. 

OY, First Box then Walk, Web Advert from Damien Pascoe on Vimeo.

Maybe it is bit early to compare her to anybody but Oy is like Bjork mixed with Gondry. Remember you saw it here first.

OY_Gap_Live at Le Bourg from PATLALA VIDEO on Vimeo.

OY_Tooth_Live at Le Bourg from PATLALA VIDEO on Vimeo.

Oy @ Le Bourg, Lausanne (Switzerland) from Creaked Records on Vimeo.

An inside-out roll with bamboo shoots, blanched carrots and tempura fried asparagus. 5.50$

So says Elton John in a recent interview with Parade Magazine.

“I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems. On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving. I don’t know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East — you’re as good as dead.”

Read the full interview here.

Plus, we wanted an excuse to put up this great photo of Elton in his prime.

Ummm…. a battleship style nigiri with spicy yellowtail and avocado.
5.50$

Funk 80s synch pop. Good to zone out to.