Sushi Art Cookbook: The Complete Guide to Kazari Sushi

This fun and instructive guide from Kawasumi, one of Japan’s most highly acclaimed sushi chefs and a principal lecturer at the Japanese Sushi Institute, teaches home cooks to create exquisite maki and sushi that are almost too striking to eat. This is a complete guide, beginning with the basic tools needed, best practices, and professional tips for handling, rolling, and cutting. His expert tutelage starts with simple rolls and shapes including squares, triangles, and raindrops. Shaped rolls are combined to form flower rolls; patterns made with various colored and shaped ingredients eventually become more detailed and awe-inspiring. Rolls shaped like smiley faces and clowns are whimsical and accessible; samurai, penguins, and reindeer require more precision and patience. Kawasumi provides a step-by-step cutting guide, complete with photos, to show differentiations between preparing tuna, whitefish, and squid, and to explain rice-shaping basics and decorative knife work. There are instructions for sculpting squid in the form of cherry blossoms, rabbits, and peacocks as well as guidelines for experimenting with such toppings as roe and nori. Kawasumi has provided an excellent guide that’s perfect for those looking to step up their sushi game. (Dec.)