I was able to check two items off of my to-do list with my latest Project Paige.
I headed over to the New Japan restaurant to learn how to make sushi having never even tasted it. So not only was I nervous about looking like a fool while making sushi, but I had to prepare myself to eat raw fish.
We started the day learning the basics of how to become a sushi chef. I put on the apron, gloves and hat and stood at my station.The ingredients were waiting for me on the table. Seaweed rectangles, rice cooked in vinegar and a variety of vegetables, egg and raw seafood. The first thing we made was a California Roll. Jennifer, whose parents own New Japan, told me that this is the most popular form of sushi in the United States because it is very mild and has no raw fish. Kuni, Jennifer’s father and head sushi chef, demonstrated the steps involved in creating the roll. First spread rice on a rectangle of seaweed. The avocado goes on top of the rice, surrounded by cucumber and the crab goes on top. Then you roll the whole thing up tightly.
A trick I quickly learned was to lightly wet my gloved hands before grabbing the rice out of the bowl. When my hands were dry the rice stuck like glue. The next roll we made was the Spicy Tuna Roll made up of rice, seaweed, raw tuna and spicy sauce. Next we made a Philly Roll, another American-born roll comprised of rice, seaweed, raw salmon and cream cheese. Kuni also taught me how to make Futomaki, which means “big roll” in Japanese. Kuni’s wife Terry told me that this is a very common roll in Japan and that most housewives know how to make it. This double-sized roll consists of seaweed on the outside, rice, cucumber, spinach, sweet egg, dried gourd (squash), flying fish roe and crab.
Up to this point I was actually doing a decent job of making presentable sushi rolls. That all changed when I attempted to make Nigiri.
To make Nigiri you place individual pieces of raw fish on top of a ball of sushi rice. There was a magical technique in keeping the rice and fish together that I was never able to master.
After failing terribly at Nigiri it was time to taste my work. I began to sweat at this point.Learning to use the chopsticks certainly didn’t bolster my confidence. In fact, when I became thoroughly frustrated Jennifer went to the back and got a set of kiddie chopsticks that are held together with a rubber band. I chose to start with the California Roll. It didn’t have much flavor and I think the only thing I had trouble getting used to was the texture. I then tried the Spicy Tuna Roll which I really liked. I think I needed the extra spice to really enjoy the flavor. I also really liked the albacore and shrimp Nigiri. There was one thing I tried that certainly wasn’t my favorite. I likely will never again have octopus. The taste wasn’t horrible. In fact there wasn’t much taste at all. But the texture was too close to rubber for my taste. It seemed like it took 10 minutes to finish chewing.
This was a really fun and educational project. Arigato (thank you) Jennifer, Kuni and Terry!
