I know this may sound odd, but bear with me. About 40 years ago, my partner and I opened a tiny Japanese Restaurant in East Oakland. This was the 1980’s. We served sushi at OishiSo. At the time my wife and children were vegetarian. Since the kinds of sushi for non-fish-eating folks were limited, we came up with an alternative to fish protein: we used nuts. Everyone was using sesame seeds and tobiko on the outside of rolls, they still do. But for vegetarians there was little to create menus from. These were our entries into the sushi world, as it were. We made California Rolls: inside out roll, crab, avocado, cucumber and we used chopped pistachios on the outside of the roll. No sesame, no tobiko. Hamachi Mango Maki: inside out roll, hamachi, arau negi, sliced mango and we used chopped macadamia nuts on the outside. Lastly, Unakyu Maki with pine nuts: inside out roll, unagi, avocado, cucumber, and toasted pine nuts on the outside. The experience is about having the nuts and their oils be a complement to the vinegar rice and the fish. This was way before the internet. We did get some reviews though. And the use of vegetables, fruit, pickled veg and nuts made some very tasty non fish meals. So my challenge to you is: try nuts with sumeshi/ shari, it may open your eyes. Have you ever eaten a maguro nigiri sushi with a thin slice of strawberry served on it? How about a saba nigiri with a thin slice of apple pear on top? There is also something using fresh fruit and vegetables paired with nama sakana and fish oil of what ever you are eating. Kind of like eating sushi gari to cleanse your pallet between bites? We also had our take on futo maki: kampyo, tamago, shiitake mushrooms, horenso, radicchio leaf, and raw cashews. And yet another futo maki: cucumber, kinpira gobo, asparagus, strawberry and toasted pine nuts. It’s been 40 years. Have you ever seen or thought to try this? Anyway a bit of sushi lore from California. Cheers.
by BadP0ppa