Potstickers, also called gyoza, are dumplings that get their name from the appearance of their crisp, browned underside.

Potstickers often contain pork, shrimp or a combination of both. If you have shellfish allergies or do not include pork or shellfish in your diet, ground chicken is a great way to enjoy potstickers. Ground chicken, rather than ground beef or ground turkey, mimics the consistency produced by the more traditional pork or shrimp fillings.

The filling for this recipe is fully flavored. Rather than using a flavored dipping sauce, I recommend using just a bit of full sodium soy sauce if needed.  

 No Pork, No Shellfish Potstickers (Gyoza) 

Makes about 30 Potstickers

1/2 pound ground chicken

3/4 cup finely chopped cabbage

2 tablespoon green onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon finely minced garlic

1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger

2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon sambal chili paste

pinch of salt

about 2 tablespoon corn starch to make a slurry (optional)

vegetable oil for frying

30 gyoza wrappers, or as needed

In a medium bowl, combine the ground chicken, cabbage, green onion, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sambal chili paste and salt. Place covered in refrigerator until ready to assemble potstickers.

In a small bowl add enough water to cornstarch to make a thick paste.  Alternately, water alone can be used to seal the potstickers. Open gyoza wrappers and lay a damp kitchen towel across to keep wrappers from drying out.

Lay a few wrappers on a clean, dry surface. Wet all the edges with cornstarch slurry or water. Place a teaspoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper. Fold the sides up to form a semicircle, and then pinch the edges to seal. Resist the urge to overfill, as it will be difficult to keep the edges sealed. Continue with the rest of the wrappers until the filling is gone. Place potstickers between layers of waxed paper or on plastic chopping mats to prevent them from sticking together. Store covered in refrigerator until ready to cook. These can be prepped a day in advance.

To cook, heat about 1 tablespoon oil in a heavy frying pan over medium-high to high heat. Add 4-5 potstickers (do not overcrowd pan) and allow to brown, about 2 minutes. Carefully add about 1/2 cup of water to the pan. Cover the pan and cook until the water is absorbed (3 to 5 minutes). Repeat with the remaining potstickers.

Serve hot or room temperature.

* The dumplings may alternatively be fried on both sides for about 2-3 minutes or until filling is completely cooked. *

by Marisa Baggett

Many would be surprised to find that I count Michael Jackson as one of the most influential figures in my sushi career. I never had the pleasure of meeting the superstar nor have I ever found any accounts of him being a sushi lover. I can’t do the moonwalk and haven’t committed all the dance steps of Thriller to memory. Yet I can confidently say if it weren’t for him, I may not have ever ventured into a career of sushi. In the past when people would say to me that I couldn’t become a sushi because I was a black female, I super-imposed Michael Jackson doing the moonwalk over their image in my mind and find strength. Whenever I face a sushi challenge or feel like I can’t press out one more nigiri-zushi, I can use the same image or turn on his music and once again I am strong. In essence, I equate sushi with Michael Jackson and the connection came to me in a very unexpected way.

About ten years ago in the town of Starkville, Mississippi, I owned a small restaurant called The Chocolate Giraffe. The restaurant, which could best be described as an eclectic upscale sandwich shop and bakery, was the storefront for a catering company as well as a coffeehouse.  Back in those days I dreamt of becoming the town’s premiere baker of spunky wedding cakes as well as becoming the it caterer. It was through my catering business that I agreed to provide sushi for a dinner party despite having no knowledge of the cuisine. A few employees that had actually frequented sushi bars in other towns put it all together while I focused on the ambiance. The party was a huge success and The Giraffe as we were so known, began hosting weekly sushi nights.

I liked sushi enough. On the one hand, it added a distinct panache to the restaurant’s reputation. It was pretty and one could barely argue against the income it provided. We were the only sushi game in town, not a single one of us was Asian, and it felt great to do something we were told by another restaurant owner would never catch on. But for all of its glory, sushi didn’t touch a special place in my heart. In fact, it literally didn’t touch me and vice versa. I opted instead for a more hands off approach, directing my line cooks on presentation and creating the menus without ever once preparing any of it.

