Writing this, I am a bit upset. After months of a slow return to normal, I had begun to hope that Beijing would have a shot at a normal summer. Out and about, fewer and fewer people were wearing masks, food delivery drivers were allowed to deliver straight to our doors again, and restaurants were beginning to fill up. Then an announcement by the Beijing authorities of several asymptomatic cases linked to the XingFaDi market sent almost all the hard-won progress in Beijing spiraling down the drain.

Many communities around the city retightened their restrictions on movement as authorities embarked on extensive testing and contact tracing, and XingFaDi – which supplies about 70% of Beijing’s fresh produce – was shut down as extensive testing was carried out on the workers at the market. A chopping block in the seafood section of the market also testing positive sparked fears that imported salmon might also be contaminated, prompting the removal and disposal of fresh salmon from stores across the city.

“The market has to warm back up to the idea of eating salmon”

Which brings me to my own personal gripe about the current situation. There is nothing like a city-wide purge of fresh salmon ruin a sushi date night dinner! For sushi lovers, the next couple of weeks spell disaster.

Looking through Meituan and perusing through various restaurants’ menus, you will notice all salmon dishes have been pulled. For Japanese restaurants like Hatsune, the sudden turn against salmon amid public health concerns goes beyond having to tweak the restaurant’s robust menu. For Alan Wong, owner of Hatsune, it is an exercise in managing fears, rumors, and waste. “The announcement came on Friday, and on Saturday and Sunday the business was totally dead, “Wong explains of the current situation. Hatsune, like other businesses across the city, had begun to see a return to normalcy after the uncertainty brought about by COVID-19 in the first quarter of the year. News of the market and the produce being in the clear has done little to placate customers. “The market has to warm back up to the idea of eating salmon when it’s already proven that [the disease]is not transferable from fish, and fish do not have any link to COVID-19 cases at all. Still, the market is going to take a long time to get used to that fact,” adds Wong.

Like most Japanese restaurants, Hatsune offers a wide range of dishes aside from salmon

Despite Hatsune and other Japanese restaurants offering a wide variety of dishes, their link to raw salmon continues to see patrons shy away. This is unlikely to change, now that more restaurants are deciding to close their doors until what appears to be a second wave of infections is brought under control. In the meantime, Wong and those like him will have to resort to disposing of their restaurants’ salmon stocks the best way they know how. As Wong rather light-heartedly adds, “ I have been taking many kilograms of salmon home, cooking it and eating it myself. And even if it did have COVID-19, if you cook it then it’s totally destroyed, so I have just been eating it myself.” Hopefully, the rest of the city will warm up to salmon again, and household names in Japanese cuisine in the city can once again reclaim their rightful place on our menus.

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Photos: Zeus Zou

One of my favorite things to do is date night with my husband, but our date nights are a little different than the conventional candle lit dinner. We like to get our hands dirty with classes and quick weekend trips away.

Hatsune’s sushi making class is one of those unconventional date night ideas that’s delicious and fun. Sushi is one of those things that’s easy to make, but difficult to perfect. Sitting across from Wang Meng and Wang Xiao Man, I kept on asking myself one question – why haven’t I taken this class sooner? It’ so much fun!

Arts and crafts aren’t just for kids. Sticking your hands in the rice and creating your own signature sushi roll brings out the child in us all.

Owner and our sushi teacher for the night, Alan Wong starts the class with a quick intro on how the Californian style rolls were invented by Japanese immigrants back in the 60s as way of introducing their cuisine to Americans who, back then, weren’t too keen on trying raw fish.

Following a thorough sanitation how-to that’ll make a surgeon proud, we’re off to make our first roll of the night – the simple hand roll.

Hatsune’s Californian style rolls have been famous in Beijing for years, and for their sushi class, they prepared the ingredients of a few of their all-time best sellers.

This class isn’t about turning you into the next Nobu Matsuhisa. You will get the gist of sushi making, but perfecting it is going to take a lot longer than a two hour class at Hatsune. This class is all about fun and letting your inner creative foodie run wild. After three rolls Wang gave up following instructions and had a great time mixing up a really tasty looking mini poke bowl while I made some sort of avocado mashup that also turned out delicious.

