Succulent sushi

Some wag has remarked, "In America we have a word for sushi: bait." Not anymore.

Sushi is on a roll in this country, not just on the east and west coasts where patrons stand in line for hours at places like Nobu eagerly awaiting a raw deal, but even in the Midwest and in Southeast Missouri, where, thanks to wrap artists at Saffron Pan-Asian Restaurant in Cape Girardeau, it's holding its own against barbecued ribs and chicken-fried steak.

If you've ever tried sushi, this comes as no surprise. A small mound of seasoned rice and raw fish, often wrapped in seaweed, is, to my mind, perhaps the most exquisite of foods. In it is revealed the essence of Japanese culture. But sushi didn't actually originate in Japan. Rather, it developed on the greater Asian continent, probably along the Mekong River. There people preserved fish by fermenting it in boiled rice. The word "sushi" originally referred to the acidy taste produced by such fermentation. And to this day rice is still the most important ingredient in any sushi.

So, sushi initially was a method of keeping fish. Though exotic to us, it was a perfectly logical development in cultures whose cuisines rely on the sea and rice cultivation. The technique was brought to Japan around the first millennium, though Japanese legend has it that it was discovered there by accident when a fisherman's wife placed leftover rice in an osprey's nest. Returning to the nest sometime later, she discovered that the bird had filled it with fish, which, she discovered, had become quite tasty.

Once the Japanese got hold of sushi they did what they so often do with imports. (Consider the automobile.) They perfected it and made it their own. Indeed, one variety allegedly inspired the design of the modern Japanese flag. Elaborate rituals evolved for the making and eating of sushi. For example, the tsu (sushi expert) is expected to try to line up each grain of rice in the same direction. The oldest record of sushi goes back to the 8th century, but it wasn't until 600 years later that the forerunner of today's sushi was invented when, foregoing fermentation, chefs began using fresh fish and imparting the acidy taste to the rice with vinegar. Not until the 17th century would modern-day sushi, prepared while the customer waited, be created.

Today sushi chefs like Su Hill of Saffron (if you knew sushi like she knows sushi) are breaking new ground with this ancient delicacy. For example she sometimes uses colorful soy wrap in place of the traditional seaweed and her signature dynamite roll is, well, dynamite. With scrupulously fresh ingredients and painstaking preparation, she's proving that sometimes the best way to cook a fish is not to.

Sushi-Roll Rice Salad

Though it's fun to try your hand at making sushi, it's not easy. On the other hand, this terrific salad, a deconstructed version of a sushi roll, contains mostly the same constituents but requires a whole lot less work. The recipe is adapted from Gourmet.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups short-grain sushi rice

1 3/4 cups plus 1 1/2 tablespoons water

1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 medium carrot

1 1/4 teaspoons wasabi paste

1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 large seedless cucumber

3 scallions

3 tablespoons sliced Japanese pickled ginger

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

1 ripe avocado

1 square (6-inch) toasted nori (dried seaweed)

Directions:

Rinse rice in several changes of cold water until almost clear, then drain for 30 minutes. Bring rice and 1 3/4 cups water to a boil in a 3-4 quart saucepan, then simmer, covered, 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand covered for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, bring vinegar, sugar, and salt just to a boil, stirring constantly until sugar is dissolved. Cool 2 minutes. Spread rice in shallow baking pan and sprinkle with vinegar mixture, tossing with a wooden spoon. Shave thin lengthwise slices from carrot using a vegetable peeler, then cut diagonally into 1/4-inch-wide strips. Peel cucumber, halve lengthwise, core and chop. Thinly slice scallions diagonally. Drain ginger slices and coarsely chop. Whisk together wasabi, remaining water and oil. Add rice, carrot, cucumber, scallions, ginger and sesame seeds and toss gently. Halve, pit, and peel avocado and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices. Place avocado and rice mixture on plate. Cut nori into very thin strips with scissors and sprinkle over top. Serves 4.

Listen to A Harte Appetite at 8:49 a.m. Friday on KRCU, 90.9 FM dial. Write A Harte Appetite, c/o the Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0699 or by e-mail to tharte@semissourian.com.