The first time I ever saw a Pizza Hut combined with a Taco Bell restaurant, I knew things in our society were going to get a little more interesting. Sure, I have had taco pizza before, but I have never been able to order a personal pan pepperoni and a XXL Chalupa at the same time. I’m not to sure if YUM! Brands started the pizza fusion trend, but restaurants in Canada and the Northeastern US are starting to take it to the next level with sushi pizza.
Unlike a traditional pizza which uses a flour crust, tomato sauce, mozzarella, and various toppings to add to the taste, sushi pizza is more of a Japanese take on the Italian staple. The flavor profiles of traditional sushi ingredients are often light, crisp, and fresh; the complete opposite of pizza ingredients that lend themselves well to long food storage times and shelf lives.
Just like any other pizza, the sushi variety has many different variations. I doubt that the debate between New York style and Chicago style is as heated as the pizza wars, but several chefs are contentious to what constitutes the base of the fish pie:
-Restaurants in the Toronto area use a fried rice patty as the base, then add a layer of avocado. They top it with a raw slice of salmon or tuna and then add a mayo and wasabi mix to top it all off.
-In Southern California, the dish uses nori and regular sushi rice as the base. It is topped with a creamy combination of avocada, seafood, and sauces, with a layer of jalapeno to top.
-Another homemade version calls for a blanket of steamed rice topped with avocado, nori strips, imitation crabmeat, cucumber, and light amounts of ginger.
While it may sound weird at first, sushi pizza is relatively the same thing as a sushi roll, only with an interesting concept surrounding it. The only drawback of making or purchasing the stuff is that you can’t save it for too long. If you are looking to buy emergency foods for inclement weather, it’s probably a bad idea to store up on any kind of fish product unless it is frozen.
While we may not see Pizza Hut/ Sansai combinations off the highway anytime soon, we will probably get to see more sushi pizzas in urban centers and sushi chains across the world. I think I am going to try my own variation with octopus the next time I visit the fish market.