Hatsune Sanlitun
Daily 11am – 10pm, 3F Sanlitun South Taikoo Li, Chaoyang District, 6415 3939

Photos: Mina Yan

Summer Lotus Japanese Cuisine restaurant claims to perfectly integrate traditional Japanese cuisine with international fusion dining. Located upstairs from the cake and chocolate shop Aux Délices, which is next to The Orchard and opposite Red Brick Art Museum. The restaurant has been promoting their take-out service recently, so I thought I would give it a go. The take-out menu is quite extensive, and includes sushi, deep fried meat and fish dishes, roasted meat and fish dishes, stir fried vegetables, udon, rice dishes, and soups.

Butterfly Roll (RMB 75) brings together tempura shrimp, crab sticks, avocado, eel, and sweet sauce. The shrimp was wonderfully fresh, although the tempura batter could have been crispier, and it sat alongside sweet crab and creamy mayonnaise. Wrapped with nori and then rice, and topped with avocado, eel and a lovely sweet sauce. The sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds added nice texture. The eight generous pieces of roll were served with pickled ginger, soy, and a wasabi that packs one heck of a punch.

Way to Life Roll (RMB 86) has tempura shrimp alongside strips of cucumber. All wrapped in nori, very good sushi rice, and topped with spicy salmon, and a slice of avocado. The spicy sauce drizzled on top was very tasty. The avocado could have been a little riper, but overall I was impressed with the quality and freshness of the ingredients used. Chicken Teriyaki Don (RMB 49) was a generous portion of tender strips of chicken. The sweet and sticky sauce was full of flavor and perfectly seasoned. The accompanying rice dish was too big, in proportion to the chicken, but the rice was perfectly cooked and nicely garnished. The miso soup was fresh with just a hint of spice coming through.

Presentation of each of these dishes was very good indeed, considering they were for take-out. The prices are reasonable, and you can ring and order ahead, so your food is ready when you are. The restaurant was busy with lunchtime diners, and service was very efficient. I was served tea whilst I waited in their comfy lounge area. The restrooms are impeccably clean, western style and with soap, paper, towels, and even hand cream. So if you want sushi to go, this is a great restaurant to choose.

Summer Lotus Japanese Cuisine
Open Mon-Sun 10am-2pm, 5-10pm. Closed Wednesdays.
Building 5, Shunbai Road, Hegezhuang Village, Cuigezhuang Township, Chaoyang District (188 0116 1155, 139 1061 6283, 138 1015 2804)

beijingkids Shunyi Correspondent Sally Wilson moved to Beijing in 2010 from the UK with her husband and son. Her daughter was born here in 2011 and both her kids keep her happily busy. In her spare time, Sally loves to stroll through Beijing’s hutongs and parks. She is a (most of the time) keen runner and loves reading: books, magazines, news, and celeb websites – anything really. Sally is also a bit of a foodie and loves trying out new restaurants.

Photos: Sally Wilson

Cooking classes are a great way to learn more about a particular cuisine, to understand about the ingredients, and of course learn the techniques to produce certain dishes. The Westin Beijing Chaoyang recently launched a new sushi cooking class, at their fine dining Japanese restaurant Mai. The aim of the class is to enable participants to make basic sushi at home. For those unfamiliar with the sheer delight that is sushi, it is a Japanese food consisting of cooked vinegared rice, combined with other ingredients such as seafood, vegetables, and sometimes meats. There are three key elements that define great sushi – fresh ingredients, how you cook the rice, and how you roll.

Cooking sushi rice is a time consuming process, so we were pleased that all of our ingredients had been expertly prepared for us. The chef began the class by explaining how to cook perfect sushi rice. The process involves washing the rice six to seven times, soaking the rice in cold water, drying it out, and then sitting the rice in water again, before you start cooking. It is also important that you leave the rice in the pot once it’s cooked, without removing the lid, for about 10 minutes. Doing this stage properly, will make a big difference to how good your sushi rolls will be. Today we would be making makizushi (rolled sushi), specifically norimaki (nori roll). Cylindrical and formed with the help of a bamboo mat known as a makisu. Makizushi is generally wrapped in nori (seaweed), but is occasionally wrapped in a thin omelet, soy paper, or cucumber.

