Pictured here: Two Koi's lava roll

Here is the first of seven installments about South Sound maki sushi.

TwoKoi Japanese Restaurant
Where: 1552 Commerce St., Tacoma; 253-274-8999; www.twokoi.com
Hours: Lunch served 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday-Friday; Dinner served 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sunday
Price: $-$$ (Entrees under $30)

Jackie Young Koh always wanted a fusion restaurant. And now he has that in TwoKoi, where he merges his Japanese and French culinary training with his native Korean palate.

“There were no fusion restaurants here, and I really wanted to try it,” said Koh, who previously worked at Tacoma’s Fujiya.

Add one more culinary twist to Koh’s repertoire: Midwestern.

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Pictured here: TwoKoi's salmon lover's roll. Janet Jensen/The News Tribune.

Welcome to my week of sushi. I'll write about seven South Sound sushi restaurants this week.

Much can be written about the vast sea of sushi. Nigiri, sashimi, maki – all command volumes about individual styles and Japanese regional influences.

But when I consider complexity and interest in texture and flavor — the components that draw me to food of all cultures – I think of maki rolls, those cylinder shaped rice rolls stuffed with fish and vegetables. So my series this week focuses on maki. Maki appeals to neophyte and expert sushi lover alike because maki can be simple and accessible to most palates (think shrimp tempura roll), or complicated and challenging (think unagi roll with a double dose of eel).

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