Sustainable Sushi Gets a Boost

Inarizushi, One Option, Gets a Makeover

Oct 23, 2008 Jacqueline Church

Some beloved sushi options are cut from fish nearing extinction. Aficionados now reject the serial depletion of species. Great sushi can be sustainable. Learn how.

Most sushi lovers gravitate toward fish. But many sushi choices are cut from species on the brink of extinction. Many people are making environmentally sustainable choices and now reject the notion that we can deplete whole species in serial fashion. Our enjoyment of sushi need not be hampered by commitment to sustainability.

The Challenge for Sustainable Sushi Chefs

Sushi comes from a tradition of highly skilled artisans whose raison d’être is to offer his clients (and sushi chefs are traditionally men) the most exquisite, fresh, exclusive fish available. The priority is luxury and a gourmet experience, not conservation. Japanese have an insatiable hunger for blue fin tuna, yellow fin tuna, almost any tuna, actually. Go to any dock in the world where tuna is caught and you will find a Japanese buyer ready to snatch it up.

These majestic fish swim hundreds of miles, can reach phenomenal speeds, and we’re only just learning some of the most basic facts about them. Once abundant and thriving, the Atlantic bluefin tuna population declined by 99 percent between 1963 and 2007. This seems to have little impact on the Japanese consumer.

Tools for Sushi Lovers that Care

Today’s most exciting news is the advent of sustainable sushi in the US. Three leading conservation groups and a handful of chefs are taking the lead to save the tuna and change our sushi ordering habits. Before you say “it can’t make a difference” recall that swordfish was once hunted to near-extinction. Activist chefs like Rick Moonen (see Fish Without a Doubt) and conservationists campaigned to give swordfish a break and the population has rebounded. We now know how to sustainably harvest swordfish and correctly identify and support suppliers that do so. From near extinction of the species to sustainably harvested - this is a true success story.

We may yet be able to do the same for tuna. Blue Ocean Institute, Seafood Watch, and Environmental Defense Fund teamed up in an unprecedented simultaneous launch of their pocket guides for sushi lovers that care. Stars at the launch/tasting included Kin Wai Lui and Casson Trenor of Tataki Sushi Bar, the nation’s first sustainable sushi bar. Tataki’s fascinating story will be covered in Teach a Man to Fish, the sustainable seafood blog event. Read what Sarah K. Turner has to say about the event here.

Embodying all the best that comes from cross-cultural fluency, Chef Lui (from Hong Kong, raised in Hawaii) and his partners (Raymond Ho, also from Hong Kong; and Casson Trenor, their sustainability guru) at Tataki Sushi Bar in San Francisco have opened the very first sustainable sushi bar in the US. Soon, it’s rumored that Masu East in Portland OR will join Tataki transitioning to sustainable sushi. For now, see Carolyn Jung’s article here.

Vegetarian Sushi Options

It often comes as a surprise when sushi lovers discover the wide range of sushi enjoyed in typical Japanese homes and restaurants. Vegetable rolls such as kanpyo (dried gourd) and the more popular cucumber rolls are just two options. In addition to a host of sustainable fish options, Inarizushi is a largely vegetarian sushi option. Bento boxes often include these hand-sized envelopes of seasoned tofu skin called abura age. The tofu packets are fried then, sugar-soy sauce simmered. They are stuffed with sushi rice mixed with any number of seasonings and garnishes.

This hand-held snack is as common as it is varied. Each cook will add her own touch to the combination of seasonings. Rice may be seasoned as for sushi or not. Additions can include ginger, other vegetables, and more. Perfect for parties or lunchboxes.

Hiroko Shimbo, author of The Sushi Experience and an authority on Japanese cuisine (see Hiroko's Kitchen), offers a recipe for inarizushi that includes autumnal flavors of nuts, raisins, and sesame seeds. One simpler option adds bright pickled ginger to the rice.

Facts, Folklore, Foxes or Kitsune

Like many popular traditional foods, there are stories about inarizushi’s origin, rituals around their enjoyment, and memories of them from childhood. This snack is said to be the favorite of sly foxes or “kitsune”. If you see kitsune on a menu item, it will likely include abura age. Foxes served as mediators between people and Inari - the deity of harvest. In one region of Japan, the pouches are triangular like fox ears.

The copyright of the article Sustainable Sushi Gets a Boost in Gourmet Food is owned by Jacqueline Church. Permission to republish Sustainable Sushi Gets a Boost in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.