A different kind of cake

Culinary instructor says love for sushi isn't needed to enjoy appetizer

February 28, 2007|by JULIE E. GREENE

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Pardon Michael Tosten's pun, but his Sushi Cake is "a piece of cake" to make.

And quite tasty, even for someone who is not fond of sushi.

Tosten served the cake with candles for a birthday, but this is no dessert. It's a savory, light appetizer made with seafood salad and the only raw seafood involved is a little caviar.

And if crabmeat is not to your liking, than substitute any meat, egg, vegetable or seafood salad, even a seafood salad containing sushi-grade raw tuna, says Tosten, a culinary instructor for 10 years at the Franklin County Career & Technology Center.

Tosten, 37, created his version of Sushi Cake, a layered rice cake, a few years ago when there were limited opportunities in the Chambersburg area to find sushi.

While the instructions are long, the cake is quite simple and can be made more quickly easily than regular sushi, Tosten says.

Rice serves as the cake's flour, and crab salad serves as the cake's filling.

In addition to using the salad of your choice for the filling, there are other ways to alter the recipe.

Many people who object to sushi don't like nori, the dark green, dry seaweed wrapper, Tosten says. If that's the case, just leave the nori out of the recipe.

The spiciness of the cake depends on how much Asian hot chili sauce you use. One tablespoon gives it a subtle kick. Tosten uses Sriracha chili sauce, which he finds at Wal-Mart in Chambersburg. The sauce also is sold at Greencastle Coffee Roasters at 164 E. Baltimore St. in Greencastle, Pa.

Many of the ingredients can be found in grocery stores these days, Tosten says. Greencastle Coffee Roasters has many harder-to-find Asian ingredients, including pickled ginger.

The tobiko, or flying fish roe, which has a nonfishy flavor, will be more difficult to find. Tosten buys his from Meilin's House at 825 W. King St. in Shippensburg, Pa. The fish roe is probably dyed and could come in a variety of colors.

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