Sitting at the bar one sunny afternoon and recovering from a lunch service, I watched as my father parked his pick up truck in front of the restaurant. He entered very purposely, removed his signature cowboy hat and took a seat next to me. He offered no greeting but instead looked me directly in the eyes.

“Even Michael Jackson still has to dance,” he said.

It seemed a strange, irrelevent thing to say. I had expected to hear a report that I had perhaps overspent my labor budget for the prior week or something of the sort. Daddy, who doubled as a business partner, rarely visited mid afternoon unless there was some corrective action I needed to implement immediately. He must have known that I was confused because he repeated his profound statement.

“Even Michael Jackson still has to dance. You serve sushi but you don’t even make it. Even Michael Jackson still has to dance, “ he offered.

And before I could respond, he replaced his hat and left me sitting alone at the bar.  His words haunted me all afternoon. His words couldn’t have been any more timely as it was the eve of one of our most booked sushi nights. As usual, he was right. How could I continue to justify not taking a more active approach?

I retired from work early that evening and curled up at home with a thick stack of sushi books. As I flipped through page after page of beautifully photographed nigiri-zushi and maki, my father’s words rang over and over again in my head. I had to at least give sushi making a try or I would never hear the end of it. I resigned to make the most of it and spent hours reading about the cuisine and comparing various tips on its preparation. 

With more studying what once seemed so foreign and elusive became somewhat familiar. Though having no hands on experience, I had a hunch that I would know what to do when the time came. I closed my eyes and imagined myself to be a sushi “dancer” that allowed the preparation of sushi to flow through me like music does an amazing dancer.

The next day, I joined my staff in the kitchen. They raised eyebrows when I announced that I would be joining them in making sushi for the night. When the preparations were nearly complete, we all huddled around the pot of rice and watched as little tufts of steam emerged. This had always been their favorite part of the process. I had to admit that it was mesmerizing quite like a mysterious dance partner beckoning one onto the floor. It was at that very moment that I fell in love with sushi. Sushi beckoned me onto the “dance floor” and I accepted. It was then that I knew sushi and I would have a lifelong affair.

“I think we’re ready to open. What are we listening to tonight?” asked one of the kitchen guys.

I smiled and retrieved a cd from my purse, slipping it into the player without letting anyone see. I took a deep breath of the vinegar-perfumed air before pressing play and resuming my place behind the counter. Within seconds, the tell tale beat of Billie Jean filled the restaurant.  I hovered my hands over the sushi rice. I was ready…ready to dance.

“Do you sharpen your own knives?” people often ask.

Of course! Most chefs do. Knives are sort of a chefly pride. The contents of a chef’s knife case is one of the mechanisms we use to size each other up. A cool knife collection earns base points, knowing how to use them properly adds more, and having the sharpest ones in the kitchen definitely gives you the edge. We love our knives and we love flaunting our ability to sharpen them. Ever seen a chef whip out a big scary knife and run the blade briskly across a metal steel?

But did you know that using a honing steel doesn’t actually sharpen the knife? Instead it conditions the metal blade, giving the appearance of sharpness. This is a great way to keep knives going in between sharpening. To truly sharpen a knife, some of the knife’s metal must actually be removed.  This can be achieved with a ceramic whetstone or an oil stone.  If you own carbon steel knives, a ceramic whetstone must be used. Never use an oil stone to sharpen carbon steel knives.

For the home cook, investing in sharpening stones may be too costly as quality stones can run upwards of $50 each. If you don’t want to invest in a stone for your stainless steel knife, try one of these creative sharpening methods that I picked up from Chef Ben Smith of Tsunami restaurant in Memphis, TN. These methods should only be used on stainless steel knives and are not appropriate for carbon steel.

