Sushi Lessons

How does someone who is iffy about sushi end up taking sushi lessons? They have a daughter who loves sushi and doesn't want to go alone.

Jessi and I went to a sushi making class on Monday in Salt Lake City.  With the help of Chef Joe, we made three different kinds of sushi. We made california rolls, spicy tuna hand rolls and salmon nigiri (I kept calling it nigini but that's Voldemort's snake from Harry Potter and who would want to eat him?).

The chef, though his name was Joe, was very much a Japanese native and we had to listen carefully to understand him. Fortunately, he also demonstrated what to do so we kept looking at his work and at what the others in the class were doing and we got it. After each roll, he went around the group to tell everyone how they were doing. One man had a really hard time so the chef joked with him about how poorly he was doing at this and he fixed it up for him.

To make a California roll, you put your seaweed on your mat with the shiny side down. Then you cover all but the bottom half inch of the seaweed with sticky rice. After you turn it over, you put crab,avocado and cucumber down the middle of the roll. You have to try to get the ingredients spread out equally so that the you can roll it tightly. You roll from the bottom and if you roll it right, you don't see any seaweed, just rice with sesame seed sprinkled on. Ten you use the mat to make it round and then put a flat bottom on it. When you cut it you should cut through the top seaweed and then chop down fast. If youi cut too slowly, you may squish it.

Rolling the tuna roll was harder than the california roll. You had to hold it in your hand and roll it so it looked like an ice cream cone. I think i put too much rice in mine with the spicy tuna and the cucumber. The salmon was easier but mine didn't look as polished as many others.

Making sushi is pretty fun and I think I'll try to make more at home. But, since it's not my favorite food, I'll have to find someone else to eat it.