Sushi Donuts: The New Food Thing You Love To Hate
By Joanna Sarah-Freedman
07 Jan 2021
2m
Sushi is one of those foods that’s always at the height of fashion, and it’s showing no signs of becoming uncool any time soon. The worldwide longevity and popularity of the ancient Japanese fish, rice and seaweed combo owes much to its supreme versatility.
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Sushi has come in many and varied iterations over the last few years, thanks to the innovative viral genius of bloggers and social media users keen to enhance the hallowed dish. We’ve had rainbow sushi, sushi burgers, even sushi married to a hunk of Spam. But now we’ve discovered the latest guise of this delicious raw seafood and it just might blow your mind.
That’s right, sushi donuts are about to become the hit new fad. Aren’t they beautiful? The amount of skill and practice it takes to get the rice to stay in its distinctive ring shape is genuinely phenomenal. Created by Instagram user and vegan culinary explorer So Beautifully Raw, these amazing creations have attracted an incredible amount of online attention, and for good reason too. They’re also vegan, so everyone can enjoy them! How thoughtful.
Although getting your technique just right to shape the rice is arduous, the actual process is decidedly simple. Using a ring of sticky rice instead of cake, various toppings like sliced cucumber, ginger and sesame seeds cleverly substitute the chocolate chips and sprinkles that are a staple of the confectionery donut, while remaining just as pleasing to the eye. The food can even come fried in a delicious batter, to be dipped in soy or sweet chilli sauce. Yummy!
Sushi as we understand it in contemporary cuisine was first made in Southeast Asia. Fish was salted and wrapped in fermented rice. The fermented rice was discarded and fish was the only part consumed. This early type of sushi became an important source of protein for the Japanese. The term sushi comes from an antiquated grammatical form no longer used in other contexts, and literally means “sour-tasting”, a reflection of its historic origin as a fermented food.
It’s doubtful that the circular sushi will catch on in native Japan, where the traditionalism associated with the food means that it isn’t often updated or changed. But for my money I think they look spectacular. They’re certainly popular enough. We could be seeing them in stores and restaurants very soon.