The Coffee Mug Method (Stainless Steel only!)

pictured above

Grab coffee mug and flip it over. If it has a rough circle (often white) that feels like unfinished ceramic, then you can use it for sharpening. To sharpen, place the blade of the knife flat against the mug (the unfinished circle) as close to the base of the knife as possible. Glide full extent of the blade across mug then flip the knife over and repeat on the other side. Do this a few times making sure that both sides were stroked the same number of times. Run knife under water and wipe clean to remove debris before use.

The Unfinished Ceramic Method (Stainless Steel only!)

Have a piece of pottery with a flat, unfinished bottom? It can also be used to sharpen a knife. Turn pottery piece over to the unfinished side. Place blade of knife flat against piece of pottery as close to base of knife as possible. Glide the full extent of knife blade across the unfinished ceramic.  Flip knife over and repeat on the other side. Do this a few times making sure that both sides were stroked the same number of times. Run knife under water and wipe clean to remove debris before use.

This polishing method, from Harris Salat of The Japanese Food report, works wonders on any sort of knife, including carbon steel sushi knives. Use this for fine-tuning for an already sharp knife. (Thanks so much, Harris for this tip!)

The Newspaper Method (All knife types)

Make sure you knife is dry. Place a sheet of dry newspaper (all black and white ink) flat. Lay the blade of your knife flat on the newsprint and gently glide the blade across the paper, keeping blade flat the entire time. Do this a few times and repeat the same number of times on the other side of the knife. If knife is one sided carbon steel, it is not necessary to repeat on both sides evenly. Run knife under water and wipe clean to remove debris before use.

The Golden Knife Rule : NEVER pick up a chef’s knife without permission!

Pickled vegetables such as eggplant, burdock root and daikon are quite commonly used as components for sushi rolls. In my first days of creating sushi in a small Mississippi town, recipes for pickled vegetable rolls popped up in nearly every sushi book I could find. But most of them I could neither pronounce nor find in my local, closet sized Asian market.  A few of the more traditional books featured recipes for pickled items; but daikon radish and small Japanese style eggplants were also unavailable. Like so many times before, I had to improvise.

The task was an easy one as Southerners have such a great tradition of preserving. Between peppers, green beans, chow chow and a host of other canned jewels the hardest part was narrowing down the selection. My favorite pickled vegetable, next to dill cucumbers, had always been okra. This didn’t seem like a stretch as many of the Japanese cookbooks I flipped through for inspiration contained okra recipes. Pickled okra sushi? Why not!

This recipe uses the technique for rolling thick sushi rolls. Review this method with detailed instructions and step by step photos here.

Pickled Okra Futomaki

Makes 1 futomaki roll, 5 pieces

1 4in x 7in piece nori

about 1/2 cup prepared sushi rice

2 blanched green beans

small pinch of matchstick cut carrots

1 large pickled okra, cut in half lengthwise

2 thin strips of red bell pepper

1 tsp finely chopped scallion

1/2 tsp toasted sesame seeds

wasabi, optional

pickled ginger, optional

soy sauce for dipping, optional

Place nori vertically, rough side facing upwards, on a bamboo rolling mat. Using wet hands, spread prepared sushi rice evenly on the bottom 2/3 of the nori.

Next, add roll ingredients according to the method for making thick sushi rolls. Place scallions and sesame seeds in a line across the center of the rice. Place okra halves end to end in the center of the rice. It’s okay if the ends extend past the roll as this makes a nice presentation. Top with green beans and red bell pepper strips, being sure that all ingredients extend the length of the sushi roll.

Roll according to the method for making thick sushi rolls. Allow roll to set seam side down on cutting surface for 2 minutes before cutting into 5 pieces.  Serve with pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce for dipping if desired.

