What: Locally made, preservative-free Japanese sauces, including miso marinade, tsuyu and teriyaki sauces, and ginger and sesame dressings.
Why: Sushi Umi chef-owner Chris Lavelle has branched out to offer small jars of his house-made sauces, stocked in the fridge that also holds soft drinks in the tiny, seven-year-old West Wellington hole-in-the-wall. While the teriyaki sauce and two dressings figure in Sushi Umi’s consistently tasty menu offerings, the miso marinade and tsuyu (pronounced chew-you) are more special items.
Chris Lavelle is the Chef of Sushi Umi on Wellington Street West
Lavelle says that while miso marinades have become famous to add flavour to grilled fish such as black cod and salmon, they can be used on any meat to add a bit of saltiness and to tenderize. The versatile ingredient can also be used as the base for a dressing or on top of vegetables, he adds. With shiitake mushrooms, anchovies and dried kelp (kombu) as main ingredients, Lavelle’s tsuyu sauce is loaded with savoury umami richness. He said that when diluted, the sauce can be used to dress cold soba noodles or even as a soup base.
“I really want to improvise and do a lot more (products),” says Lavelle, a Gatineau-raised 44-year-old whose first kitchen work was at the Japanese Village restaurant more than two decades ago. “If it picks up, I will add more and more.”
When: The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner every day except Sunday, when it opens from 3 to 9 p.m.
Where: Sushi Umi, 1311 Wellington St. W.
How much: $8 for a 250-mL jar.
More: Sushi Umi’s Facebook page
