(#23) Sushi 101

Today my son Doug and I took a Sushi making class. This was his pick, but I've never had a Sushi making class before, so hey why not. It was taught by Mineko Takane Moreno, she Co-authored "Sushi For Dummies" and you can buy that at almost any Barnes and Nobles, or you check it out from the Library. She was very informative and we learned a lot about making Sushi. For instance I thought it was called that because of the raw fish. I was wrong. It's because of the way they prepare the rice, that makes it "Sushi". It originated in Japan 2000 years ago as a way of preserving fish. The way that Sushi is now made and served has really only been around about 180 years. Street vendors in Japan made the small bite sized Sushi to be sold on the street and at sporting type events. We did a pretty good job for beginners. We learned to make 1) the Sushi Rice, 2) Tekka-Maki (sliced tuna rolls), 3) Kappa-Maki (cucumber sliced rolls with Shiso leaves (Japanese mint leaf) , 4) And my favorite of the day California Rolls. Rolling up the Sushi roll in the bamboo mat and making the rolls tight and even does take a bit of practice. They make it look so easy at the Sushi Bars, trust me it's not. We had fun making it, but both decided the best part of the class was eating the results! Have a great week everybody.