My exploration into sushi all started with a query from Ellen Bayens of The Celiac Scene: knowing that rice vinegar used to make sushi rice can contain barley, should we stop referring people to Japanese restaurants? Good question, so I started visiting sushi restaurants asking to see the ingredient list on their sushi vinegar. I was offered lots of samples of vinegar (not my thing at all) but I did eventually get to read the ingredient list on a lot of boxes of vinegar. I didn’t find ANY samples that listed barley in the ingredient list. [Note: Communication can be a huge problem in sushi restaurants. Staff at these restaurants come from a variety of countries, not just Japan.] What I did find was a lot of sushi vinegars containing distilled white vinegar and other flavourings. I also found some that listed rice vinegar as the only ingredient. I wondered if this circular references was legal, so I asked the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. There is a labelling exemption for “grain vinegars” as long as they are distilled.

In this case, the grain is rice. Even if barley was used to start the rice fermentation, the distillation would have removed any potential barley protein, making the vinegar safe for people with celiac disease. So I crossed vinegar off the list of things to worry about. While it is possible that chefs in a high end (read expensive) restaurants use rice vinegar containing barley, the vast majority do not seem to do so.jiro dreams of sushi digital At the same time, however, there were a number of discussions about sushi in various Facebook forums I frequent, where members pointed out a number of ingredients found in sushi of much greater concern:sushi delivery online fortaleza Assume all soy sauce contains wheat unless you read otherwise on the bottle. sushi bento box for sale

The best option is to bring your own. Watch out for other sauces that may contain soy sauce or gluten, such as oyster, fish, teriyaki and tamari sauces. Some will be gluten free, but other brands may not be. Crab in sushi is often fake crab made of surimi, made from pollock, flavouring and a starch, most often wheat starch or flour. Scallop may also be imitation. Tamago, the thin egg omelette, may contain gluten from soy sauce.jiro dreams of sushi soundtrack list Tobiko, coloured fish roe, may contain gluten from soy sauce. Eel and vegetables may be marinated with a sauce containing gluten from soy sauce. Mugicha tea is made from barley. Wasabi paste may contain wheat starch, although wasabi itself is GF. Miso paste (used for miso soup) often contains gluten. Keep an eye out for rolls with panko bread crumbs or tempura flakes. A restaurant may claim to have a GF tempura batter, but make sure it is not cooked in a shared fryer.

Ask the sushi chef to wears wear clean gloves and assemble items on a clean work surface before making your sushi to minimize the risk of cross-contamination. This may sound like a daunting list of things to avoid, but sushi-loving friends tell me there are a lot of healthy options for someone who eats gluten free. If you are reluctant to try it on your own, pair up with an experienced sushi eater who can explain the lingo to you. Sue Newell, with assistance from Ellen Bayans and Mark Johnson. I hope this is not too weird to be asking in a travel forum. I'm into Japanese cooking and am starting to learn sushi making. are there any good shops selling cookery stuff and good quality sushi making kit? I'm staying in Sunroute Shinjuku. You can buy good knifes, shushi oke (kinda like sushi rice bucket) and a world of other authentic sushi goods at Kappabashi near Asakusa. Here is an example: Tokyu Hands also has some sushi things as well. From my experience, I don't think you really need any special tools or kit for making sushi!

You just need the right ingredients like the good rice, vinegar for the rice, crispy fresh seaweed, and whatever you want in the sushi, and a bamboo mat for rolling the sushi. If you are not making maki rolls, then you don't even need any mat. I have seen in Tokyu Hands though these funny cute shapes like cookie cutters and bottles for sauce to squeeze and make writing and faces on the rice for bento/lunch boxes for kids. I got some, and got some like a hole puncher that punches seaweed into funny faces and shapes. Secret to making good sushi is the RICE and really fresh ingredients. Do you mean a bamboo mat (makisu) for roling sushi? Or a wooden container (handai) and a wooden flat spoon (shamoji) which you use when you season sushi rice? Anyway you can find a good range of japanese cooking utensils at Tokyu-Hands in the Southern Terrace, Shinjuku. They don't have tools for professional chefs but good ones for home use. If time permits, you would like to have a look at Kappabashi Street near Asakusa.

All shops along the street deal with a whole range of kitchen tools for business or household. Tawara-cho (tTokyo Metro Ginza line) 5 minutes on foot TX Asakusa (TX line, not Metro) 5 minutes on foot Good luck and enjoy japanese dishes! As mentioned above Kappabashi is amazing. I've been to many places in Japan but the selection and prices there were amazing. I wanted to buy so much there. There are a few links, but this is the area where it is: For day to day items though there are plenty of 100Yen stores where you can pick up things like rolling mats and essential ingredients really cheap. There are many around Tokyo, one example off the top of my head is Ueno station, but I think there are some around Shinjuku as well. The major department stores(Keio, Odakyu) around Shinuku station also sell them, though they tend to be better quality. Tokyu Hands and Muji carry cheaper varieties. Some people, and even restaurants outside of Japan use stainless steel mixing bowls to mix sushi rice.

Talk about using the right tool. I got mine in a local Japanese supermarket in town 5 years ago. Now I want to get myself one of those sesame seed spreader/sprayer. I am only interested to buy things such as the hangiri, shamoji, makisu and oshibako. Not really ingredients as I don't think I will be able to take ingredient back to my country. I think the hangiri, shamoji, makisu will be easy to locate but not sure about the oshibako. But thank you all and I shall explore all the recommended area Oshibako is a bit more tricky to get as I was looking for this last time. Department stores have nice wooden ones made by century old shops, with prices to match. Cheap wooden or pricey commercial grade plastic ones are sold at Kappabashi kitchen street. Thanks for your feedback. I was just wondering, in case I do not have the time to explore Kappabashi street, can I just get all the stuff I mentioned earlier in Department stores in Shinjuku? do you remember where you got your oshibako?