For many years we have been asked again and again if we could offer sushi classes in our restaurant sansaro. Now the time has finally come! Together with our kitchen team we have set up an exclusive sushi course, with which we lift the curtain on the secrets of sushi making for you.
Experience report sushi course in sansaro
Here we can report how the course goes. Because in advance we invited some of our newsletter readers to take part in a trial course at SUSHIYA sansaro. The result was an extremely nice, educational afternoon, and we received great and enthusiastic feedback on our sushi course from our guests.
Theoretical basics & required accessories
Chef Saito-San first provided a theoretical introduction to the history of sushi, then went step by step to all the practical topics related to sushi: what utensils and ingredients do you need for good sushi and where do you get them? How is the rice cooked - even at home if you don't have a Japanese rice stove? Small tip: we recommend for shopping the ingredients and the competent advice, for example, the charming grocery store of Mrs. Suzuki on Rumford Street.
Making sushi at home
Finally, we finally get to the practical part. Our experienced cook Natsuko shows how to mix the sushi rice with the rice vinegar in the right way. For this she uses the huge Hangiri, a cedar vat, which we have specially brought from Japan. Especially the male course participants don't miss the opportunity to try their hand at turning the rice themselves with wooden spoons the size of shovels. Of course, not everyone has an original Japanese Hangiri with a meter diameter or a Japanese rice stove at home. Therefore, all recipes, tips and hints of the chef are adapted to the circumstances of a normal, German household.
Personal care
Finally, Saito-San spontaneously cuts up a sea bream to show how to fillet fish. Since in the beginners' course, despite a generous four hours, there is simply not enough time for everyone to fillet themselves, the Tane - the fish fillets for Nigiri - and the Maki-Shin - the ingredients for the rolls - are already prepared by our kitchen team. In the advanced course, there is then an opportunity for the participants to fillet themselves. Finally, it's all about the "sausage" or rather the roll: the participants learn and practice the correct rolling of sushi under the precise guidance of Saito-San.
Saito-san shows the group everything in detail and explains every single step in German. In addition, our experienced chefs Natsuko and Shindō look over the shoulder of the participants and give, in German, English, Japanese - as far as it is possible - additional assistance. Thus, in the sushi course at sansaro you actually have 2-3 Japanese sushi professionals on site, who show, help, correct. This also makes our sushi course a special, exclusive offer compared to other courses, where the whole group of up to 20 people is sometimes supervised by only one cook.
Shape nigiri - pay close attention!
Especially with the biggest sushi challenge, the nigiri, it was then important to watch the chef closely: How much rice should actually be used for nigiri? How is the rice shaped properly with one hand? Which fingers press on the fish, when and in what order, and how, so that the fish and rice can form a bond? This is the knowledge of an experienced sushi master, which can hardly be learned from books. You have to practice and it shows: Saito-san is an excellent teacher!
The time flies and after the concentrated listening and diligent hand comes the moment of the joint tasting of the diligently worked creations. A very nice round is formed from all the course participants, who decide together to stay right at the big table. After the course, there were nice conversations between the participants and with our chef, where there was still the possibility to elicit one or the other little secret from Saito-san. At the end of the course, the participants were delighted to receive the certificate personally filled out by Chef Saito.
Making sushi yourself is not easy - but you can learn to do it
What remains in the end is the realization: wow, making a sushi roll properly takes a lot of preparation - and a lot of practice! The respect for the daily work of the chefs becomes incomparably greater. And yet there is also the joy that the cooks are generous with their knowledge, that it was fun to lend a hand themselves: so good food not only makes you full and satisfied - but also simply fun.
In the future you will find the currently offered sushi courses at sansaro on the page www.sushiya.de/sushi-kurs. Of course, we always inform automatically via our newsletter when a new course is planned. Register in time, the places are limited!
