Yum! Fresh, All-Natural Sushi Now at the Co-op!

by Maria Noël Groves, Clinical Herbalist & Co-op Wellness Educator

If you haven't seen the Co-op's new Shizen sushi department, I highly recommend swinging by for an easy, healthy, fast lunch or dinner! Sushi is a classic healthy restaurant choice where even people on special diets can usually eat freely. Of course, the Co-op's sushi isn't just made fresh each day, but it's also totally all-natural. I had no idea until recently that most sushi ISN'T all-natural. I got the first inkling this summer when my husband and I picked up a box of sushi in the prepared section of a grocery store while on a road trip (to his dismay, I picked up the vegetarian California roll, explaining that I wasn't sure I trusted raw fish from a supermarket). In the checkout line, I took a gander at the ingredients list. Wow, a lot of long words and ingredients I know not to be desirable!

As it turns out, flavorful sushi sauces and dressings are usually loaded with high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors and flavors, trans fats, disodium guanylate, MSG, and other sketchy ingredients. The ginger and wasabi served with sushi is often dyed pink and green.

By contrast, everything in the Co-op's sushi is clean and delicious. In Japanese, “shizen” conveys the idea of “natural” or “leave it alone.” The Co-op is one of the only places you can even find all-natural sushi, but I suspect they've started a trend!

The Co-op partnered with the folks from Shizen to provide delicious all-natural sushi made fresh every day of the week, during all Co-op store hours. If you happen to catch the expert sushi master behind the counter, he’s happy to make you custom sushi rolls to order, too.

You'll find many of the traditional raw fish options, but if that doesn't float  your boat, know that only 30 percent of the Shizen menu features raw fish. Check out cooked and vegetarian rolls and inari. These inari pockets (sort of like a mini pita pocket made fried tofu) are marinated in a sesame soy sauce, which gives them a sweet, nutty taste, and then they're topped with spicy avocado salad, spicy shrimp salad, or purple sweet potato tempura. Yum! Party platters are available by special order, and some rolls are made with brown sushi rice rather than white.

The chef starts very early prepping for his sushi by making our exclusive recipe for sushi rice. He will then slice the vegetables, make the sauces, and get things rolling for the day. You can taste the difference, knowing everything is made fresh the same day you buy it. The sushi chef purchases the seafood, along with all the other products used in the sushi, exclusively from an approved sushi supplier, chosen by Shizen's executive sushi chef. Sushi is available during all normal hours that the Co-op is open.

In the past few weeks since it opened, the sushi section has been my go-to for quick lunches and lazy dinners when I don't have time to cook. The prices are very reasonable, ranging from $6.49 to $9.99 depending on the size and type of sushi. My husband is psyched, and I even brought home some raw fish sushi for him to try (knowing I could trust the fresh-made stuff at the Co-op)! I can report back that all the ones I've tried thus far (which is most of them) have been delicious, and I specifically recommend the Spicy Tuna, Spider Roll, Spicy Nama, and the California Roll. Word on the street is that the Vegetable Roll and the Inari are also fantastic.

Now, I just have to convince them to get some authentic, all-natural miso soup on tap... Wouldn't that be perfect for the cold, dark nights looming in the not-so-distant future?