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span class="inline inline-left">A sushi cake: (Courtesy of Poke Sushi)Valentine’s Day is coming and if you want to give something out of the ordinary to that special someone — then you are in luck.

The latest innovation from one of Jakarta’s most popular Japanese restaurants, Poke Sushi, combines two foodie favorites — sushi and cake.

“It all started when a regular customer approached me around November 2011, he asked whether if we could make something unique and special for his girlfriend’s birthday. He said she loved salmon sashimi and he wanted us to
make a sushi cake. Of course, this was not something that we did at the time” said Dina Silviana, Sushi Poke’s marketing manager.

“We decided to give it a try and made our first ever sushi cake, the foundation was made from sushi rice and slices of salmon sashimi adorned the top. It received a lot of attention and so we decided to further explore this new innovation.”

Japanese food can be found in almost any country, including Jakarta — with at least one Japanese restaurant inside the capital’s many shopping malls, but with its sushi cake Poke Sushi stands out from the crowd.

Poke Sushi showcased its culinary innovation during a sushi cake master class held at its restaurant at Crowne Plaza Hotel recently.

The chefs demonstrated their skills and creativity and participants were taught how to prepare sushi, agedashi tofu and seafood udon.

“Make sure your hands are slightly damp, but not too wet, that way handling the sushi and sashimi will be easier,” explained chef Teguh Soeroso. “We can use many types of sushi and sashimi and arrange them into many different shapes.”

To create a sushi cake in the shape of a heart the chefs firstly rolled up some of their signature sushi rolls, including a crunchy dragon roll, mini dynamite roll, crunchy salmon roll and avocado roll.

Much the same as when you make a traditional cake, the idea with a sushi cake is to create different layers with different textures to craft a mouth-watering cake that looks as good as it will taste. After shaping three layers of delicious sushi rolls into a heart shape, fresh slices of salmon sashimi, an edible decoration, are gently placed on top.

The sushi cake process, in the hands of the professionals, seems simple and straight forward but the skills and creativity needed was apparent in the final product.

Poke Sushi has received many requests since they began making sushi cakes — from regular shaped cakes to hearts, cars and even a football field — customers often order them for special occasions.

Ever since it was established in 2003, Poke Sushi has been known for its culinary creativity, combining American and Japanese dishes to create its signature Japanese fusion. Dishes like the Spider Roll features soft-shell crab, avocado and cucumber, while the Volcano is made with carrots, crabstick and cream cheese wrapped in grilled salmon.

Sushi cakes start from Rp 350,000 (US$36), depending on the size and type of sushi, one customer requested a cake in the shape of a woman’s purse, which cost Rp 1.6 million.

The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.