Konnichiwa!

Forging ahead with my love affair for Groupon/Living Social, I scored a super awesome deal for a sushi rolling class with a local catering company called Chef 360.  My friend Aubrey joined me for what turned out to be a fun night of eating, learning (and just a little bit of drinking!)

Chef Peter walked us through a lot of "Little Known Facts" about sushi.

At least they were little known to me.

Originally, Sushi started in mainland China, where they used rice to preserve meats.  As it moved coastal, and on to Japan, the meats being preserved were fish.

The rice was vinegared in order to stave off a the rank taste and also to aid in preservation. 

And then we learned the proper technique for banging a gong.

VERY important if you want to roll sushi properly.

We started with delicious soups and salads while Chef Peter talked and he and his staff began to make our rice supply.

Aubrey decided to take notes.

To note:  If you cover your rolling mat with cling wrap, you keep it sanitary for multiple uses.  No nasty bits of fish or rice get stuck down in the bamboo slats.

Learning about super sharp knives.

We were not given any of those.

Nori wraps.  And check out my half gallon of wine there.  

:-O

 

We were to make California rolls, which have cream cheese, avocado and crab.

Yum. 

 

 Spread your rice super thin;

 Get some stuck to your finger.

Nobody likes a limp crustacean. 

The biggest surprise in our lesson was finding out that traditional sushi should be no bigger around than the diameter of a quarter.

We've been getting fed American-sized portions of sushi.

Oh, the conspiracy against our waistlines!

 For a first-timer, mine was nice and tight.

This was sometime after we rolled our first roll, and right before we finished that monster glass of wine.  So like 7:30.

Definitely AFTER the monster glass of wine, because Aubrey starting showing off her amazing  chopstick skills.

Yeah, I don't know.  Monster glass of wine.

Anyway, I would so definitely use this company for catering, or a party, or for future classes.  Chef Peter was incredibly knowledgeable and he made the atmosphere super fun.  The sous chefs were also very helpful and fun.  In all, I can't think that a single person in there left out of this class disappointed.

And all for the price of a decent dinner out.

Ok - So who wants to come over for sushi?

I gotta keep practicing my tiny roll techniques!