Streetsboro High School students experienced a taste of Japanese cuisine on January 22 when the Food Services team served fresh sushi during a special lunch event.
Food Services Director Andrew Jackson and the high school cafeteria staff prepared 70 sushi rolls from scratch, offering students California rolls with surimi crabmeat, carrot, avocado, cucumber and rice, as well as vegetable rolls. The meal came with traditional accompaniments including yum yum sauce, pickled ginger, wasabi, soy sauce and sriracha.
Due to the particular preparation process required for authentic sushi rice, Jackson arrived at 4:45 a.m. to begin the precise cooking and cooling process for the rice.
"Sushi rice has to be made in a very specific way to ensure the sticky texture," said Jackson. "This includes coating the cooked sushi rice with a rice wine vinegar, salt and sugar reduction while it's still hot, and then cooling it completely before it's ready to roll."
This event marked the return of sushi to the high school menu after being offered several years ago. Jackson said the goal was to provide a fun, a la carte style meal for students and staff who may not typically be exposed to sushi. Both student and staff response was overwhelmingly positive, with some sharing that it was their first time trying sushi.
Unique dining experiences like Sushi Day provide opportunities to expand students’ culinary horizons and potentially inspire future careers or new favorite dishes.
"Events like this not only inspire me as a culinary professional, it potentially sparks something in a student that may want to pursue a career in the culinary arts," Jackson said.
The Streetsboro Food Services team plans to continue offering interactive dining experiences throughout the year, including boba lemonade, stir-fry stations, end-of-year cookouts and baked potato bars. These fun food service events reflect the district’s commitment to providing students with memorable, positive experiences that extend beyond their regular classrooms.