I am obsessed with using grapefruit and jalapeno as flavor components for sashimi. If you have ever eaten sashimi with me, you have most likely had a variation of this preparation. The grapefruit segments look and have the feel of a piece of sashimi when first hitting the tongue, while a thin slice of jalapeno serves as the heat in lieu of wasabi. Sea salt sprinkled on top takes the place of soy sauce.

The application is great with Hawaiian snapper or as pictured here with tako, or octopus. For the octopus, I added a small topping of onion salad. The onion salad is simple – thinly sliced onions and finely chopped scallions tossed with a little bit of sushi rice dressing. 

This makes a refreshing hot weather dish.

 A thought revisited…

Do you prefer your sushi traditional or more on the creative side? When talking with sushi lovers, the subject of creative license versus stick to the basics is polarizing and often a topic of great debate. If you tend to fall on the stick to the basics end, then you may become quite disappointed with sushi over the next few years as global seafood sustainability issues become more of a concern. The sushi industry is a major contributor to issues of seafood sustainability. Environmentalists warn that sushi lovers may soon see the extinction of the bluefin tuna, sushi’s trophy fish.

Before imagining a sushi bar without bluefin tuna, let’s think back to the creation of the California roll. Though we may think of the California roll as a roll to satisfy beginning sushi palates, it didn’t begin that way. According to author Trevor Corson’s The Story of Sushi, the California roll was created to please the palates of Japanese businessmen at the restaurant Tokyo Kaiken in the late 1960’s. Chef Ichiro Mashita was having difficulties obtaining toro and needed a way to satisfy the rich taste and creamy texture of the fatty tuna belly. He resourcefully used avocados, which were plentiful, combined with crab to create the sensation of toro on the tongue. His creation later became one of the most important developments in sushi history – a development that was heralded because toro was unavailable.

Over the years, the California roll has became quite popular and has landed a permanent spot on sushi bars across America. But for all its popularity and ingenuity, the creative precedence it has set often gains mixed reviews for other would be classics. The idea of sushi being a creative endeavor rather than a strict regimen to be followed has worldwide critics suggesting that creative sushi isn’t sushi at all. These critics insist that sushi ingredients remain the same, no matter what.

And that brings us back to bluefin tuna. If what environmentalists and scientists suggest about bluefin tuna being on the verge of extinction is true, what will sushi lovers do when the supply is exhausted? What will we eat this time when toro, which incidentally comes from the fatty belly of the bluefin tuna, is unavailable? Will we embrace the world of sushi creativity and allow our sushi chefs to apply Mashita’s ingenuity? Or will we abandon sushi altogether?

Or will we embrace the world of creative sushi now while there is still a chance for the bluefin? If we could learn to eat less bluefin and allow our palates to be tantalized by some of the other fish in the sea, perhaps the bluefin population could stand a chance at survival and enjoyment for future generations.

 Photo by Josh Hailey

With the popularity of sushi growing in the United States, the number of non Asian sushi chefs is also on the rise. And for those chefs of non Asian background, sushi has become yet another way of culinary expression. This phenomenon might at first seem to be a loss in the traditions and essence of the Japanese way of sushi, but you may be surprised to find that some of these chefs could be key in helping Americans understand what the spirit of sushi is truly about.

Trevor Corson, author of The Story of Sushi, weighs in on the American sushi chef.  Atlantic Monthly Article: American Sushi (June 2009)

Slideshow Narrated by Trevor Corson 

Of interest Mo Rocca on White Sushi Chefs- Is Sushi Chefdom Still a Birthright?  

Sashimi to Contemplate

Because I create fusion style sushi for a restaurant inspired by the flavors of the Pacific Rim, I get to incorporate a world of flavors in my sushi creations. Though the same is true of sashimi, it is to be noted that any successful fusion sashimi is best served in the Japanese tradition – very fresh and very simple.  

Here, I infused sashimi with a touch of India. Hawaiian tombo (albacore) is served simply with jalapeno mint chutney on a few baby greens. The spicy chutney eliminates the need for wasabi, while a sprinkling of sea salt replaces the need for soy sauce. (Soy sauce would not pair as well with the flavor of the chutney.)

