Flavors
of Asia
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If the Japanese expression "You eat with your eyes," is true then The Complete Book of Sushi is a glorious feast. This 240-page book is filled with 300 delicious color photos and nearly everything you ever wanted to know about making, eating, enjoying, and ordering, sushi. In fact, even if you don't like sushi, this book is a treasury of food art. Sushi is the term given to seasoned rice that is teamed with a variety of ingredients including fish, meat and vegetables. Sashimi is the term used for raw fish that may or may not be served with the seasoned rice. While sushi has been around since the 1640s in Japan, it wasn't until the early 1800s that a street vendor in Tokyo began serving sashimi on rice. What started in a fish vendor's wagon eventually moved indoors and today is served in thousands of sushi bars and restaurants around the world. Authors Hideo Dekura, Brigid Treloar and Ryuichi Yoshii take the reader from sushi history and customs to equipment and utensils to ingredients and techniques. While it takes years of training to become a truly skilled sushi chef, with a little practice you can master a few dishes at home. Begin with the rice. In this case short or medium grain rice is steamed then seasoned and cooled to just the right consistency. Then master the art of sushi rolling by following the step-by-step directions and informative photos. And here is where the fun begins. The variety of fillings for sushi rolls is limited only to your taste and imagination. Not just crab, tuna or salmon, but also hot tempura vegetables, soba noodles, pastrami, and pâté. There are tofu pouches, kimchi rolls, and blueberry sushi with honey chili. Or how about rolling sushi rice in slices of smoked salmon covered with cream cheese and Cajun spice? There seems to be no end of sushi combinations including the more traditional nori tuna rolls, cuttlefish rolls, and salmon and avocado rolls. If rolling sushi seems too much trouble, then try sushi in a bowl in a variety of flavors from habanero chili sushi to vegetarian chirashi-zushi. Authors Dekura and Yoshii learned the art of Japanese cuisine from their fathers who were both professional chefs. The book clearly shows off the results of their life long training and makes sushi at home seem like a happy and tasty experience. The Complete Book of Sushi includes recipes for soups, sashimi, sauces, pastes and condiments. This oversized hardcover edition is published by Tuttle Publishing and is from Periplus Editions with a cover price of $29.95 or $19.77 at www.amazon.com . It's a great gift for anyone interested in making sushi or just learning more about this beautiful food. FOOD NOTE: (Reprinted from Asian Pages 12/1/04) |
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