If You Know Sushi. . .

. . .Then you know it’s become almost as popular as hot dogs and apple pie. Here’s how some venues do it.

The recent publication of a book called The Sushi Economy, by Philadelphia writer and sushi authority Sasha Issenberg, illustrates an interesting phenomenon: The erstwhile exotic Japanese delicacy now belongs to the whole world. According to Issenberg, the fish and rice concoction that we know today had its genesis in the 1970s, when enterprising Japanese entrepreneurs discovered that Canadian fishermen were throwing away North Atlantic bluefin tuna—prized in Japan, but virtually unknown in the U.S. market. All that tuna led to some interesting culinary innovations in Japan, which were rapidly exported to other countries, from Australia to America to Mexico, where it has been translated to local tastes and ingredients.

That’s not the only reason that even school children know what sushi is. Re-imagined with more generic ingredients such as avocado, smoked salmon, cooked shrimp and cucumber, sushi—especially the ultra-trendy maki roll—is fun, virtually fat-free finger food, with just enough novelty to make its fans feel “in.” Fiery wasabi and piquant pickled ginger perk up the flavor, while the cooked rice makes sushi filling and almost comforting. What’s not to love?

“I bet it won’t be too long before you even see sushi being served in grade school cafeterias,” says Joan Bayes, foodservice director of Highland Park High School PTA Food Service in Dallas, where students enjoy sushi once a week on Tuesdays. Highland Park High—part of a district where each school’s foodservice program is run individually by the PTA—orders two kinds of rolls, California (made with surimi, avocado, cucumber and rice wrapped with seaweed) and vegetarian (all the above, plus carrots and minus the surimi), from a local supermarket that makes its own sushi. In the cafeteria, kitchen staff cut the rolls into six pieces and plate them.

According to Bayes, sushi is certainly not as popular as pizza or burritos, but the item holds its own, selling to the tune of about 27 orders a week, at $4 an order (the highest price selection on the day’s menu). But kids requested it, so the foodservice team figured out how to start offering it two years ago. “Outsourcing it is definitely the way for us to go,” explains Bayes, “because of the ingredients, and because they’re a lot of work to put together.”

FoodService Director - World Flavors - Sushi Made-to-order

“When RA was awarded the contract for the building we had a successful roving sushi chef program, so we figured we’d feature sushi at Cafe57, but we didn’t plan on a separate station,” says Julie Sajda, director of foodservice for Restaurant Associates at Hearst. “The client believed that its employees would want sushi every day, however, so we had our corporate sushi chef Toshiaki Saito develop a dedicated station.”

The client was right: By the time the whole building was occupied, 200 out of 1,000 daily covers were being handled by the sushi station.

“We’ve got an extremely sophisticated customer base here,” for whom sushi is a way of life, notes Sajda, “and they’ve got the whole city at their doorstep. Offering sushi helps keep more employees on premise for lunch.”

And this sushi is the real thing: Two chefs prep all the ingredients, from butchering and trimming out the fish, to preparing the rice in traditional fashion. All sushi is made to order in full view of the customer, including core items like California and spicy tuna rolls, as well as the Hearst Combo (six pieces of nigiri sushi and a roll), and creative daily specials such as lobster roll, King crab roll, and the Cosmopolitan (made with thin strips of cucumber instead of seaweed, and served with citrusy yuzu sauce).

At Hofstra University, a Lackmann Culinary Services account in Hempstead, N.Y., sushi is the centerpiece of the In the Raw venue, in the Student Center Café. “When it opened, in 2005, it was just a small one-man sushi bar in an out-of-the-way corner,” says Eisa Shukran, director of dining services. “It was such a hit that we moved it last year to a more central location, and added an Asian noodle bar.”

The display station features about a dozen varieties made to order, including popular rolls and more esoteric raw fish varieties. There are also several types of noodle soups, featuring vegetarian, chicken, beef and miso stocks, with several varieties of authentic Asian noodles and a variety of protein and vegetable toppings, which can all be customized to order. The unit is busy, according to Shukran, employing three people and serving about 300 orders of sushi and 100 bowls of noodle soup a day.

“As with any ethnic concept, you have to do it right,” advises Shukran. “That includes making the food to order in front of the customer. It may seem intimidating, but it’s really not. As Asian food becomes more familiar, more people are going to want it.”   

FoodService Director - World Flavors - Sushi

Chirashi:  Literally “scattered” sushi, consisting of a bowl of vinegared rice with various toppings, such as seafood, vegetables, etc.

Maki sushi:  Rolled sushi, in which rice, nori (seaweed formed into a sheet), seafood, vegetables and so on are formed into a roll with the help of a bamboo mat called a makisu, then cut into pieces. The elaborate, fanciful maki known to Americans is largely unknown in traditional Japanese culture.

Nigiri sushi: Typically an oblong of sushi rice pressed with the hands and topped with cooked or raw seafood, omelet, vegetables or another topping, sometimes tied with a strip of nori. This type of sushi is the most traditional in Japan.

