We asked Chef Yuki Gomi about secretes to perfect sushi making & favourite Japanese restaurants
Tell us what you do! Who are you!
I’m a Japanese professional chef, teaching and training students in Japanese cooking at Yuki’s Kitchen and Leiths here in London, as well as online. I am a cookery writer, author of Sushi at Home by Penguin.
We love sushi, what is the secret to successful sushi making at home?
Most people believe that raw fish is the key, but for me it starts with a high quality, perfectly cooked rice. Perfect sushi rice is the secret to excellent sushi making at home, as it is in any restaurant.
Last year, I trained chefs in a London seafood restaurant. Much of the session involves the process of cooking the rice, it is only once that this skill is perfected that we start talking about knife skills and fish. If the chefs I’m training can’t stop eating the rice once prepared, that’s a good sign.
Clam Miso Soup. Photo by Keiko Oikawa
Cooking sushi at home, the principles are the same, follow the same steps every time and beautiful, shiny, sticky sushi rice is guaranteed. I have a film on IGTV showing how easy it is:
Do you use miso paste in your sushi recipes? If so, how do you use it?
Miso is a must have ingredient for Japanese food. I use it for a dipping sauce for soba noodle sushi and the miso soup of course!
There’s a well known unique type of sushi from Yamanashi prefecture, where my family home is. Rice is replaced with soba noodles. I use a sesame and miso based sauce for the soba-sushi. Delicious!
What toppings do you choose for miso soup, when pairing with sushi?
I love to pair sushi with a clam miso soup, it’s a fast dish, taking around 15 minutes to prepare. It is based on a subtle kombu dashi, boiled with clams. I then add a light Shiro miso and chopped chives for the garnish. So simple and loads of umami for a wonderful depth of flavour!
Where are your favourite places to get ingredients for making sushi?
I use two great fish suppliers, for ordering in sushi grade fish:
Soldeli – all fish and seafood is perfectly packaged and sent frozen. You can find fatty tuna, crab, fish roe to soft-shell crab. Soldeli is great if you are looking for a Sushi at Home treat, it is like ordering from a sushi counter.
Moxon’s – an amazing English fishmonger, with consistently excellent quality fish and seafood. They have one of the freshest and highest quality range of fish and shellfish in London. I recommend asking the fishmongers at Moxons to recommend the catch of the day, for sustainable and seasonal options.
Who would you most like to eat sushi with and why?
Right now, my family and friends in Japan. I’d do a home Temaki party with friends. It is a no fuss type of sushi, for which you pick ingredients and roll it yourself. It is a great way to serve sushi in a relaxed way, so you can focus on your friends and catching-up. I’ve a short film where it features here:
Which are your favourite Japanese restaurants in the UK?
The first one is Koya restaurant. A simple, perfectly formed restaurant that excels at Udon noodles. I feel like I am in Japan when there and love the fresh udon noodles with crispy tempura. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I was really craving Udon noodles and loved going there by myself for a quick lunch.
The second restaurant is Endo at the Rotunda a Michelin star restaurant. I definitely don’t want to visit this restaurant alone and it is really for special occasions. Head chef Mr. Endo is a real sushi master chef and artist. I chance to really enjoy the moment and every perfect piece of sushi served.
Find out more about Yuki Gomi on her website at www.yukiskitchen.com and be sure to check out her fantastic range of Japanese gifts and kitchenware on her online shop. Follow this link for Yuki’s Kitchen Classes and here for Yuki’s Kitchen Online Classes. Keep up to date with Yuki on her Instagram @yukiskitchen.
Sushi at Home. Published by Penguin Books
Sushi at Home is published by Penguin Books. Follow them @penguinbooks.
Read more from our Pantry Stories series…
As you might have guessed, as a food photographer I get to eat the most amazing food on regular bases and often eat too much good but rich food. I always like to try everything I shoot or what I cast my eye on so I never hold back. I try to balance my diet by eating light and healthy food with plenty of vegetables when I can at home as much as possible but I am not a strict person and I don’t have any rules. It’s taken me many years to learn to balance my diet and I am still far from perfect. I love food, I am naturally too greedy and too curious, I often eat way too much on set.