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Rice, Vinegar, Seaweed: The Building Blocks of Sushi
19 May 2022
Good sushi is about more than just deftly handled seafood: one of Australia’s most experienced Japanese chefs breaks down the elements that make up great sushi.
Is there a more Japanese dish than sushi? Around the world, the combination of seafood and seasoned rice is an ambassador for not just Japanese food, but Japanese culture. Although various regional sushi styles exist throughout Japan, Edomae-style (or Tokyo-style) sushi is the most popular, both with eaters and with chefs.
Jun Oya, chef at Japanese restaurant Warabi
“Edomae-style sushi is what I’m targeting,” says Jun Oya, the chef of Japanese restaurant Warabi at W Hotel in Melbourne. Born in Japan’s Shiga prefecture, Oya has been cooking for more than 25 years and brings considerable experience to W Melbourne’s intimate omakase (tasting menu) restaurant. “Edomae-style sushi isn’t just about the way fish is filleted or cut, but also how it’s treated. Sometimes you put salt on it, sometimes you soak it in vinegar or cure it in kombu (seaweed). There are many ways to prepare sushi.”
Although eaters tend to focus on the seafood aspect of sushi, the dish’s other elements are just as important, none more so than the shari: the sweet, salty, vinegared rice used in everything from maki rolls to nigiri (blocks of rice topped with raw and gently cooked seafood). In addition to the rice, sushi chefs also have other condiments at their disposal to help them make and serve the best sushi possible. Oya breaks down the various components of a great piece of sushi.
Freshmade shrimp nigiri sushi
What makes a good shari?
According to Oya, a good shari is about “firmness, texture and taste.” It should be sticky enough to hold together and is ideally served at “body temperature”: not hot, not cold, but just right to complement the seafood it’s served with. At Warabi, the shari is mixed around an hour before guests arrive to ensure it cools to the right temperature by the sushi stage of the meal.
Rice, rice baby
Good shari is sticky and holds together, or at least it does when made with young rice. (As rice ages, it starts to dry out.) Oya uses a blend of two different short grain rices to make his shari. The majority of his blend is masshigura rice from the Aomori prefecture, with the balance made up of koshikari rice from Niigata.
Preparing of shari, vinegared rice
Salt and vinegar
Beyond the taste of the rice itself, additional seasonings are used to shape the taste of the shari. The most important of these is the vinegar which gives the rice sweetness and acidity. Just as Oya make his shari with two kinds of rice, he blends together two vinegars – rice vinegar and a red sake lees vinegar – to season his rice. Additionally, salt and sugar allow the chef to further fine-tune her or his shari.
The chef’s secret seasoning
A sushi chef’s nikiri – seasoning sauce – is arguably the most personal aspect of her or his cooking. Although soya sauce is the main ingredient (Oya places his faith in a Shibanuma sauce from the Ibaraki region), support players such as kombu (dried seaweed), katsuobushi (smoked shaved fish) and salt and sugar play key roles too. This is a condiment that has flavour, certainly, but it isn’t flavour about all. “Nikiri shouldn't be too salty or overpowering,” says Oya. “It’s always a last touch and the chef has to be careful not to disturb the combination of rice and seafood.”
The finishing touch
Although seafood and rice are the stars of the show, one judiciously used condiment can turn the tasty into the unforgettable. Sometimes it’s ensuring there’s enough kick to the wasabi to heighten the taste of the fish; other times it’s finely mincing ginger or negi (Japanese spring onions) to help counter the strong, fishy flavour of sardines and mackerels; and sometimes it’s about temporarily ignoring tradition and using salt and lemon to brighten a piece of prawn nigiri.
Warabi at W Hotel Melbourne is open for dinner Tuesday to Saturday.
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