A Sushi Chef Gives Us Tips For Making Japanese Food At Home
Food | May 6, 2020
By now you’re probably sick of eating all the store-bought snacks and easy-to-make foods you’ve been living off of since quarantine hit. It’s undoubtedly getting old fast. But time is on your side, friend, which is exactly why you should be using these long days to start mastering the restaurant-level foods that you haven’t been able to enjoy as often in isolation (yes, we want to support independent restaurants as often as possible, but that still leaves us with plenty of nights to cook).
If you didn’t grow up in a household where Japanese food was being prepared, today might be your chance to gather some pointers on this diverse foodway. We offered some tips on ramen from chef Hiro Mitsui earlier in the pandemic; this time around, we’re talking about sushi. Our expert on deck is Rangel Suarez, the Chef de Cuisine at Miami’s Katsuya Brickell (which is currently closed due to coronavirus-mitigation efforts). Suarez has spent 30 years in the business focused on Japanese cooking, including working alongside Benihana founder Kudo Masuzo and Iron Chef competitor Makoto Okuwa — “Doing it the traditional way. No shortcuts — it’s step-by-step.”
We spoke with Suarez over the phone and he offered tips for making great sushi rice, gave us fish sourcing advice, and weighed in on when to put wasabi in your rolls.
