Читать книгу Vegetarian Sushi Secrets - Marisa Baggett - Страница 5

Try This at Home!

Foreword by Justin Fox Burks and Amy Lawrence

So there we were, tucked away in a dark corner of a Japanese restaurant one night in Memphis. We were out of our depth.

First, we stumbled over the pronunciation of “edamame.” Then, we ate the entire bowl of soybeans—pods and all. After searching in vain for discarded pods, our server kindly set us straight. We had much to learn.

Strangely enough for Southern vegetarians, sushi is a significant part of our diet. We grew up around Memphis and stayed in the area for college. Sushi dates were an escape from cafeteria food. It became a tradition for both special occasions and bad-day pick-me-ups.

In time, we moved out of the shadows and sidled up to the sushi bar, where we could watch the chefs assemble their beautiful works of art. We asked questions—lots of them.

Our intense enthusiasm led us to find our favorites and develop preferences. We picked up the terminology, and could soon say the words with confidence (and a big Southern accent). But sushi was still only for special occasions.

One Valentine’s Day about twelve years ago, we worked up the courage to try to make vegetarian sushi at home. Some light research plus the foggy recollections of interrogating long-suffering sushi chefs years ago led us to cautiously believe that we were up to the task. After all, we were no slouches in the kitchen!

We remember the excitement of that trip to the Asian grocery to pick up all the tools and ingredients we needed to make our very first vegetarian sushi rolls. We arrived home with the items, laid everything out on the counter, and got to work.

Trepidation built as we started the sushi rice, sliced vegetables and decided which ingredients we wanted to pair together. But all of the anxiety melted away when our first roll stayed together and looked just about right. It may not have been perfect—or all that pretty—but this first tentative bloom of success was the next thrilling step in our lifelong sushi journey. The first bite tasted like victory.

These days, sushi is missing the rarity and mystery it had when we first tried it. We still enlist sushi to celebrate life’s high points, but now we also have it for lunch on a Saturday or dinner on a Tuesday. And it’s the perfect thing to make when you have guests coming over.

If they don’t know any better, diners may come to the conclusion that sushi consists solely of a piece of raw fish and a little rice, The reality is that sushi is infinitely adaptable to a vegetarian diet. We love to add unexpected seasonal elements like pickled okra, sweet potatoes, and corn, as well as other local ingredients.

Vegetarian Sushi Secrets is truly a gift—it places a lifetime of sushi knowledge into your hands. It’s not about what’s missing; it’s about tapping into a vast array of fruits and vegetables, pairing favorite flavors, and finding new combinations that will delight your senses. It’s also about adding a healthy focus to our diets. It will open your mind and expand your palate. Use it as a road map for your next special meal.

Justin Fox Burks and Amy Lawrence

authors of The Southern Vegetarian and

The Chubby Vegetarian blog