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Get Stuffed - Sushi Village

A delicacy and an art form

Mikki Homma’s Sushi Village responsible for educating Whistler on the art of sushi

One of the funniest episodes of the Simpsons was when Lisa suggested dining at a restaurant and eating something other than "hamburgers, pizza or chicken."

To which Homer replied, "Oh right, like there is something else."

And when Lisa suggested trying sushi at a Japanese restaurant, Bart replied, "Hey, wait a minute. Isn’t sushi supposed to be raw fish?"

"As usual school yard rumours contain a kernel of truth. In Japan sushi is considered a delicacy and an art form."

Indeed Lisa. And if there’s one man responsible in Whistler for educating its residents about the joys and subtleties of well-prepared sushi, it is Mikki Homma, proprietor of Sushi Village, a Whistler institution if there ever was one.

It was 18 years ago when Mikki and his two partners at the time came north to Whistler for some skiing. When it came to finding a restaurant for apres ski food, they found only four or five restaurants, and only one that was serving edible food. And if one had asked where the nearest sushi place was, Mikki would have either got a puzzled look or gales of laughter. So seeing opportunity where others saw none, Mikki and his partners decided to open Whistler’s first Japanese restaurant.

"People thought we were crazy, but we saw opportunity. There was only one good restaurant in town, so we thought if we served good food, then people would come and we would be successful."

And what does Mikki think now that Whistler has got between 80 and 90 restaurants, many with world class chefs and menus, all fiercely competing for the local and tourist dollar?

"I don’t mind. The more restaurants that are serving good food the more people will come. Competition is good."

Sushi Village has benefited from having a master sushi chef in Toshi Kobayashi, whom Mikki was quick to credit for establishing and keeping his restaurant’s high sushi standards.

"Toshi went back to Japan once but he couldn’t stay away and came back," Mikki says with a small smile.

Sushi is a unique food and as such there is usually no in-between; either it’s divine, seducing one’s taste buds with an explosion of flavours on the palette. On the other hand, you are in trouble if your first taste was at some dreadful office party, where some idiot ordered some takeout from a plaza mall. And surprise, surprise, the stuff tasted like wet, fishy paste and you swore that you would never try sushi again. If you are nodding your head, then you need to sample Toshi’s wizardry with rice and fish. I don’t know how he does it, but Toshi has got a way of preparing his rice that is just right, a little crunchy, but not tough, leaving one to savour the oh so soft and delicate, flavourful fish on the inside.

Mikki says the key to serving excellent sushi is its freshness.

"We don’t serve any leftovers. Everything is fresh. We pick it up from Vancouver and anything that doesn’t meet out standards we send back."

Another key to good sushi, according to Mikki, is the quality of the seaweed or nori, which is used to wrap the fish or vegetables.

"It has be treated just right and we use only the best."

While Sushi Village uses only the best nori, this foodie was curious to try the SASS’s Roll, which was shrimp tempura, avocado, scallop, salmon and spicy mayo, rolled with soya bean sheet. And while the word soya usually has me running in the opposite direction, Toshi’s creation was masterful and a welcome change of pace from your usual sushi wrap.

But what really seduced me, was my favourite, tempura! Once again, it can be a disaster if cooked too long or not enough, or the usual problem of it being left out of the fryer too long, so the batter turns the fish or vegetables into some soggy gloop.

But again, Sushi Village does it just right. The batter is light and hot, encasing tender, succulent prawns. A unique beef tempura is offered, which is thinly sliced beef, spiced with green onions and lightly fried in batter. And the vegetable tempura is excellent with seven different vegetables lightly battered and fried. But the best is the crab claw tempura, four crab claws poking up through the batter, bursting with divine flavour!

Asked what his most popular sushi is, this writer was disappointed but not surprised when Mikki said it was the California roll.

"People order what they know."

While understandable, diners are missing out on some truly unique sushi and especially, Sushi Village’s sashimi. Summon a little courage and try something new. Raw fish? Sure, why not try a little Hamachi (yellow tail) Ika (squid) Toro (tuna belly) or Hokki (surf clam).

And when it comes to drinks, Sushi Village’s wine list is ably stocked, with Mission Hill and Inniskllin leading the way. But nothing brings out the taste of sushi like cold beer, and the Sappora draft is an excellent companion with any sushi,.

And of course, Sushi Village offers a variety of hot sake. And if one doesn’t like their sake hot, then they can try sake margaritas, either in single or jug sizes.

While I wasn’t tempted for a sake marg, I couldn’t resist asking Mikki if he hadn’t gotten sick of sushi after nearly two decades of serving it.

"Not at all. I eat it five days a week. There’s nothing better for you. I love it."