We began with a cucumber nori roll, so we could practice our rolling technique. The chef explained that sushi is 60 per cent visual. From the beginning, you need to keep it as unprocessed as possible. The more you touch the ingredients, the more you alter the natural appearance and flavor of the sushi. There is a very exact tradition of spreading the rice on the nori, and sushi masters study for years to learn the proper technique. An example of the proper way is to lay the rice on the nori in only six movements. I’ll be honest and tell you it took me a lot more than six movements. The idea is to spread a tennis ball size amount of sushi rice on the nori, without pressing enough to squish the rice. When looking at the rolls, you should see the individual rice grains, not a pressed block of rice around your roll.

Once our rice had been spread, we added a long strip of cucumber as our filling, and began to roll. After you have rolled up the rice, nori, and ingredients, you place one end of the mat back over the roll and press lightly. When you press on the sushi mat, the chef explained you must do so evenly and gently. The idea is to lightly press the sushi roll into a square shape. Everyone in the group did really well, with pretty consistent results. Next up was a larger nori roll, which we filled with cucumber, omelet strips, mushrooms, and crab mixed with mayonnaise. This roll was more tricky, and I had one end with contents spilling, the other end with not enough ingredients. Chef advised that it’s better to have overfilled ends, as you can tap the filling back in quite easily.

Our final roll was uramaki inside-out roll. This medium-sized cylindrical piece, with several fillings, was innovated as a result of the creation of the California Roll, a method originally meant to hide the nori. Uramaki differs from other maki because the filling is in the center surrounded by nori, then a layer of rice, and optionally an outer coating of roe or toasted sesame seeds. Once we had spread the rice, we laid the nori over the top, gently pressed down and then flipped the whole thing over. Whilst holding our breath. Thankfully mine stayed in one piece, and it was time to add the ingredients across the middle. Once we’d rolled, we topped it off with roe and gently used the mat to press the roe down.

To finish the session, chef deftly made a temaki hand roll, a large cone-shaped piece of nori on the outside with the ingredients spilling out the wide end. It was like a beautiful sushi bouquet. Our sushi rolls were cut, and the contrasting colors of the ingredients looked impressive. Mine weren’t perfect, but they were pretty good for a first attempt. It was a fun and informative cooking class, and I know enough of the basics now to give it a go at home. The cooking classes at Mai are held on the first Saturday of every month from 3-5pm. RMB 380 per person includes a set menu dinner, Japanese tea, cooking ingredients and materials, and the chance to interact with the chef. Half price for kids aged 4-12 years, free for kids under 4 years. All prices are subject to 15% surcharge. To reserve a place, email rachel.xie@westin.com or call 5922 8880.

Mai Japanese Restaurant
Open Mon-Fri 11.30am-2.30pm; Daily 5.30-10.30pm
Level 2, The Westin Beijing Chaoyang, 7 North Dongsanhuan Road, Chaoyang District

beijingkids Shunyi Correspondent Sally Wilson moved to Beijing in 2010 from the UK with her husband and son. Her daughter was born here in 2011 and both her kids keep her happily busy. In her spare time, Sally loves to stroll through Beijing’s hutongs and parks. She is a (most of the time) keen runner and loves reading: books, magazines, news, and celeb websites – anything really. Sally is also a bit of a foodie and loves trying out new restaurants.

Photos: courtesy of The Westin Beijing Chaoyang

Haru Teppanyaki and Sushi Bar is one of the best restaurants in Shunyi. Serving excellent Japanese fare at very reasonable prices. I have eaten here several times over the years, ordering mainly from their extensive selection of sushi rolls and sashimi. On a recent visit I wanted to try out their teppanyaki business lunch sets, a great value option for lunch time dining. Haru’s restaurant is divided into a number of private dining rooms. There is a small sushi bar, great for enjoying a quick lunch, or if you’re dining alone and don’t fancy a room all to yourself. There were only two of us for lunch, but we opted for a private room. The rooms are simple yet elegant, offering a bright space, with seating arranged around your personal teppanyaki chef’s work station.

