Kirsten Trainer was on a roll. Forty-five minutes into a sushi-making class, at Sai Cafe in Lincoln Park, she and boyfriend Atul Mallik had manipulated a mound of seasoned sushi rice, chopped raw salmon and a sheet of seaweed into a sushi roll.
Like the other students spending Saturday morning in the restaurant, Trainer had taken her sushi obsession in hand and decided it might be fun to try to master it with a cooking class offered through the Latin School of Chicago’s Live & Learn program. And hundreds of Chicago-area home cooks are doing the same.
In the past few years, sushi classes have popped up regularly on the schedules of cooking schools nationally. Locally they include The Chopping Block, Sur La Table, The Latin School, New Trier Extension and Whole Foods Markets.
Sushi may be one of the last culinary frontiers to be conquered by cooking enthusiasts. But the desire to make at home what so many people enjoy at a Japanese restaurant is the reason enrollment is high at the California Sushi Academy in Venice Beach, according to school director Danielle Chase.
Maybe it figures that California is home to the school, because the state even has a maki roll named in its honor. But since the school opened in 1998, offering instruction to professionals and home cooks alike, students have come from all over the country. Especially with the twice-weekly, day-long class, Chase said: “Our classes are always full. People are genuinely interested in learning. With a professional instructor who can break [the steps] down, it helps. Then people are ready to go on to the next step, so now we are offering a sashimi course,” she said, referring to the preparation that focuses more on the fish.
Taking the plunge
Even with the intricacies of making perfect rice, the challenge of finding sushi-grade fish and the need for other Japanese ingredients not found in the average pantry, more people are finding that making their favorite maki, hand roll and sushi combinations can be a fun challenge.
David Aschheim, a consultant with Deloitte Touche, got a reservation at the Sai Cafe class as a birthday present from his wife, but the couple had been thinking about learning how to make sushi for about three years. Having finally taken the plunge, Aschheim found that working in the world of raw fish takes practice.
“I am sure it is actually easy, if you do this a lot,” he said, referring to the process of rolling pressed seaweed sheets around rice, tuna and sliced avocado. “But it is hard to find the right amount of pressure to put on the rice when you are rolling the sushi. Making sushi is a great thing to do if you keep it simple.”
Getting the techniques down means hands-on work, according to chef James Bee of Sai Cafe, who has been in the business 22 years.
“The key point is to make it over and over,” Bee told the students who were patting the sticky rice into rectangles during his recent class.
“No matter how many times I tell you how to do it, you won’t understand unless you practice.”
Certainly, the two-hour class showed students subtleties that may not have occurred to the average customer over a platter of tekka maki (tuna rolls) or unagi sushi (freshwater eel over rice.)
Getting the rice right
The basis of sushi, cooked short-grain rice seasoned with vinegar and sugar, can be the most difficult ingredient to master. The cooked grains, which cling together so obligingly that they are able to support a slice of fish, also tend to hang on your hands as closely as a mitten. The standard solution, wetting your palms with water so that the rice slides off more easily, has its own problems, Bee notes.
“Spreading the rice is difficult,” he says, helping one student pat down a layer of the white grains. “If you don’t use enough water, the rice sticks to your hands. Push down too hard and it breaks. Put too much water on your hands and it drowns.”
Bee showed the class how to dab just enough water over palms to give them a gloss. He also noted that sushimakers have success only if they use proper sushi rice.
“Rice is different every growing season,” Bee says. “In this country people say, ‘I don’t care about the rice as long as you give me good fish.’ In Japan, they care. Japanese are very stubborn. They don’t want California rice.”
Beyond tradition
After students repeated their rice rolling techniques several times, attention was turned to the filling. Bowls of chopped raw salmon and sliced tuna were moved around the room, ready to be paired with slivers of avocado and matchstick-thin lengths of cucumber. A salt shaker full of sesame seeds was ready to rain over the insides and outsides of the rolls, however inspiration dictated.
Bee noted that American sushi bars interpret sushi traditions loosely. Many of the most popular combinations, such as California rolls, are strictly American creations.
What he deems more important than tradition is making sure the finished product is attractive and offers the “clean” streamlined flavors so prized in Japanese food.
Once the students’ rolls were cut into pieces and put on serving plates, they looked almost professional. Trainer and Mallick were impressed with their efforts.
As she poured soy sauce into a little serving dish, Trainer joked with her friend, “this is a nicer than I thought it would be.”
Bee, sitting at the table, offered an extra pat on the back.
“At first it seems strange to work like this,” he said. “But here: you made your own sushi and you are eating it.”
Salmon hand roll with salmon caviar
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Yield: 16 rolls
This is a version of the hand roll prepared in the sushimaking class at Sai Cafe. To find ingredients such as rice, nori, salmon row and sushi-grade fish, see “sources.”