Sushi rice: Short-grained rice traditionally dressed while still hot with a mixture of rice wine vinegar, sugar, salt and kombu (a type of seaweed used for seasoning), then cooled for use.

More Than Just Sushi

When it comes to Japanese food, we need to expand our culinary horizons.

Although more Americans probably recognize sushi than any other Japanese food, this specialty of vinegared rice topped with seafood or other ingredients is just part of the story. “Sushi is considered a delicacy in Japan, and only the affluent eat it with any regularity,” says Sam Josi, a San Francisco restaurateur who recently opened Umami, which is modeled after a traditional Japanese izakaya, or pub. “The Japanese are much more likely to eat noodles, grilled foods and other cooked foods.”

Some foods to consider:

Bento: The original “boxed lunch,” a combination meal served in a compartmentalized box, often black-lacquered; can include any number of grilled, fried or stir-fried foods; rice, sushi; and so on.

Donburi: A “big bowl” filled with hot steamed rice and various toppings, including oyakodon (literally “mother and child,” chicken and egg), katsudon (deep-fried pork cutlet), unadon (broiled eel) and tekkadon (raw tuna).

Miso: Although many Americans know this rich soup made of miso paste (fermented rice with soybeans) as a light broth preceding sushi or another meal, in Japan it is often served as a meal in a bowl, full of noodles, vegetables, tofu, seaweed and/or vegetables.

Noodles: Japanese cuisine is full of noodle dishes. Traditionally, noodles are served warm or cold with dipping sauces, but in the last 100 years or so, the Japanese have adopted the Chinese habit of serving noodles in broth or stir-fried (yaki). Varieties include soba, thin buckwheat noodles; udon, thick wheat noodles; somen, thin wheat noodles, and ramen, thin yellow noodles, of Chinese origin.

Ohitashi: Boiled greens such as spinach, cooled and dressed with soy sauce, often garnished with sesame seeds, sliced scallions, etc.

Okonomiyaki: Savory pancakes, pan-fried to order and filled with various meats and vegetables, often of the customer’s choosing. (Okonomi means “what you like.”)

Tempura: Seafood and vegetables coated in a light batter and fried, then served with a dipping sauce or in other dishes, such as on top of noodles. Tempura is the most familiar of the many deep-fried foods known as agemono in Japan. Others include kara-age (deep-fried bite-size pieces of battered chicken) and katsu (deep-fried chicken or pork cutlets).

Yakimono: This category of grilled and pan-fried foods includes a large number of specialties both familiar and less so, including gyoza (pan-fried dumplings, usually filled with pork), teriyaki (grilled or pan-fried beef, chicken or another protein, glazed with a sweet sauce), and yakitori (grilled skewered chicken). In Japan, robata bars are very popular. Similar to sushi bars, customers sit at a counter around an open grill where chefs grill seafood, meats and vegetables to order; customers to point at whenever they want to eat.

The Authentic Way

A rural college in Maine brings Japanese fare to the table.

Ethnic food represents an opportunity to educate customers about the culture of other places. At Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, a small Catholic liberal arts college in rural Standish, ME, both the curriculum and the foodservice offerings are studded with special events, of both the cultural and the social kind. Bon Appetit general manager Stuart Leckie explains why:

“Food is a great ice breaker, and a wonderful way to draw people in. Last March we helped the Cultural Affairs department present an Evening in Japan, which featured a program of Japanese folk songs, presentations on Japanese baseball and haiku poetry, a tea ceremony and a Japanese-themed dinner. The event was also open to the public and attracted a number of people from the local community, giving the students and local residents a chance to meet each other and learn about another culture.

The meal we prepared was designed to show attendees what a typical dinner in Japan would be like. We set up several stations offering sushi, miso soup, a Maine Entrée Japanese Vegetable and Beef Stir Fry, vegetarian agedashi-dufo—which is deep-fried tofu in a mirin-and-soy sauce—pork fried rice, and spinach with sesame seeds, sake and rice vinegar.

We do a lot of different things here that keep the students interested and also are part of a larger attempt to provide an additional educational opportunity. For instance, the college sponsors a diversity week every year, and we serve a different cuisine in the dining room every night.

Every month, we celebrate an event such as Cinco de Mayo, Mardi Gras or Chinese New Year. The Chinese New Year dinner is always a big hit. This year we included a 10-foot-long restaurant-style pupu platter with a ‘volcano’ in the center.

We also have a global fusion station every night. Each ethnic dish is accompanied by a posted description, so students can learn about it.

In fact, we pride ourselves on the authenticity of our food. If we’re serving a Japanese stir-fry dish, for example, we’re not going to just throw butter and beef into a pan and cook it—we want to prepare the dish the way it’s done in Japan. We’ll send our chef to classes at other Bon Appetit locations to learn about authentic recipes and ingredients.”