Makoto Okuwa
MORIMOTO | New York
Makoto Okuwa began his culinary career at the age of 15 working
in sushi restaurants in Japan. He relocated to the United States
to work at the acclaimed Sushi Taro in Washington, DC.
Okuwa was recruited as the top sushi chef at Morimoto in
Philadelphia. As part of the opening team of the restaurant's New
York outpost, Okuwa oversees the sushi menu of this Meatpacking
District mega-restaurant. His sushi is rooted in the traditional
Japanese ingredients and techniques of his upbringing but ventures
into an innovative and modern realm with ingredients, flavor combinations
and presentations that appeal to the sophisticated, contemporary
American palate. For example, in his signature shikai maki,
(a square-shaped maki roll), Okuwa wraps tuna with prosciutto and
serves it in a bowl with dashi foam and mountain peach lollipops.
Shikaimaki Wrapped With Prosciutto Di
Parma
Chef Makoto Okuwa of Morimoto – New York, NY
Adapted by StarChefs.com
Yield: 6 Pieces
Ingredients:
Rice:
- 4 ounces sushi rice
- Japanese sugar, to taste
- Salt, to taste
- Rice vinegar, to taste
- Red rice vinegar, to taste
- Kombu seaweed, to taste
Dashi Foam:
- 500 milliliters dashi
- 100 milliliters mirin
- 2 Tablespoons soy lecithin
Roll:
- 1 ounces Blue Fin Tuna
- 1 ounce sweet egg omelet
- 2 sheets nori
- Sushi rice
- 1 Japanese cucumber
- All purpose flour, to dust
- 1 ounce Prosciutto di Parma
- Egg wash, to cover roll
- Panko, to cover roll
- Oil for frying
Method:
For the Sushi Rice:
Steam rice and season with sugar, salt, vinegars and kombu to taste.
For the Dashi Foam:
Combine all ingredients and mix with stick blender till combined
and foamy.
For the Roll:
Cut tuna and sweet egg omelet into 1/8-inch by 1/8-inch by 4-inch
pieces. Use five egg pieces and four tuna pieces per roll. Assemble
the nori and sushi rice as if to make an inside out roll, and wrap
the quartered cucumber. Cut the maki lengthwise following the cut
of the cucumber. Take the second nori sheet and fill with the quartered
cumber maki in the following manner: at a 90-degree angle down,
then a quarter-inch of space, then another quarter down, and another
space. After all four quarters are down, place your tuna and egg
omelet block between the first and second quarters and roll to connect
the third and fourth. Wrap the prosciutto around the roll. Brush
the surface with egg wash, coat with Panko, and fry. Cut a cross
section of maki and serve with dashi foam.
Wine Pairing:
Champagne, Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Blanc de Blancs, Cotes de Blancs,
2002
|