Have you ever tried fusion style sashimi? If so, what were some of your favorites or least favorites? 

Chirashi zushi, also known as scattered sushi, is unrolled sushi served in a container. Often the container is a small bowl or lacquered box. A layer of sushi rice is placed inside the container, then topped or “scattered” with various ingredients such as fish, pickled vegetables, and roe.

I like to use martini glasses to present chirashi zushi. Through the glass bottom you can see what it usually concealed by the walls of a bowl or box. Also, I find that a martini glass is the ideal serving size – large enough for a satisfying sample without filling up.

For this chirashi, I wanted to showcase seared albacore tuna. I kept it simple and accompanied the albacore with cucumber, masago fish roe, and Japanese omelet that I pressed through a fine sieve. Ponzu makes the perfect dipping companion.

Martini Chirashi Zushi with Albacore

Serves 1

About 1/2 cup prepared sushi rice

2 tsp masago

about 2 ounces albacore tuna, lightly seared

about 1/2 in bundle of matchstick cut cucumber

1 thin slice of tamago (Japanese omelet), pressed through a fine sieve

finely shredded daikon for garnish

pickled ginger for garnish

wasabi, optional

ponzu for dipping

To assemble chirashi, place 1/2 tsp masago in the bottom of the martini glass. Gently press sushi rice into glass. Rice should fill about 2/3 of the glass. Spread tamago across the surface of the rice.

Begin with the back of your presentation by placing a mound of shredded daikon on top of the rice between the 12 o’clock and 1 o’clock position. Next, mound the remaining masago in about the three o’clock position. Mound pickled ginger between the 9 o’clock and 10 o’clock position. Carefully lay cucumber bundle across the top of the pickled ginger, being careful not to flatten the ginger.

Cut albacore tuna into desired size slices. Carefully prop them up in the 6 o’clock position. If necessary, adjust presentation slightly so that the entire surface of the rice is covered.

Serve with wasabi and ponzu for dipping.

Cucumber and peanuts is a winning combo whether it makes up just a small component of a salad with tangy vinaigrette or whether the combo is combined with soy sauce and vinegar for a great dipping sauce. The combination is equally as stunning in a sushi roll as the vinegar dressed rice provides just the right amount of zip.

In this sushi roll, shrimp is added to give the roll an almost spring roll like feel.  A topping of Thai sweet chili sauce brings it all together beautifully. Try adding your favorite aromatics such as cilantro or Thai basil for a more fragrant sushi roll. Also, an imitation crabstick make be used in place of the shrimp.

Peanut Shrimp Maki

Makes 1 sushi roll of 6-8 pieces

This recipe uses the technique for rolling inside out sushi rolls.

1 4in x 7in sheet nori

about 1 cup prepared sushi rice

2 – 3 shrimp, boiled on skewers to straighten

2 sticks cucumber, approx French fry sized

pinch of shredded romaine lettuce

2 TBSP unsalted roasted peanuts, finely chopped

1 TBSP Thai sweet chili sauce

Cut shrimp in half lengthwise and set aside.

Place nori, rough side facing upwards, horizontally on your work surface. Cover the entire surface of nori in a thin even layer of prepared sushi rice. Flip nori over.

Place cucumber sticks horizontally end to end in the center of the nori, making sure they extend the full length of the nori. Next, top with shrimp pieces making sure they extend the full length of the nori. Then top with shredded romaine lettuce. (Just a small pinch will suffice.)

Roll according to the method for rolling inside out sushi rolls. Before cutting into pieces, sprinkle chopped peanuts over the top and sides of the sushi roll. Use a bamboo rolling mat to press the peanuts to the roll. Cut roll into 6 or 8 pieces.

Place sushi pieces on a plate. Drizzle Thai chili sauce over the pieces. Serve with pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce for dipping if desired.