4 sheets nori (dried seaweed), each cut into 4 squares
2 cups cooked, seasoned sushi rice, see recipe
1 cup chopped sushi-grade raw salmon
1/2 jicama, peeled, or cucumber, cut into 64 2-inch thin match-sticks
1/4 cup salmon roe
1. Place one nori square in the open palm of your hand. Mound 2 tablespoons of the rice on the nori; top with 1 tablespoon of the raw salmon and 4 of the jicama sticks.
2. Fold one corner of the nori over filling; fold opposite corner over folded corner. Adjust to create a cone. Spoon a teaspoon or so of salmon roe into the top of the cone. Repeat with remaining nori squares.
Nutrition information per serving:
67 calories, 18% calories from fat, 1.3 g fat, 0.3 g saturated fat, 27 mg cholesterol, 10 g carbohydrates, 3.7 g protein, 253 mg sodium, 1 g fiber
Spicy tuna tortilla roll
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Yield: 16 pieces
This American play on sushi comes from Toshi Sugiura, president of the California Sushi Academy, who replaced the nori with soft flour tortillas. Adapted from “Masterclass in Japanese Cooking,” by Emi Kazuko. If you can’t find sushi-grade tuna or would prefer not to use it, substitute poached tuna or salmon. To find Japanese ingredients such as rice, rice vinegar, chili oil, ponzu and sushi-grade tuna, see “sources.”
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/2 cup chopped sushi-grade raw tuna
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons ponzu (Japanese citrus sauce) or lemon juice
2 teaspoons chili oil
2 large flour tortillas, about 9 inches
2 cups cooked, seasoned sushi rice, see recipe
1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
1/2 cup watercress
8 chives, optional
1. Mix together water and vinegar in measuring cup; set aside. Stir together tuna, mayonnaise, ponzu and chili oil in a small bowl.
2. Place 1 tortilla on a work surface; spread half of the rice on the tortilla with fingertips moistened with vinegar-water mixture, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Place half of the tuna mixture, avocado, watercress and chives in a row along the bottom tortilla edge closest to you.
3. Roll the tortilla tightly, starting at the ege closest to you. Repeat with remaining tortilla and filling. Cut each roll in half; cut each half into 4 equal pieces.
Nutrition information per serving:
111 calories, 41% calories from fat, 5 g fat, 0.8 g saturated fat, 3 mg cholesterol, 14 g carbohydrates, 2.7 g protein, 225 mg sodium, 1 g fiber
Seasoned sushi rice
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Standing time: 20 minutes
Yield: 2 cups
Here is a basic recipe, adapted from “Sushi: Taste and Technique” for the rice that is an essential part of sushi. To find Japanese ingredients such as rice, sea kelp and rice vinegar, see “sources.”
1 cup short-grain Japanese rice (kome)
1 1/4 cups water
1 small square kelp (kombu), optional
2 tablespoons Japanese rice vinegar (yonezu)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1. Place the rice in a fine strainer; rinse in cold water until water runs clear. Stir together rice, 11/4 cups water and kelp in a medium saucepan; heat to a boil. Cover; reduce heat to simmer. Cook until water is absorbed and grains are separate, 15 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand, covered, 10 minutes.
2. Spread rice on a plastic wrap-lined baking sheet; cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine vinegar, sugar and salt in a saucepan; heat until sugar is dissolved. Sprinkle over rice; stir gently with a wooden spoon to coat. Cover until ready to use.
Nutrition information per serving:
36 calories, 1% calories from fat, 0.05 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 8 g carbohydrates, 0.6 g protein, 146 mg sodium, 0.3 g fiber
Shrimp avocado maki
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Yield: 16 pieces
This is similar to the classic California roll, but uses shrimp instead of surimi, a crab substitute. You might also give these maki a nice crunch by deep-frying the shrimp in tempura batter before adding them to the filling. Developed in the Tribune test kitchen. To find Japanese ingredients such as rice and rice vinegar, see “sources.”
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 nori sheets
2 cups cooked, seasoned sushi rice, see recipe
1/4 pound cooked medium shrimp, sliced in half lengthwise
1/2 cucumber, seeded, cut into 4-inch matchsticks
1/2 avocado, sliced
1. Mix together water and vinegar in a measuring cup; place a sheet of nori shiny-side down on a bamboo sushi mat. Moisten your fingertips with vinegar water. Spread half of the rice on a nori sheet with your fingers, leaving 1-inch space at the top. Line up half of the shrimp, cucumber and avocado on the side of the nori sheet closest to you. Lift the front edge of the bamboo mat closest to you up and over the filling; roll the nori, giving it a gentle squeeze to make the roll come together. Set aside. Repeat with other nori sheet.
