Chapter 6: A Sushi Chef’s Tools

You can make sushi with ordinary Western kitchen implements, but Japanese tools designed for the task will enable you to work more efficiently and produce superior results. I recommend you buy at least a makisu (bamboo rolling mat) and a tawashi (hard brush). These and the other tools described in this chapter can be obtained from large Japanese food stores, Asian supermarkets, some kitchen supply stores, and several Internet vendors (for help in locating suppliers, see “Sources for Japanese Food Products” and “Sources for Japanese Kitchen Equipment,”). You will also need a sushi-oke (wooden tub) or large, unfinished wooden salad bowl and a good, sharp knife. If you plan to slice fish for sashimi or nigiri-zushi, you should get one of the long-bladed Japanese knives made for this purpose.