I opted for the seared beef rolled with foie gras set (RMB 138), my companion the beef rolled with enoki mushrooms (RMB 125). The lunch sets include salad, soup, teppanyaki tofu, vegetables, fried rice, and dessert. The salad was a crisp vegetable salad, of mixed leaves and corn, served with a tangy vinaigrette dressing. The miso soup was a generous bowl full, packed with great flavors. I’m quite a recent convert to the wonders of tofu, and Haru’s was soft and unctuous, with a slightly crisp exterior from the hot plate searing. The vegetables were a crunchy mix of cabbages, carrots, and bean shoots.

Of course the reason we had chosen these sets was for the beef, and what a great choice we made. Perfectly seasoned, quickly seared and wrapped around meltingly soft foie gras. For the mushroom version, the crisp texture of the enoki contrasted well with the tenderness of the meat. To finish, we were served mini pancakes sandwiched together with a sweet paste. Other meats for the lunch sets include pork, chicken, and lamb, and for seafood you can enjoy prawn, cod, and salmon. Dinner teppanyaki sets include appetizer, salad, miso soup, sashimi, shrimp, vegetables, fried rice, and a dessert. The Australian 300-day grain-fed Angus sirloin with asparagus set is RMB 360, whilst the prawn, scallops, cod, and salmon set is RMB 348.

Haru has an extensive selection of original sushi rolls, maki sushi, and nigiri. New to their rolls is the Michelle, with fried shrimp, cucumber, spicy Norwegian salmon, shiso, avocado, sesame, and eel sauce RMB 89 for eight pieces. The Chef informed us that their most popular rolls are the Lily, with tempura shrimp, avocado, cucumber, tempura flakes, conger eel, scallions, sesame seeds, eel sauce, and gobo RMB 92, and the Christina, with soft shell crab, avocado, tempura flakes, topped with scorched salmon and albacore, chili sauce, eel sauce, sesame seeds and scallions RMB 92. The fish at Haru is extremely fresh, making their sashimi some of the best there is.

Haru is a great dining option for kids. With the private rooms, they’re not going to annoy any other diners, and they will watch in awe as the chef sears, stir fries, and brings together their meal. There isn’t a separate kids menu, but teppanyaki is great because the kids can pick out their favorite meats, fish, and vegetables. There are plenty of sushi rolls with kid friendly fillings, like sweet potato, pumpkin, avocado, and egg. The bathroom is clean with sit-down toilet. Service at Haru is impeccable, with wait staff and the chefs paying attention to the finer details. They are polite, helpful, and wonderfully unobtrusive. I have yet to eat at the Sanlitun branch I’m slightly put off by its location in Taikoo Li North. However, it would be an injustice to not at least give it a go, and if their sashimi and sushi tastes as fabulous as it does here in Shunyi, the location can be forgiven.

Haru Teppanyaki and Sushi Bar 尚水长廊铁板烧餐厅
1) Daily 11.30am-2pm, 5.30pm-10pm. 902 Pinnacle Plaza, Jingshun Lu, Shunyi District (8046 5112); 顺义区天竺镇开发区荣祥广场902
2) Daily 11.30am-2pm, 5.30pm-10.30pm. Unit N4-30, 3/F, Taikoo Li North, 11 Sanlitun Lu (6415 2112); 三里屯路11号院太古里北区N4楼30号商铺

beijingkids Shunyi Correspondent Sally Wilson moved to Beijing in 2010 from the UK with her husband and son. Her daughter was born here in 2011 and both her kids keep her happily busy. In her spare time, Sally loves to stroll through Beijing’s hutongs and parks. She is a (most of the time) keen runner and loves reading: books, magazines, news, and celeb websites – anything really. Sally is also a bit of a foodie and loves trying out new restaurants.

Photos: monkeyc.net (Flickr), Sally Wilson, courtesy of Haru