Making The Best Out Of Your Takeaway Sushi

Takeaway sushi, or to be more specific, on the shelf sushi is the worst form of sushi you can get. They're cold, dry, takes some effort to chew on and ultimately not the kind of sushi you would want to spend a good amount of money on. The rice is often tightly compacted to avoid breaking apart during transportation of the sushi to the diner.

Read More : What Makes A Great Sushi

However if you're somehow desperate for sushi in your workplace or back home and do not have the time to visit a sushi restaurant, there are ways to ensure that you get the best flavor from your sushi. Some might take a bit additional effort so use your discretion whether you want to take the steps below to further enhance your takeaway sushi.

Don't Consume Your Sushi Cold

Considering how takeaway sushi are stored in coolers and worsen by the fact that Webster and Dictionary.com includes the term 'cold rice' into their definition of sushi, it is easily misunderstood that sushi must be consumed while it is still cold. This is simply not true and one of the worst possible way you can consume your sushi. At lower temperature the starch solidify hence making the rice more chewy and lose its flavor. Hence you should attempt to bring your sushi to at least room temperature before consuming.

If you have the option on purchasing your sushi a few in hours in advance then it is best not to bother storing it in the fridge before consumption. A nigiri sushi from the cool shelf will take 1.5 to 2 hour to bring it back to room temperature . Rice and raw fish takes about 10 hours before it gets the first hint of mould growing so don't worry too much about the sushi going bad especially one purchased from a reputable outlet.

Keep your sushi covers on when leaving it outside

However if you are looking to consume your sushi straight upon purchase then there's nothing much you can do. If you're being particular you can feel the packaging to identify which is warmer although the difference in taste will be minimal. If the outlet packages their sushi on site you can ask if they could make a fresh batch of sushi for you before it hits the cooler.

Warm Up The Rice

Ideally you will want to consume the rice at body temperature (it will still feel slightly warm when it touches your lip since your lip is exposed to the generally lower room temperature). However in the case of most takeaway sushi the rice and vineger used is subpar to those in sushi bar so I find that warming up the rice has a significant impact on the taste. Not only it reduce the chewy sensation of a cold sushi but it allows the starch in the rice to react with the vinegar for that sweet flavor. As the rice forms the majority of the sushi flavor it is worth warming up the rice to extract as much flavor as possible. I have two approach to get this done :

Method 1 : Warm Up The Serving Plate In Hot Water

Keep the water hot but never let it boil

Place your sushi onto the plate an into a pan of hot water. The surface of the plate should be slightly wet as to prevent the rice from sticking onto the plate when heated. It is highly recommended that you bring your sushi into room temperature first before heating the rice on a hot plate to prevent the case of a warm outside but cool inside. The tip here is to remember not to keep your water boiling as we do not want the steam to cook the surface of the sashimi. The moment you see some steam emitted you would want to turn the stove off. We also want to avoid the case of having the rice warm on the outside but still cold in the inside so we'll need to warm it up slowly. It takes approximately 6-8 minutes to bring your sushi up to the optimal temperature for consumption.

Downside of this method is you need some tools to remove a hot plate from hot water.

You can also heat up the sushi in the original packaging although you might want to evaluate the material used in the packaging and how it would react to the high temperature of the bottom of the pan. Using this method is less tedious than using a ceramic plate but it takes a longer time. You can also bring the water in the pan to a higher temperature (I recommend that you bring it to a boil and turn the stove off immediately once you see the first hint of boiling). Keep the cover intact to prevent the steam for creeping in and cooking the sashimi. We only want to bottom part of the packaging to be hot to warm up the rice.

Method 2 : Warming Up The Plate With Microwave

This method is less effective compared to using hotwater but it warms the rice enough. For this to work it is essential that you bring your sushi to room temperature first or this won't work. You will need a ceramic microwave friendly plate for this to work. Fill the surface with a bit of water till you get a shallow pool.

Find a plate with a thick bottom to maximize heat retention

Place it in the microwave and heat it up for 30-45 seconds depending on the plate's thickness. Now this might seem very long but we need the plate to be as hot as possible once it's done. The moment it is done safely remove the plate from the microwave and quickly start placing your sushi on the plate. There should still be some slight steam emitting from the water in the plate and this should help moist the rice a little bit more. After 2 minutes your sushi is ready for consumption.

Use Your Own Condiment

This is a more extreme measure and I personally wouldn't recommend doing so unless you foresee yourself having takeaway sushi at least once a week, and even so the amount of improvement in flavor you'll get is minimal.

Another tip to consider is to warm up the soy sauce before using it. If you place it in one of those soy plate like the above picture it takes literary 2 seconds to heat up your soy sauce using a microwave (at max power). Having a heated up soy sauce slightly brings up the temperature of your sashimi and gives a sensation of fresh warmth from your fish.

For my wasabi (or rather, horseradish) I prefer a powdered kind as I can determine the impact of the burn by controlling the amount of water I mix into it. Personally I mix very little water into my powder as this gives a stronger burn but at a shorter frame of time. 

Once Again, Cold Sushi is Bad Sushi!

The main takeaway in all of this is mainly avoiding having your sushi cold. You'll be surprised how the simple act of simply leaving out your sushi to bring to room temperature can significantly enhance the flavor. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got several emails to write to various dictionary website on removing the term 'cold' when defining sushi.