Sushi has begun to give the authentic borshch and varenyky a run for their money as Ukrainians’ favorite food.
Especially favored by young urbanites, this famous Japanese dish is the indisputable champion among ethnic foods in Ukraine.
However, with this almost obsessive love for sushi, Ukrainian restaurants and diners have taken the experience of eating sushi out of its authentic context – aka, eating “Japanese-like sushi.” While traditionally a meal for special occasions and considered something of an art form, sushi in Ukraine has devolved into a casual and convenient snack removed from its Asian roots.
“Sushi is a delicacy for us, a special meal we anticipate on holidays and special occasions,” says Kazato Masayoshi, a true sushi veteran and executive director of the All-Japan Sushi Association. The chef recently shared his culinary expertise with Kyiv’s lovers of the Japanese culture as part of sushi-making demonstration in the capital.
Today, you can indulge sushi in dozens of restaurants, have it delivered, make it at home and even grab it in the supermarket or at a fast-food court.
But it wasn’t always that easy. In 4th century B.C., long before refrigerators, in the area of present-day Thailand, people were looking for a way to preserve raw fish. They discovered that if kept in fermented rice, the fish would stay unspoiled for long periods of time.
After two months of storage in large wooden buckets, the fish, emanating a pungent odor, was ready to eat, while the rice was thrown away.
Over time, this preservation technique spread into China, and in the 8th century A.D. arrived to Japan. With an abundance of fish and rice, Japan was a perfect place to transform a preservation technique into a delicious culinary creation that would sweep through the world.
Making sushi requires unparalleled culinary skills and understanding of the products.
– Kazato Masayoshi, a true sushi veteran and executive director of the All-Japan Sushi Association.
In Ukraine the trend turned into a boom about five years ago.
“Sushi was first introduced to Ukraine as an expensive gourmet meal, similar to what it is in Japan. As it gained in popularity, however, affordable restaurants started to emerge,” says Oleksandr Fetisov, manager of Morskoi Dom, which supplies seafood for Japanese and European restaurants in Ukraine.
However, with this growing popularity, the quality of the sushi has declined. In order to keep prices low, budget restaurants resorted to using lower quality ingredients which results in taste that only poorly imitates true sushi, says Fetisov.
For example, some of the restaurants use Ukrainian rice, which experts say results in inferior taste. Morskoi Dom, for instance, uses American and Thai rice, the kinds appropriate for real sushi, according to Fetisov.
He says that Ukrainian restaurants are trying to cut corners by bulking sushi up with rice, while for the Japanese fish is the dominant ingredient.
“Due to our geographic constraints we cannot use fresh fish in sushi the way they do in Japan,” says Yana Derevyanko, chief technologist of the sushi restaurant chain Sushiya. “However, frozen fish is a safe choice, while it still preserves its taste and nutrients.”
Spices, mirin, soy and rice sauces, as well as ginger and wasabi, are natural antiseptics and must be added to every meal, explains Derevyanko.
In Japan, extra ingredients are just a part of hygiene routine. Japanese chefs sharpen their special sushi knife three times a day and only on one side, since an perfectly straight cut on the fish prevents penetration of bacteria.
Since most of the “cooking” happens with bare hands, says Masayoshi, the chef also sprinkles them with vinegar and rubs wasabi into the cutting board made of shark skin.
The Japanese are just as scrupulous when it comes to the process of sushi making. “Making sushi requires unparalleled culinary skills and understanding of the products,” says Masayoshi.
In Japan, before gaining the title of a sushi chef or yusuke, the student has to do a minimum of six years of training. Working nearly 14 hours a day, an aspiring student is permitted to assist the master chef by cleaning the kitchen, delivering fish and seafood from the market and preparing rice.
And, only after a long period of work with base ingredients, is he allowed to advance to the sacred ordinance of assembling sushi.
In Ukraine, on the other hand, restaurants are much quicker in training their staff to feed the growing appetite of sushi lovers. According to Fetisov, the training of sushi chefs in Ukraine sometimes only takes several weeks.
Since there is less than a handful of Japanese chefs in town, Morskoi Dom brings experts from the Sushi Skills Institute in Tokyo to give their chefs a crash course.
Despite the fact that authentic sushi is hard to come by in Kyiv, the good thing is that even the “fast food” sushi makes for an amazing meal. “Sushi is simple, healthy, and beautiful, that’s why Ukrainians love it,” says Fetisov.
Kyiv Post staff writer Mariya Manzhos can be reached at [email protected].
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