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Sushi Party At-Home

The quick and easy way to throw a party at home: bring in a sushi chef.
By Janet Rosell |

 

Wasabi Wow!
This summer, think cool, clean, and Asian with an easy (and exotic) at-home sushi party.

 
NO RUSH: A few hours to gather theme-appropriate dinnerware and place mats and one call to local sushi chef Seiju Ohnami were all it took to put this party together.

Last year I bought my first home, in a Turtle Creek high-rise. Life has been crazy of late (whose isn’t, right?), and I’ve just finished adding all of the final touches. So it was time for my first real attempt at playing hostess in my own place.

I decided to skip the huge party with wall-to-wall fashionistas and the sit-down dinner with crystal and civilized conversation. They both seemed like too much work, and what I was after was a little fun. This seemed like the perfect time to round up my girlfriends and celebrate life.

The food, of course, needed to be tantalizing -just any old menu would not suffice- but I didn’t want to go the catered route, and I really didn’t want to slave over it myself. Chatting up the staff at my favorite sushi den, Sushi Sapporo, I found out that Executive Sushi Chef Seiju Ohnami will come to your home for parties. Problem solved. Chef Ohnami and I made plans; he would create an inspiring menu and come to my place to teach us a few sushi tricks and entertain my girlfriends on a Sunday afternoon -easy for me and fun for everyone.

As for dcor, it took only four hours, start to finish, to pull my look together: one phone call to R.S.V.P./Soire for china; a trip to Ligne Roset for sushi tables; on to World Market for chopsticks, vases, and Asian accessories; and then a stop at Target to pick up table linens. All the while I’m congratulating myself for hitting on the easiest entertaining idea ever.

 
PRESENTATION IS KEY: Simple white plates, vases, and napkins are striking lined up on bamboo place mats.

The day of the party, my sister-in-law comes over a little early to help with the finishing touches (family is a good thing). Half an hour before the party, Chef Ohnami arrives, with entourage. I’m rarely star-struck, but having Ohnami in my kitchen is incredibly cool. Watching him set up, prep the fish and sauces, and basically make my kitchen his own is amazing. Everything about him is memorable, including his sushi knives.

We chat while he works, and I learn that he started rolling sushi when he was 14 years old and has worked with all of the major chefs in Asia, the United States, and Europe, including my favorite, celebrated Parisian chef Joel Robuchon. Conversation ranges from his recent trip to Tokyo to culinary trends in Spain. Secretly, I vow never to eat sushi prepared by anyone else; he’s a genius.

At 12:30 p.m., my six guests walk through the door. We’re like teenagers again; everyone kicks off their shoes and dives for the floor pillows, where we start munching edamame and

 

sipping sake. Ohnami comes out to greet everyone, and he and Darlis, who was born and raised in Tokyo, are soon conversing in Japanese. It’s all very global.

Within minutes the food starts rolling out of the kitchen: chilled Asari clam with seaweed and spinach, sweet plum-braised duck breast, milk terrine of shrimp and seafood, chilled edamame soup with white truffle essence, mariage of seared bluefin tuna and tiara scallop with yuzu citrus and mango emulsion, slow-braised vegetable sushi, crisp softshell crab roll with honey curry sauce, and fresh mango and flounder sashimi. Just when we think it can’t get any better, it does. The sushi pizza, in particular, was a huge hit all around. We;ve never had many of the dishes on the menu, but we’re all adventurous and, as I said, Ohnami is a genius.

 
KARAOKE: You know it’s a good party when everyone (including the chef) ends up singing and dancing.

Between the courses, a little entertainment is in order, but spontaneity is key. My friend Jeanine does a good Cher, and she obliges us with a mini show. She’s a hit, of course, and, by the time we all join in on I Got You Babe, we’re not the only ones laughing. Ohnami and his assistants are in hysterics. Oh, good, the party’s fun for them, too. Am I the hostess with the mostest, or what?


 

 


 

 

 

 

Chef’s Tools
All of the tools you need to make sushi at home can be purchased at any of the Asian markets listed below.

• Pre-portioned, sliced sushi fish
• Japanese short grain rice (Hitome Bore brand)
• Sushi vinegar or flavored sushi vinegar
• Soya sauce (Yasama brand)
• Freshly grated wasabi
• Seaweed paper (Nori)
• Sushi mats for rolling (Makisu)
• Japanese sushi knives


 

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Chef Ohnami’s Favorite Asian Markets
Nanami Japanese Gourmet Market

17721 Dallas Pkwy.,Ste. 104
972-818-1488

Surpass Oriental Mart
2743 W. 15th St., Plano
972-612-8228

May Hua Supermarket
2220 Coit Rd., Plano
972-398-6988

Nishimoto Trading Co.
1401 Lakeway Dr., Ste. B, Lewisville
972-221-4477

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Perfect Rice Every Time
Japanese short-grain rice
has a very fine husk on the outside of the rice grain. Always wash the rice, scrubbing as if kneading dough, but do not break the rice grains. Rinse several times, until the water is no longer cloudy.

Drain water, place rice in a dry towel, and refrigerate overnight. This makes the cooked rice glossy and shiny.

When steaming rice on the stove, use a heavy pot with a lid and add 1 1/4 cups of water for every cup of rice.

Before serving, mix sushi vinegar into the cooked rice. Allow to cool to just room temperature.

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