Surfing, Skateboarding, Music, Photography, Travel, Culture and general antics of the youth on the run.

WY EATS: Spicy Tuna Don Another hit from our RAW series — best washed down with ice cold Kirin

Tuna Don, Adam Warren, What Youth Eats

Its time to expand on our RAW capabilities here. And just like the Mediterranean version of the albacore crudo that you’ve already mastered, we are leaning on our Japanese influence of raw efficiencies for our next dish: The Spicy Tuna Don.

“Don” is short for “donburi” which is a traditional Japanese dish where any number of things (egg, chicken, seafood) are served in a bowl over a bed of rice. If you’ve been to Japan, then you know that these are always a safe bet for a simple, really good meal. And if Japan is out of reach, then you can always head to Fukada, an amazing restaurant in the beautiful and worldly culture influencing town of…well, a business park in Irvine.

But no shit, Fukada is so good and the recipe below is modeled after the Spicy Tuna Don you can find on their menu.

The trick here is fresh fish. It’s summer so go find one of your friends who keep taking work off to go fishing, and beg them for a piece of yellow fin. And if they don’t have one, then albacore tuna will work just fine as well.

You want to dice your tuna up nice and small — but don’t let it turn to mush. Mix with a healthy amount of Sriracha and a little mayo. Start small, you can always add more mayo or spice to the fish as you go. If you want to get real fancy, then buy Japanese mayo and add a little bit of chili oil. No measurements here, it all depends on taste (spice) and consistency. You want to flavor the fish, not drown it in sauce. Cover with plastic and place back in the fridge while you do the rest.

Steam some white rice (I like to add a little rice wine vinegar and a pinch of sugar to emulate sushi rice) and thinly slice up some avocado, green onion and cucumbers.

In your best looking cereal bowl, lay down a nice size portion of rice — top with your spicy tuna mixture and vegetables. Garnish with some sliced green onion, dried seaweed and some sesame seeds.

I like to serve mine with a little wasabi ball, shoyu, chopsticks and a fucking ice cold Kirin for the full effect. —Adam Warren

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WY Drinks: Herbs in our cocktails Herbs plus booze to raise your cocktail game

When you think of herbs, you generally think of food. And when you think of cocktails, you generally think of booze. That is, the spirit: gin, vodka, tequila, and so on. But combining the two, we don’t see that a lot. I heard of herbs in drinks long ago, but wrote off the idea. (Except…

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The WY GUIDE: Cuba Now that the red tape is mostly gone, should you go? Well, we did, here’s what we found.

It’s hard to have a conversation about traveling without someone bringing up Cuba. It’s long been the Holy Grail of American travel because, well, we couldn’t go there. But before heading out on his global kite surfing mission with Richard Branson, President Obama restored diplomatic relations with the Cuban government for the first time in over 50 years. A very…

Radical Class: Layover in Paris A guide to 48 hours in an overwhelming city

A lot of times when we travel, we’ll try to tack on a bonus location. A quick layover somewhere just because it’s the right thing to do. And during a recent trip to Amsterdam we tacked on 48 hours in Paris, just because. We happened to be with Adam Warren who writes the What Youth food…

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How To Drink Mezcal in Mexico City “For every ill, mezcal — and for every good as well.”

When you go to Mexico City, don’t order tequila. Or a margarita for that matter. Order mezcal. It’s the drink of choice and will earn you immediate respect from the locals. Mezcal is smokier than tequila, but with similar effects, and it pairs nicely with the spicy food and the flavors Mexico City is known…

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Another What Youth Reading List This time with no dead white guys!

After checking out (and nodding along with) Travis’ recent fall syllabus featuring the literary heavy-hitters many of us have returned to again and again for inspiration, I had the urge to put together another reading list for you guys, made up of authors you maybe haven’t yet read or even heard of. With two Pulitzer…

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The What Youth Syllabus The books we’re assigning for the fall semester

If you go to school, or went to school or tell people you go to school, you’ve seen a syllabus. A paper full of shit you’re supposed to read. You get it the first day of class and when you do you feel jazzed and promise yourself to read them all. Get A’s. Participate. Get…

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When morning comes too soon A playlist for the final dawns of the summer

Maybe it’s on the hardwood floor of a living room in Santa Cruz. Or the front seat of a tour bus, a towering New York hotel with a view, or a log cabin surrounded by mountains covered in snow. Or maybe it’s the backseat of a Volkswagen van in Venice. Or in the sand covered in fog. Mornings like these…

8 Jazz Albums To Make It A Little Better For more inspired and relaxing times

The other day, I heard someone say something about how if you’re white, and you are just saying now, amidst what is perhaps one of the darkest points in American history, that “the world is on fire,” then you have been ignoring the racial problems in this country for way too long and you should…

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The WY Guide: Airports How to expertly navigate the world’s transportation hubs

A necessary evil of being a venerable youth on the run is the time spent in transit. The hopscotch between your destinations. It can be exciting, but mostly it is a pain. But it should not be time wasted. Because with a little guidance, these stopovers in purgatory can actually become some of the most memorable moments of…

WHAT YOUTH EATS AND DRINKS this weekend Your guide to a delicious and multi-cultural Fourth of July

The Fourth is meant for equal parts fireworks, food, drink, babes, waves, and bad decisions. Cases of beer, they appear. Food, it arrives at the right time. America at its best! Do we want to eat and drink well on the Fourth? Yes! But do we want to work hard for our food on the…

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WY Guide to Surfing the Wedge Local standout Spencer Pirdy and how to navigate social media’s favorite wave

​​​​​​The local news trucks have arrived. There are sharks everywhere. People are crashing Jet Skis into the rocks at the Wedge while on Tinder dates and all the signs of viral lunacy and chaos inspired by a California summer are here. And no wave finds itself more in the spotlight than the Wedge. It’s come back in…

WHAT YOUTH DRINKS: BITTERS Throw some stuff in a jar, walk away, and come back to a great cocktail

The makings of a great cocktail: good booze, ice, and not much else. It’s an equation that keeps the Martini going strong.  And it’s the reason why the Old Fashioned is a good thing. The “not much else” is where bitters come into play. Bitters alter the flavor profile of a cocktail in a subtle…

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