At newly opened Jeddah restaurant, sushi gets a Mediterranean twist

When you think sushi, you think raw fish topped with Asian fusion ingredients. Sushi chefs have been experimenting with different ingredients for years to upgrade the sushi variety and make it more attractive to diners around the world.
In Saudi Arabia, raw is not an attraction to local diners. They are constantly on the hunt for crispy and spicy rolls. Ocean Basket, the seafood restaurant in Jeddah offers a number of creative recipes for those adventurous diners who are looking for an innovative taste.
The South African restaurant invited Chef Pepe all the way from Greece to upgrade their menu with a Mediterranean twist. This franchised restaurant has over 201 restaurants in 16 countries around the globe, all of them share the same menu and will be sharing the same MediterrAsian sushi dishes.
We met with Chef Pepe for a quick tasting of the new menu and were pleasantly surprised with the explosion of flavors it offers. The fusion of two familiar tastes — classic Mediterranean and classic Asian — to make their own MediterrAsian dishes was a unique experience.
Chef Pepe has over 15 years of experience and has bagged the title of Sushi World Cup Champion, World’s Most Creative Chef 2014. He is a member of World Sushi Skill and All Japan Sushi Association, and is a certified westerner to get Kuro Obi, he also assisted Kazato San with sushi for the Japanese embassy in Copenhagen.
“I was looking to come up with something different yet attractive. The trick was to create a sushi menu that matches different tastes all around the world,” he said.

The sushi dishes below are now available at all Ocean Basket outlets around the world:
• Tamara Gunkan: A boat-shaped sushi with rice, wrapped in zucchini, topped with tarama and fried calamari.
• Kypro Prawn Roll: A futomaki with rice, fresh prawn, lettuce and soy oregano sauce.
• Lemon Salmon Roll: A California roll-style sushi with rice, fresh salmon and zesty lemon mayo.
• Crunchy Athena Roll: A California roll-style sushi with rice, prawn and pickled red onion.
• Salmon Tomato Roll: A California roll-style sushi with rice, fresh salmon, basil leaves, onion and tomato.
• Wasabi Prawn: A boat-shaped sushi with rice, fresh prawn and wasabi mayo.
• Calamari Gunkan: A boat-shaped sushi with rice wrapped in zucchini, topped with tzatziki and fried calamari.
“I have initially created 25 recipes, but after close observation and constant tasting and reviewing, only the above mentioned were chosen as the top and best combined tastes of the Mediterranean and Asian cuisines,” said Chef Pepe.

Below are some of the recipes that Chef Pepe created for Ocean Basket:
Calamari Gunkan (Three pieces)
5 g calamari deep fried
5 g sliced zucchini/ baby marrow
2 g tzatziki
2 g spring onion
15 g rice

Method:
Shape a rice ball.
Wrap zucchini silver around it.
Spoon tzatziki on rice.
Top with fried calamari head.
Garnish with chopped spring onion.

Hot tip:
• The calamari should be deep fried per order.
• Calamari should be crispy.
• Control the amount of tzatziki you add. The tzatziki shouldn’t take over the flavor.
• If the zucchini slices become too dry to work with, to help soften them, you can place them in the carrot vinegar mix for a short time (no more than 1 hour).

Crunchy Athena Roll (8 pieces)
35 g prawn mix
10 g red onion pickles
15 g avocado
120 g rice
1 nori sheet
Top with tempura flakes

Prawn mix
100 g steamed prawn
10 g mayonnaise
Lemon zest from 1 lemon
Juice from ½ lemon

Red onion pickles (Sushi Zu)
1 liter rice vinegar
1 kg sugar

Method:
Make California roll with prawn mix, avocado and pickled red onion. Top with tempura flakes.

Hot tip:
• Prepare the crunchy tempura flakes.
• Be careful not to zest the bitter lemon part of the skin (the white part). Only zest the yellow part.
• Thinly slice the red onion before pickling.