From standalone restaurants to streetside cafes—everyone is offering sushi on their menus. With June 18 (Tuesday) marking World Sushi Day, we explore how the Japanese delicacy has stormed the culinary world and how it has been adapted to suit Indian taste buds. “No doubt sushi is an acquired taste. But with the growth of dining, there are many Indians who have developed a great liking for the authentic sushi. The name sushi is an abridged version of ‘su-me-shi’.
Su means vinegar and me-shi means rice. Thus, an authentic sushi is nothing but good quality vinegared rice, with kelp’s umami flavour. We mostly eat modern cut maki-sushi rolls at restaurants. This style allows chefs to be creative and adjust the flavours to suit the Indian Palate,” says Chef Vineet Manocha, Asia Kitchen and YOUMEE, Delhi.
Famous Japanese chef Jiro Ono said in the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, “The most important part of making good sushi is creating a union between the rice and the fish. If they are not in complete harmony, the sushi won’t taste good.” But with India’s diverse population, restaurants have had to unroll the iconic Japanese dish to cater to modern dining choices. “Since Indians are vegetarians, sushi is prepared with locally sourced ingredients like cucumber, tomato, avocado, aubergine, radish or even cottage cheese. There are people who even love cheese in their sushi,” says Chef Shimomura Kazuya, The Leela Palace.
Chef Sahil Singh of Pa Pa Ya has customised the dish at his restaurant, “by adding sauces like spicy mayo, dehydrated spinach etc. We also have infused few sushi dishes with modern twist such as adding mangoes to make it more acceptable.” The traditional moulds of rice with seaweed now even include the millennial favourite fruit avocado. “Sushi at YOUMEE is often made with creamy cheese, avocado, various pickled and fresh vegetables, fresh fruits like mango, lychee, tempura prawns, grilled salmon, spice-crusted hamachi etc. We also top the rolls with our sprinkles and sauces to further enhance the flavours,” says Chef Minocha.
The dish may seem fairly simple, but to maintain its authenticity restaurants have to source ingredients from Japan and other importers. Says Chef Minocha,“The quality of ingredients is the top most priority for a good sushi, thus the basic ingredients such as rice, komezu (rice vinegar), kombu (kelp), nori sheets, wasabi, gari and soy sauce are all imported from Japan.” Chef Singh, however, uses both foreign and local elements.“We import all high-quality seafood and Japanese grocery directly from Japan. But major ingredients such as asparagus are now grown locally. Maguro (tuna) comes from Indian Ocean, etc.” he says.
The three condiments that are generally served along with sushi include soy sauce, wasabi and gari (pickled ginger) laid out on a bamboo leaf. In Japan, the sushi is dipped in soy sauce and placed in the mouth with hands. But in India, it is often served with chopsticks. On eating the traditional way, Chef Kazuya says, “Specific etiquette is required while eating sushi since the dish is intertwined with Japan’s story. A sushi roll is always dipped, just a little bit into the soy sauce and not completely.
Also, one should have the sushi in one bite. It should not be cut or broken into pieces. One must always dip it from the fish side of the sushi into the soy sauce and not from rice side since rice observes soy sauce and that makes it salty for palate. It’s also important to note that the gari must not be used as a topping but simply as a palate cleaner.”