By Christine Salins.
If you’ve ever thought about making sushi at home, make sure you learn from the best. You’d be in good hands with Nick Sakagami and his book, Sushi Master: An Expert Guide To Sourcing, Making and Enjoying Sushi At Home (Quarry Books, $32.99)
Sakagami is the only person outside of Japan to become a certified osakana meister, or fish master. Tokyo-born, he runs a seafood importing and consulting business in California, and can identify every sushi fish species and their subspecies by taste, feel, sight and smell.
He has particular expertise in tuna and is very conscious of sustainable fishing, so there is valuable information in the book about what constitutes sustainable tuna. Photography from Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market offers an inside look at where a lot of the world’s tuna comes from.
He introduces the fundamentals of sushi, starting with the fish, and then takes a deep dive into the tools, techniques and etiquette of sushi. Sakagami says that by making sushi at home, it is not only more economical than buying it ready made, but it also gives you a new appreciation for what professional sushi chefs do.
Some of the recipes in the book come from Sakagami’s favourite international sushi chefs and clients. The recipes include variations of maki, sashimi, nigiri and onigiri (rice balls).
There are also recipes for traditional Japanese soups, including two different types of miso, and appetizers such as tsukemono (Japanese pickles), shishito pepper, and spicy scallop carpaccio.
Once you’ve mastered the staples, you can move on to advanced techniques, such as searing, marinating, aging, and adding garnishes.
The Spicy Tuna Roll is not authentic sushi but Sakagami fell in love with it when he moved to Los Angeles in 1989.
Spicy Tuna Roll
Makes 1 roll (8 pieces)
1 cup (240 ml) water
2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 ml) rice vinegar
½ (20 x 18 cm) nori sheet
140g freshly made Sushi Rice
1 heaped tablespoon (10 g) white sesame seeds, toasted
1 teaspoon (5 ml) sriracha
About 40g sashimi-grade yellowfin, bigeye, or albacore tuna
3 avocado slices
½ Japanese cucumber, peeled and cut lengthwise into matchsticks
Soy sauce, for serving
Wasabi powder mixed with water to form a paste, for serving
Pickled ginger, for serving
In a small bowl, make the vinegar water for dipping your hands by combining the water and 2 to 3 tablespoons (30 to 45 ml) of rice vinegar.
Open a makisu (bamboo rolling mat) and place a piece of plastic wrap, slightly larger than the nori sheet, on it. Place the nori sheet on the plastic, textured-side up. With wet hands, evenly spread the sushi rice over the nori. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the rice. Flip the nori so the rice is facing down.
Apply the sriracha in a single line across the center of the nori. Place the tuna, avocado, and cucumber on the sriracha.
Roll your maki then cut the roll into 8 pieces, cutting through the plastic. Tighten the roll with the plastic wrap one last time. Remove the plastic wrap and serve with soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger.
Recipe and images from Sushi Master: An Expert Guide To Sourcing, Making and Enjoying Sushi At Home, by Nick Sakagami, published by Quarry Books.
