Sushi supplies and secrets at Kyo-Mart in Niagara Falls
Asian specialty shop carries all the fixings for budding sushi chefs to try at home
To make your own sushi at home, you only need a few things: rice, avocado, sushi-grade fish, a bamboo roller and a very, very sharp knife.
The secret ingredient is patience.
“When people come in here and ask about making sushi, the first thing I always tell them is that it’s not as easy as you might think,” said Lisa Teshima. “I’ll usually warn them to be prepared to put in a lot of time.”
Something as seemingly innocuous as the rice that goes around the rolls, when prepared properly for sushi, takes more than an hour just for that part.
Knowing what kind of fish to use and what ingredients to pair that with can be another task unto itself, but Teshima is always happy to share her knowledge and experience with customers at Kyo-Mart.
“I have a passion for cooking,” said Teshima, who has spent 20 years in the shop that’s attached to the Suisha Gardens Japanese Restaurant in Niagara Falls. “I’ve learned so many little tricks and techniques from the chefs here over the years. I’m lucky, I had the best teachers.”
How to prep the fish, tips on how to make that perfect roll — Teshima is happy to pass along those bits from top sushi chefs. Some things, though, you just can’t teach.
“Cutting the rolls can definitely be the hardest part,” she said with a laugh.
The very last step of the process — slicing up the rolls into bite-size pieces — is a notorious stumbling point for many people who are new to making sushi.
A very sharp knife goes a long way.
“It can be so heartbreaking,” said Teshima of the all-important sushi slice. “It’s where everything can go wrong, and the whole thing just falls apart.”
If you don’t have time to prepare the more popular kinds of sushi rolls (or you just can’t manage that sushi roll slice) there is an alternative, which Teshima says she often encourages customers to try.
“I tell people to try the normal sushi rolls first, because it is fun and it’s a good skill to learn. But then I tell them, if they want to host a sushi party, there’s a secret easy way.”
It’s called temaki-style sushi, and it’s a sort of make-your-own system — ingredients are laid out and people add their own stuff to a single sheet of seaweed paper, then roll it up into one big cone.
“Temaki-style is actually the more common way you would see sushi served for guests back in Japan,” said Teshima.
The other big advantage to temaki: no cutting.
If you want to try your hand at making sushi, you can find everything you need at the KyoMart, 5701 Lewis Ave. The store is open noon to 6:30 p.m., Tuesday to Sunday.