The course lasted for three hours and in that time we learnt loads and made loads…
We prepared the rice first which we rinsed in water a few times to get rid of some of the starch. I always believed that sushi rice was never washed to retain the starch, which kept it so sticky, but Nari and Yoshie explained that sushi rice is so starchy that it needs a good rinse. Once rinsed the rice was placed into a rice cooker along with some accurately measured water, and timed to cook for 15-20 mins, resting for 15. Nari told us that a rice cooker is a must own piece of equipment for any Japanese household as rice, along with miso soup, makes up the base of nearly every meal including breakfast. It is a pretty nifty piece of equipment and so simple to use!
Once the rice was cooked we had to cool it using a paddle which we sliced through the grains at an angle. The rice was mixed with sushi vinegar during this process which gives it a unique flavour and helps make it really sticky and ready for sushi making.
One of my favourite things on the course was watching traditional Japanese omelette being made, Tamago. Nari & Yoshie told us that the first thing they will try when visiting a new sushi restaurant is the egg omelette. If it is good they will stay and if not they will move on. The Tamago recipe is different for each sushi restaurant as it has often been passed down through generations. Many sushi restaurants in Japan stamp their shop name onto their Tamago.
The omelette we watched being made consisted of eggs, sugar, water, dashi (Japanese fish stock powder), mirin (sweet sake, used in lots of Japanese cookery including marinades) and a pinch of salt. It is cooked in a Japanese omelette pan which is rectangular in shape, about the size of a DVD case. Some oil was heated in the pan then a layer of egg was poured in which bubbled and fizzed. Once nearly cooked, Yoshie used her chopsticks to fold up the egg into a long rectangle. She then poured in a second layer and, once cooked, folded it again but this time around the already cooked portion. She repeated until all the egg was used up, by which point the omelette was a very thick oblong. Yoshie then placed the omelette, just cooked, onto a bamboo mat which was rolled around the egg and gently moulded into a rectangular shape. It was then left to cool. The Tomago has a slightly sweet taste but it is very light and yummy, nothing like the rubbery pieces you sometimes get in supermarket sushi packs.
Tomago was one of many ingredients we used, along with the rice, in our sushi making. The other ingredients we helped prepare included pickled radish (Takuwan), cucumber, avocado, crab sticks, cooked prawns and fresh sushi grade salmon and tuna. I liked the pickled radish as I had never tried it before. The bright yellow colour comes from saffron which is used in the pickling process.
Combining these ingredients with dry seaweed sheets and wasabi we moulded, shaped, rolled and pressed our sushi into many different shapes and sizes. It was great to see professionals at work, Nari and Yoshie made it all look so easy.
While trying some of the sushi during the course Nari and Yoshie gave us a few hints on traditional sushi eating technique; soy sauce and wasabi are mixed together to eat with sashimi, as sushi is made with wasabi you eat this with soya only and pickled ginger is used as a palate cleanser between sushi – I had always eaten it with the sushi.
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| john and I with all our sushi |
By the end of the sushi course we had learnt loads and made and created a whole selection of sushi; hoso maki (thin roll), chu maki (medium roll), ura maki (inside out roll), futo maki (thick roll), nigiri (rice blocks) and a host of others. As you can see it filled two large trays – don’t worry we had help eating it – what a feast :)
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| Me with Nari and Yoshie |
I love learning and expanding my knowledge of food, cuisines and culture and this course did not disappoint :) To find out more please visit their website
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