If you have gone to a sushi restaurant these days, you might have noticed the number of customers it serves. You might have wondered, too, how some three to four chefs working in the kitchen deliver the orders of the crowd in no time. You understand the complexity of sushi making, and then you begin to ask yourself: “How’d they do that?”
Most sushi restaurants nowadays have included specialized equipments in their kitchens. Whether it is a traditional, Japanese-style restaurant or a fast-food sushi bar, equipment such as the maki machine and nigiri robot are used to increase productivity, save time and labor costs.
It has been said that the pioneers of sushi-machines invented such equipment to mainly address the expansion of the industry. Sushi culture has spread wide across the globe, and the maki machines today need not be Japanese. Since everybody is learning the sushi making process and is venturing into the business, it is no doubt that these machines are of help to them.
Sushi machines come in various sizes and uses. A wrapping machine is used to wrap the rice in a nori sheet. In traditional method, you use the bamboo mat to press the nori into the stuffed rice. The main difference here is that, there is no direct contact of the hands meaning less work and faster production. Those who use sushi machines claim that compared to traditional methods, it is less messy and more hygienic, which doesn’t mean though, that sushi made by bare hands is unclean.
Another machine that is used in sushi making process is the sushi roll cutter. It cuts a maki roll into clean, equal slices. The traditional method of cutting maki is by using a sharp kitchen knife. Unlike the sushi roll cutter, there is occasionally a chance that the knife will jam the rice stuffing. Using the machine, the nori and the rice stuffing appears intact.
Still one of the sushi machines that are used today is the rice ball machine. This is used for making onigiri, a rice food that is different from sushi. By replacing the moulds, you can make several kinds of onigiri with this machine.
A number of sushi machines are designed for desktop-portable and space-saver. They are also great for home. Portable sushi machines, especially the maki machine, usually come in easy-to-use designs that even a child can operate them. On the other hand, industrial sushi making machines are the heavy-duty types used for mass-production of sushi. They are huge in size and can do thousands of pieces of sushi in an hour or less.
It seems that you can easily identify a machine-produced sushi from the traditional “hand-made” one. Occasionally, the rice falls out of the nori when turned over or dipped in soy sauce. It happens with the usual method, which may be the result of working in haste. Most machine-made sushi is intact even when they are dipped or flipped.
If you are planning to start a sushi business, it is best to familiarize yourself first with sushi making machines. They will give you good profit returns and help improve your sushi business.