Sushi Cooking Class

On our tours, we visited several markets. At one of the markets, we stopped for lunch at a Sushi bar. 

This is what a Sushi Bar looks like in Japan.

 We ordered our selections and the Sushi chef made all the stuff right in front of us.

 Here is what our sushi lunch looked like.

 Since we wanted to learn how to make sushi, we signed up for a Sushi cooking class. Here is the instructor from Tokyo Kitchen. It is a one-person business! She met us and the other three students (Australians) at the Asakusha District Visitor Center. We walked to her kitchen (an apartment in Tokyo).

 First she explained about the "Fifth Taste" (Umani) which is "yumminess". The first four tastes are sweet, sour, bitter and salty. 

 We learned how to politely start eating in Japanese. You can say "it's a ducky mouse" and it means "let's eat!" When you are done, you politely intone "goat cheese so summer desktop". This is supposed to mean "it was a feast!" We don't know how close the pronunciation really is, but it is fun to say!

 Here we are ready to cook after washing up and putting on our aprons. The instructor does not live in this apartment. She actually commutes from the Lake District (a couple of hours each way) when she has a class. She rents the apartment to use the kitchen as a classroom.

 One of the things you commonly put in sushi is an egg omelet. The Japanese put sugar in their omelet and sugar in the rice in sushi. Sushi is actually quite high in calories. The little square pans in the photo are used to make the eggs. We wanted to buy one when we got home, but they were about $16 at the Japanese store in Seattle. We found one at Goodwill for $2. Great deal!

 Here are some of the ingredients for the miso soup that we also made in the class. We got our ingredients in Seattle. We had to ask the clerk in the store to find stuff for us since we don't speak Japanese.

 This is one of the steps in making sushi rice. You cook the rice and then put rice vinegar in it and fan it while you mix it in. You keep mixing and fanning until it is all evaporated or absorbed. The instructor taught us the traditional way but admitted she uses a hair dryer at home!

 Three more vital tools to make sushi: bamboo mat for rolling the sushi; bowl of water to dip your hands in and keep them wet; and a towel to dry your hands and wipe off excess rice.

 Here we all are making the best sushi we ever ate. 

 This is what we made. We are still working to re-create the cool mosaic square sushi in the middle! 

 Here is lunch. The students (us!) actually made everything here. It has to be laid out in the traditional Japanese order. The rice MUST be in the lower left, the soup on the right, the side dishes in a row across the top, and the chopsticks facing left at the bottom right.

 This was most of the group (someone had to take the picture!). It really was the best sushi we have ever had. The instructor was EXCELLENT and we would certainly recommend her. The price was quite reasonable, too.
If you click on the link, you will see a short video of our class posted by the instructor on her Facebook page.
Our Sushi Cooking Class