I say sushi, you think raw fish. This, perhaps, is the reason why the Japanese delicacy, unlike the noodle or the stir-fry, has not become a staple of British home cooking. But all that is about to change – at least if Yuki Gomi, 37, a Japanese sushi chef living in London, has anything to do with it. “In Japan, going to a sushi restaurant costs hundreds of pounds and is a real treat,” she says when we meet at her flat in Crystal Palace, south-east London. “But Japanese people make it at home all the time, usually without raw fish.” When a Japanese family goes for a picnic, sushi will always make an appearance – but smoked fish will also be used, which is less likely to spoil (salmon and mackerel are favourites). Children take sushi to school in their lunch boxes, made with tinned tuna. There are vegetarian options, including tamagoyaki, grilled egg sushi. “If you want to go the whole way and use raw fish,” says Gomi, “there are safe ways of doing it. If you have the confidence, you can make friends with a local fishmonger and get him to promise you that the fish can be eaten raw.

But the easiest way is to buy sushi-grade fish on the internet.” She recommends Kazari, which will deliver guaranteed sushi-grade fish to your door. Sushi is easy to make, extremely healthy and highly portable. It is also flexible; there are, Gomi says, “no rules”, and new combinations of fish or vegetables are waiting to be discovered. And when it is home-made, sushi can also be an impressive addition to a party. “It is simple, so long as you are precise,” she says. “Architects and surgeons make the best sushi.” Yuki Gomi encourages home cooks to find sushi-grade fish online (HEATHCLIFF O'MALLEY) Before thinking about the fish, however, it is important to get the rice right. It must be Japanese – which refers to the species rather than the country of origin – because it is high in starch, which makes it stickier than other varieties. Techniques for cooking perfect rice are closely guarded secrets for many Japanese chefs. Gomi, however, being “of a younger generation”, is happy to share her method, which she learnt from the masters (see right).

When the rice is ready, the creative part begins. First, Gomi demonstrates how to make temari. “When you go to a restaurant, you’ll probably have nigiri, rectangular slabs of rice with salmon or tuna on top,” she says. “Shaping the rice like that takes years of practice. Temari is the traditional home-made version, which is a lot easier.” Cutting a fillet of raw salmon is an art in itself (she points out that smoked salmon, mackerel or kipper can be substituted). Gomi uses a traditional yanagi-ba sushi knife, which is flat on one side and very thin; The trick, she says, is to hold your breath and make the cut in one movement, as if you are playing a violin. When the fish is sliced, she covers her left hand with cling film – an improvement on the traditional muslin – and lies a sliver of fish in the centre. A bolus of rice is placed on top, then the cling film is closed around it and twisted to make a tight sphere. When this is unwrapped, a ball-shaped piece of sushi is revealed, which can be garnished with sesame seeds, a sprig of parsley, or fish roe (tobiko).

Next, she makes the “inside-out roll”, also known as the “California roll”. For centuries, Japanese sushi roll had the nori (seaweed paper) on the outside. When it was introduced to California, however, the local chefs preferred to roll the sushi inside out so that the rice was on the outside. This was later exported back to Japan. genki sushi menu kauaiShe places a sheet of nori – she recommends the type produced by Clearspring (clearspring.co.uk) – on a board and covers it with a layer of rice. sushi yoshi riyadh delivery menuThe rice is sprinkled with roe or sesame seeds, turned upside down onto a bamboo mat (available from Tesco, £1.99) and covered with cling film, before arranging the salmon and avocado, rolling, and slicing with a light sawing motion. sushi chef tsukasa read online

Lastly, Gomi introduces the temaki sushi, which she says is a great informal party option. In a large bowl, she mixes scallops, flying fish roe, mayonnaise and avocado. This, together with a bowl of sushi rice and another of sliced vegetables, is placed on the table with a stack of nori. Guests add the filling to the nori and roll it into a cone for instant, do-it-yourself sushi. sushi seaweed sheets tesco“When I was a child and my mother said we were going to have sushi, I was always filled with excitement,” says Gomi. jiro dreams of sushi session times melbourne“I want to bring some of that excitement to Britain.” nordel sushi menu surrey bc’Sushi at Home’, by Yuki Gomi, is out now (Fig Tree; £18.99)

