The Real Deal About SUSHI!

The kitchen in our homes is statistically the most “lived in” room for most of us.  So what better reason is there to enjoy the many pleasures that come from preparing authentic international dishes that are as good or better than those you get at a restaurant for you, your family, and friends.

Back in 1983, when there were only about two Japanese Sushi restaurants in the Philadelphia area I became as fascinated with learning how to make this “magical” food as I was with making doves appear from silk scarves.  So, when not performing magic shows or helping people sell and buy real estate, my kitchen became my stage and it was fish that I was cutting in half instead of my human assistants.  I bought the books, took the classes, and frequented the hard to find(at the time)Asian supermarkets to insure that my home-made sushi was “restaurant perfect”.  Unfortunately, these days, the many “fusion” restaurants that serve sushi do not make this delicacy in the true Japanese style.

Hundreds of years ago, before the days of refrigeration, fishermen in Japan would lay beds of rice down on planks by the seashore.  The rice was mixed with a brine of sugar, vinegar, and salt and basically was “pickled” so that the fish that was layed on it would cure to preserve it.  The rice would be discarded and not eaten.  Many years later this custom changed when someone decided to taste the rice along with the fish.

The real deal about sushi is that it does not mean “raw fish”.  Raw fish is called Sashimi.  By definition sushi means…pickled rice.  So what we are eating in all of the non Japanese buffets and the like is technically not true Japanese sushi, but instead, a dissapointing facsimile of the food I fell in love with many years ago.  It doesn’t matter if you use corned beef, raw fish, grilled chicken breast, or vegetables either on top or rolled into sushi rice with or without nori seaweed.  For sushi to be sushi you must use pickled rice.  And here’s how to make it…

3 1/3 cups-short grain Japanese rice(not Chinese long grain rice and not Japanese “sweet or glutinous rice”)

4 cups-water

1-4 inch square-Konbu(Japanese dried seaweed, optional, lightly scored)

5 tblsp.-unseasoned Japanese rice vinegar

5 tblsp.-sugar

4 tsp.-salt

Lay Konbu on top of rice and water in pot.  When they come to a boil over medium-high heat, close the lid and reduce heat to verrrrry low for 20 minutes.  Then shut off heat, remove pot from stove, and let rice finish steaming with lid on for another 20 minutes.  Discard Konbu and transfer rice into a large wooden bowl and sprinkle with the pickling solution of vinegar, sugar, and salt while tossing with a wooden paddle and force cooling with a small electric fan mounted above the bowl(the sushi chefs of old would have their apprentices fan the rice manually as part of their training).  It is very important to cool the rice quickly.  Transfer the rice to a smaller bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Note:  pickled sushi rice only stays fresh for one day and does not lend itself to any other recipes like fried rice, soups, etc.  Now that you have the RIGHT recipe for sushi rice, continue making your favorite sushi dish from a host of recipes you can find in your local book store or the internet.  Enjoy your sushi, enjoy your kitchen, and enjoy your HOME!