Have a DIY Sushi Party With These Limited Time Hatsune Sets

Hatsune – purveyors of California-style sushi headed by the legendary Alan Wong – are bringing the good people of Beijing the opportunity to have a little sushi party at home with their special 11.11 offering – DIY Temaki.

What is temaki? Think of it as a sushi cone of sorts – rice mixed with other ingredients you’ll typically find with sushi (veggies, fish, fish roe) all wrapped up in a big sheet of nori.

With this DIY temaki set, Hatsune fans may go for two options. The omnivore/pescetarian set (RMB 228) which will have you tasting a trio of unagi (eel) and negihama (a combination of negi, aka scallion, and Japanese amberjack or hamachi), crisp salmon skin and spicy tuna. Vegetarians will want to go for a more suitable offering priced at RMB 120, loaded with courgette and shiitake, cucumber and asparagus and burdock silk and fried potato.

The nori sheets come perfectly wrapped for optimal crispiness, and you’ll find every condiment and filling neatly packaged in small tins, with a separate box for just the rice. Other than the small sauce bottles, the rest of the packaging is completely plastic free and technically reusable, something that I’m sure many of us appreciate.

Plus, the set comes with special instruction cards illustrated by none other than Liuba Draws. It was such a thoughtful detail, connecting food by a local favorite with art by, well, another local favorite.

It’s not about the illustrations alone, though, but the actual temaki eating experience. That spicy tuna temaki? It packed a good punch. Then it hugged our taste buds, sang them a love song, tucked them in bed and wished them sweet dreams. The salmon roe was plump and bursting with flavor, and the salmon skin was as tasty as it was crisp.

As for the negihama, it balanced the chunks of solidly fresh unagi, adding a delicate note that took over the rest of the components of the temaki.

Even if you suck at rolling a picture-perfect temaki, it’s a blast trying your hand at it and immortalizing your creations. Hatsune’s DIY Temaki is food as an experience; something you’ll remember and keep wanting to go back to. Go grab their temaki and check what it does for you!

Hatsune's DIY Temaki sets are available for order from now until Sunday, Nov 13. Each set has enough to make up to six temaki rolls, with the regular set at RMB 228 and the vegetarian set at RMB 120. To order, add Hatsune's marketing WeChat (ID: hatsuneyinquan), or scan the QR code in the poster above, and they'll be able to help you from there.

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Images: Ana Padilla Fornieles, courtesy of Hatsune