2. Wipe a serrated knife blade, or the blade of a very sharp, thin knife, with rice vinegar using a clean cloth. Cut the first roll in half. Cut each half into 4 pieces, wiping the knife with vinegar-water after each slice. Repeat with second roll.
Nutrition information per serving:
55 calories, 19% calories from fat, 1 g fat, 0.2 g saturated fat, 11 mg cholesterol, 9 g carbohydrates, 2 g protein, 157 mg sodium, 0.6 g fiber
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The rice basics
When it’s time to make sushi, many students find that making the rice and rolling it can be the most challenging part.
Make sure you purchase the right rice, a high-starch Japanese short grain called kome. Do not substitute other types of rice.
For preparing the rice, here are some helpful tips adapted from “Sushi: Taste and Technique.”
Rinse the rice in several changes of cold water (see recipe) before cooking. Make cuts in the sea kelp sheet (kombu), to help release its flavor. When adding the vinegar mixture, do not stir too hard or you will crush the rice. If using a wooden rice-holding tub, soak it in water before adding the cooked rice; this will help prevent the rice from sticking. Cover the cooked rice with a clean, damp cloth or rice tub lid.
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On the side
The two necessary accompaniments to sushi are ground wasabi and pickled ginger. Each is said to add flavor to the fish and aid with digestion.
Wasabi paste, with its cool green color and hot pepperlike punch, comes from an Asian root of the mustard family. What is served in many sushi bars is not true wasabi, but a paste made from horseradish and food coloring.
Pickled ginger is very thinly sliced fresh ginger pickled in vinegar and sugar. Other seasonings are sometimes added, and food coloring or beet juice may be added to give it a pink color. Look for it in the ethnic food aisles of some supermarkets or at Asian grocery stores.
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Where to try your hand at sushimaking
Numerous cooking schools in the Chicago area offer classes in sushimaking. Here are just a few:
The Chopping Block, 1324 W. Webster Ave., 773-472-6700
Country Garden Cuisine, 3N369 La Fox Rd., St. Charles, 630-587-8985
Heat and Spice Cooking School, 925 W. Cullom Ave., 773-404-2229
Inspiration Cafe, 4554 N. Broadway, 773-878-0981
Live and Learn Program of the Latin School, 59 W. North Blvd., 312-582-6035
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Resources
JAPANESE FOODS AND UTENSILS
The Chicago area has a number of resources for Japanese ingredients and utensils. Some of the larger stores include:
International Club (Five Continents): 4000 W. 40th St., 773-927-0100.
Mitsuwa: 100 E. Algonquin Rd., Arlington Heights, 847-956-6699.
True World Foods: 3 S. Arlington Heights Rd., Elk Grove Village, 847-806-1200.
Internet resources include: quickspice.com and asiafoods.com.
Look for decorative mats, soy sauce dishes, sushi display boards and other utensils at kitchenware stores such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Chef’s Catalog, Crate & Barrel and Sur La Table.
FISH FOR SUSHI
Several seafood stores and other retailers in the Chicago area sell sushi-grade fish. Ask for the freshest, in-season fish of high quality. Some of these stores carry fish for sushi regularly, others can obtain it through special order.
Burhop’s Seafood at Plaza Del Lago, 1515 N. Sheridan Rd., Wilmette, 847-256-6400.
Burhop’s Seafood at Glenview and Hinsdale locations.
Dirk’s Fish & Gourmet Shop: 2070 N. Clybourn Ave., 773-404-3475.
The Fishguy Market: 4423 N. Elston Ave., 773-283-7400.
Fox & Obel Food Market, 401 E. Illinois St., 312-410-7301.
Sea Ranch Grocery: 3217 Lake Ave., Wilmette. 847-256-4404.
Whole Foods Markets: multiple city and suburban locations.
BOOKS FOR (UN)COOKS
Here are a few sushi and Japanese cookbooks to look for, available in bookstores and at www.amazon.com:
Easy Sushi, by Emi Kazuko (Lothian Publishing)
Encyclopedia of Sushi Rolls, by Ken Kawasumi (Japan Publications Trading Co.)
The Essential Kitchen: Sashimi, by Hideo Dekura (Tuttle)
The Essential Kitchen: Sushi, by Ryuichi Yoshii (Tuttle)
The Great Sushi and Sashimi Cookbook, by Kazu Takahashi, Masakazu Hori (Whitecap Books)
Masterclass in Japanese Cooking, by Emi Kazuko (Trafalgar Square)
Nobu: The Cookbook, by Nobuyuki Matsuhisa (Kodansha International)
Sushi: Taste and Technique, by Kimiko Barber and Hiroki Takemura (DK publishing)