Skip to main content You are hereHomeJust Hungry reference handbooksJapanese grocery store listJapanese grocery stores in EuropeJapanese grocery stores in the UK and Ireland Japanese grocery stores in the UK and Ireland We do have some listings for Ireland in the comments below...I'll incorporate them in here soon! General UK notes: Obviously the vast majority of Japanese and Asian groceries are located in and around London! Comments: "A nicely laid out mini-supermarket with a prepared food/bento section. Prices are generally a little higher here than at the Rice Wine Shop." -(Loretta) Centre Point Food Store 20-21 St. Giles High Street Tel: 020 7836 9860 Fax: 020 7240 1702 Korean and English web site Comments: "Japanese and Korean store. Conveniently situated near Tottenham Court Road station, this good sized grocery stocks most of the common Japanese staples. Staff are friendly and very helpful with any Korean food questions you might have." -(Loretta)

London W1D 7ED UK Tel: Multiple: See website English and Japanese web site e-mail: foodshop [at] japancentre [dot] com Comments: The same company also operates a Japanese/Asian food cash and carry. They also run their own Japanese bakery, a ramen shop, and a lot more! See their website for more. This is where I get most of my mail-orderable Japanese groceries, since shopping from them is cheaper even if I add the shipping cost from the UK to France. Unit B Alpha House, 158 Garth Road, Morden Surrey, SM4 4TQ Note: This is a mailorder only operation A fairly new store (opened in 2014 I believe). This page lists the countries they ship to in Europe with tariffs. Next day delivery on the UK Mainland. Prices are competitive with Japan Centre. I have bought from them a couple of times already and have been happy with the service. SOHO, LONDON, W1F 9UA Comments: "I feel great loyalty to this store. Although small it has an excellent selection of groceries and consistently good prices.

Can be accessed with a wheelchair (a squeeze but possible)" -(Loretta) According to the site they will delivery to the UK mainland (though their site is all in Japanese...) 136 Golders Green Road Comments: "Not Japanese, but Seoul Plaza in Golders Green has a decent range of Japanese stuff. And looking at their website there are 3 branches in New Malden, one in Cambridge, and one in Bratislava (!). Not been to any of the others but I expect they also stock Japanese food." -(Alice) (below is still unformatted - working on it!) Fairly pricey, but centrally-located and has a bigger range of Japanese food than the Chinese supermarkets nearby. 14 Gerrard St, London W1D 5PT Chinese but has a seperate Japanese section, as well as a decent selection of fresh produce. Prices are about as good as you’ll get in London, especially if buying in bulk. Haven’t been since they finished the remodelling of the Cricklewood store, and never been to the others. I usually visit every couple of months to stock up on basics in bulk, much easier to drive there (plenty of free parking) than to try and lug 5kg bags of rice back on the bus!

Tel: 020 8450 0422 Fax: 020 8452 1478 Tel: 020 8688 4880 Fax: 020 8688 8786 375 Nechells Park Road Tel: 0121 327 6618 Fax: 0121 327 6612 Tel: 0161 832 3215 Fax: 0161 833 2798 Comments: "Same deal as Wing Yip. Only been to the Park Royal store, didn’t like it as much as Wing Yip so only been the once. Can’t remember how much Japanese stuff it actually had either but there was some!" A406 North Circular Rd Hoo Hing Commercial Centre There is also Oriental City, which I’ve never been to and the many Chinese supermarkets in Chinatown which have some Japanese stuff and fresh produce. There used to be a lovely little Japanese shop called Unohana in Golders Green (opposite the tube station), it closed for renovation according to the sign in the window but now seems to have closed for good. It was quite expensive and didn’t have a huge range but did sell ‘sushi-quality’ fish and decent ready-made sushi and bento boxes.