The Japan Society
Publications Books & Journals The Japan Society Review

Sushi Slim

Sushi Slim
By Makiko Sano
Quadrille Publishing
April 2013, 128 pages
ISBN 1849491755
Review by Mike Sullivan

In my opinion one of the best Japanese restaurants in West London is Suzu in Hammersmith, which is run by Makiko Sano and was opened in 2009. The talented chef behind this restaurant originally had her own catering business before being asked to run the sashimi takeaway counter in Selfridges. Besides her restaurant, catering business and giving sushi lessons, she has also taken the time to write a book to reveal some of the ‘secrets’ behind Japanese food. Sushi Slim came out in 2013, it is a lovely looking book and a quick flick through reveals many beautiful photos.

In the introduction Makiko explains her view that Japanese food has the ability to boost both slimming and natural beauty, furthermore she claims that it is also the perfect fast food for busy people. As can be gathered from the title of the book, there is a focus on becoming slim through eating Japanese cooking. For example, a facts and figures page shows how Japanese people tend to apparently only eat until they are 80% full, that the calorie intake in Japan is considerably lower than the global average and, in a typical week, we are told Japanese people will eat around 100 varieties of food in comparison to 30 in the UK. She goes on to explain about the different health benefits of specific ingredients and to devise a meal plan.

Before actually going into the specifics of making sushi, Makiko provides a very thorough explanation behind basic things such as cooking rice correctly, cutting vegetables, choosing fish and how to cut fish as well as elaborating on key ingredients that can be found in a Japanese kitchen. The rest of the book consists of step by step guides to making different kinds of sushi as well as other simple yet delicious dishes. This is aided by illustrative photos which make the instructions easy to follow and also made me hungry! For example, for hosomaki rolls her simple paragraphs combined with clear photos make it seem very easy to make this kind of sushi. The following pages show the different kinds of ingredients that you can put in hosomaki and look very delicious.



Every kind of sushi is explained in this lovely book; however it is just as enjoyable to browse the photos. They serve as a reminder of how varied Japanese cuisine can be.