Why no fish? I do sometimes eat fish. But there is a lot of difficulty accessing ethical sources of fish, then there are storage implications. Doing veggie sushi is simpler, and it provides for vegan customers who might otherwise not eat sushi, so it’s a niche market.
What are your sources? The Japan Centre in London, Wing Yip in Croydon, and Okinami, the Japanese shop opposite St Peter’s Church in Brighton. I went to some trouble to source biodegradable packaging, which comes from Germany.
What’s the trick to making good sushi rice?  Mixing in the sweetened vinegar and cooling it very quickly after cooking. Where I worked, they had electric fans over the rice stations. I use a bamboo and paper fan from Japan in one hand while blending in the vinegar with the other, without crushing the rice. I use a large bamboo paddle and cool the rice in a large, round cedarwood tub.
What’s your earliest food memory?  I lived in Oakland, California til I was seven, and I remember my mum making  “eggy rice” which was raw egg beaten with soy sauce and mixed into very hot rice.  She has Japanese ancestry and used to make dishes like blended tofu and spinach.
What do you like cooking at home? My boys eat vegetables like cabbage and spinach, with a Japanese sauce I make out of dashi (soup stock made from dried bonito flakes and kelp), soy sauce and mirin (sweet rice wine), thickened with potato starch or arrowroot.
What’s your favourite bit of kit? Chopsticks. I don’t know how people cook without them. You can check pasta, or turn hot food on the grill. EC