Acceptable -- But Not In My House

For quite some time now, I've had the desire to learn how to make sushi. It was a natural fit for my 25 while 25 list.

After mentioning the idea to Kimmy, she decided she'd join me! So, last week we drove out to Francis Tuttle Technology Center for our sushi making class. We had such a great time with our fellow classmates!

The classroom had a mirror over the stove, which was awesome and made it easier to see what was happening... it was also perfect for a [truly terrible quality] selfie.

Our teacher was hilarious. She started class by walking us through the packet of information and had us laughing with her commentary.

1. Did you know Sushi means vinegar rice? Turns out, you add vinegar powder to sushi rice to keep it fresh and make it shiny.

2. There are 4 different kinds of Japanese rice. She said that the Kokuho Rose rice is "acceptable." After a couple minutes she added, "Well, it's okay, but not in my house."

3. She suggested buying imitation crab stick from the local grocery store and "not those Asian stores. They're too fishy there."

4. She kept mentioning how the avocado slices were browning and "miserable looking."

In class, we made miso soup, a Japanese roll, inari-zushi, California roll & futomaki.

Kimmy attempted the proper way to eat miso soup -- with chopsticks. I, on the other hand, was starving and went straight for the spoon.

Without a doubt, the best miso soup I've ever had.

We took some time at the beginning of class to prep all of the ingredients. I jumped at the chance to cut the cream cheese. Not only is it my favorite sushi ingredient, but I knew I could do task that without messing up!

It was finally time to learn how to make a roll. There is some serious strategy and skill involved. I'm pretty sure I had never tried any of the ingredients that go into a Japanese roll, other than shrimp, but it was delicious!

Next up, it was our turn to make a roll. For the record, I much prefer rolling sushi that has rice on the inside. Rice on the outside is MUCH harder to roll!

By the end of class, we were stuffed silly and a little bit slap happy. We had some fun taking photos with the vinegar rice fans. 

My phone died during class - shocker - so it wasn't until I got home that I saw Kimmy's tweets from class. The gourd strips tweet still makes me giggle.

I'm not sure I'll be making sushi at home, but I will definitely be more appreciative of the skill that's required when I order sushi at restaurants, as well as be a little more adventurous when trying new ingredients in my rolls!

Thank you Kimmy for taking the class with me - and being the photographer for the evening!

xoxo, E