Japanese restaurants hit homerun with Vancouver Asahi sushi rolls

How can a baseball team be represented by a sushi roll?

Four Vancouver restaurants were invited to respond that question at the Asahi Sushi Roll Challenge on February 8 at the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre. And of course, they provided some of the most palatable answers sushi-philes could hope for.

The creative culinary event was a fundraiser for the Canadian Nikkei Youth Baseball team, which is hoping to travel to Japan for seven exhibition games.

This new team, created in October, is a revival of the historic Japanese Canadian team whose story was depicted in the Japanese blockbuster The Vancouver Asahi starring Japanese actors Satoshi Tsumabuki and Kazuya Kamenashi.

The team formed in 1914 and rose to fame in the 1930s and '40s in a racially divided Vancouver until the Second World War brought an end to the team. They overcame obstacles to become an undefeatable team by using their heads (their strategy was dubbed "brainball") to beat their competitors.

Their legacy lives on and over 200 people attended the sold-out event to sample the creations commemorating the legendary team.

Chef Nobu Watanabe from Hapa Izakaya (Coal Harbour) sought to unite ingredients from Canada and Japan in his roll. He combined albacore tuna from Vancouver Island and wakame (seaweed) with kinpira (lotus root) to reflect Japan. The crunch of the lotus root both contrasted with the silkiness of the tuna, working together in an intriguing combination.

The overall combination resulted in a very classy, timeless roll that could easily blend into local menus.

Chef Manabu Namatame from Tairyou Ichiba offered a very thoughtful musubi. A layer of ikura (salmon roe), salmon, and onion rested on top of a bed of rice, with an avocado embedded within it. The taste was understated yet memorable in its simplicity, elegance, and harmonious flavours. The hidden avocado—which provided a surprise—was a nod to West Coast rolls and to the hidden potential of the Asahi team.

Visually, a platter of the sushi looked like an abstraction of the Canadian and Japanese flags, with the red and white colours, and jagged and circular shapes.

Chef Sada Hoshika of Octopus' Garden delivered a visually dynamic presentation. He arranged pieces of his roll, made of yam tempura and salmon, around a centerpiece of yakisoba (a nod to the Powell Street Festival) with half of a hard-boiled egg in the center to represent the rising sun. The colour orange represented the morning sun.

This plate was one of the most playful creations, and had a distinct Nikkei feel with its inventive ingredients.

Chef Masaaki Ono of Hiro dazzled attendees with a roll featuring the most fireworks, both visually and tastewise.

A combination of baby shrimp, avocado, tobiko, and cream cheese was topped with salmon and miso-mayonnaise (caramelized with a blow torch) packed a powerhouse punch of flavourful surprises. For visual panache, a Pretz stick on top represented a baseball bat, a slice of daikon symbolized a base, and a dollop of wasabi became a baseball.

This was the most spirited roll, reflecting the unexpected strength of the team and its ability to transcend cultural divides in unprecedented style.

Here are the chefs talking about their rolls in more detail.

Here are the chefs and restaurateurs talking about their eateries.

Here's a video that includes the youth baseball team founder and event organizer Emiko Ando explaining the sushi challenge.

Four commentators judged the creations: To Die for Fine Foods' Erin Ireland, CTV's Stephanie Florian, Follow Me Foodie's Mijune Pak, and myself.

Omedeto gozaimasu (congratulations) to all the restaurants on their creations and best of luck to the Asahi baseball team.