Sushi. There is a lot to be said about sushi. There are also a lot of key components that go into high quality sushi – things like properly seasoned rice and the freshest of fish. Unmistakably, nice presentation is also key to any good sushi plate. The saying goes, “You eat with your eyes first”, so I have a couple tips for amping up your sushi presentation game, particularly with the accompaniments. This is more like a craft project than a recipe – sushi is an art, after all, and is also something that I like to refer to as a “project-based food”.
Ginger Rose & Wasabi Leaf How To
At The Chopping Block, we sell both pickled ginger and wasabi powder, which are essential add-ons to any good sushi platter.
In the United States, a reconstituted powdered “wasabi” is almost certainly what you have been eating when you go out for sushi. The powdered base is mostly made up of horseradish and green food dye. Fresh wasabi root is rarer in the States and is considerably more expensive, so the chance that you have consumed true wasabi is quite low.
To form the wasabi paste, all you have to do is add water and mix! It only takes a little bit of water to get it to combine and become dough-like in texture.
To form a leaf, take a ball of wasabi paste, about the size of a nickel, and pinch it at both ends to form your shape.
Using a knife, make little indentions in the wasabi to mimic the veins of a leaf.
For the ginger rose, lay out a row of pickled ginger, slightly overlapping each additional piece of ginger. The line should be 1-1 ½ inches wide, and at least 6 inches long. Make the line of ginger longer for a larger rose.
Starting back at the beginning, tightly roll up the pickled ginger.
Stand the ginger roll up on its side and fan out the top ever so slightly to make it look more rose-like in appearance. Lastly, nestle the wasabi leaves next to the rose, and there you have it!
These presentation pointers are all fine and dandy, but won’t do you any good if you don’t have sushi rolling skills under your belt yet! As it turns out, The Chopping Block’s Sushi Workshop is one of our most popular classes, so sign-up for one today so you can get rolling on your presentation game and learn how to make sushi at home. We still have seats available for this Friday, June 2nd Sushi Workshop at the Merchandise Mart.
