At least here in Vancouver, sushi is just about as mainstream a food as hamburgers or pizza. We’ve gotten to the point where regular old sushi just won’t do and everyone is trying to come up with a fancy new fusion roll to attract customers. But way before all of this, Hidekazu Tojo may have invented the first even “fusion” roll when he created what would become known as the California roll. At the Wellness Show over the weekend, he was showing off one of his newest creations: sushi quinoa.

I didn’t get the chance to see Chef Tojo in action at last year’s Wellness Show, so I made it a priority to catch his cooking demonstration at this year’s show. From what I can gather, he comes up with something unique every year.

In the video above, you can watch him put together two unique dishes for the crowd gathered around the Celebrity Cooking Stage at the Wellness Show. First, Hidekazu Tojo has a great tuna and portabello mushroom steak, a meal that looks like it’d be both light and hearty, fresh and earthy. That’s my kind of dish.

Second, he shows off the specially formulated sushi quinoa developed over at BCIT. Because regular quinoa isn’t “sticky” like sushi rice, they had to add in some extra starch to gain that property. The sushi quinoa is exclusive to his restaurant for now, but they hope to have it expand to other restaurants and markets soon. This could be the next “California roll” for fans of healthy eating!

Check out my album on Facebook for more photos from the Wellness Show. I must confess, though, that I’ve never actually eaten at Tojo’s. Maybe I need to add his restaurant to my Vancouver culinary bucket list.