Sushi Lessons!

One of Hannah's classmates, Shiho, is from Japan, and her Mom (Aki, also Japanese) is a talented cook.  As one way of raising money help with tsunami relief efforts, Aki offered basic sushi lessons.  So I took this morning all to myself and went.  First, I couldn't find the house.  The map was perfectly good, but I was just being clueless.  Sigh.  Sweet Aki drove to a nearby landmark and helped me get there...30 minutes late.  I felt awful, but everyone was beyond kind and patient.  Aki had a Japanese friend, Rika, helping her, and there were three "students," Hsin-Tai from Taiwan, Adderi from Malaysia, and me.

I'll confess that I really had no intention that I would be precise or talented enough to make sushi.  I really signed up to see someone make it homemade and to eat some of it!  But I have to tell you, it was one of my favorite days in Doha so far.  What a beautiful group of ladies.  Here they are after we finished.

And here are a few photos from our lesson...

First Aki made an omelette of just basic scrambled egg and a tiny bit of salt.  The pan she made it in was rectangular, and she gently rolled the omelette as it formed.  The end result was this "block" of egg--light and fluffy inside.  And she did all this with nothing by a non-stick pan and a pair of chopsticks.   The other early preparation was the sushi rice--she mixed the freshly cooked rice with a special vingar, sugar, and a little salt.  Then it cooled on the counter for may 10 minutes.

On the left, is the table with the rolling mats, the nori (seaweed outer wrapper), and other freshly cut vegetables, shrimp, smoked salmon, and cream cheese.  Adderi and I were the two crazy photographers, stopping every few minutes to grab a photo--she's taking one of her nori with her cell phone.  On the right is my "Futomaki" roll in process.  That's a strip of the egg, some crab, cucumber, and avocade.  Adderi had never eaten avocado, and Hsin-Tai had only eaten it starting when she moved to Doha.  The world needs more avocados, people!

Really, I think the major trick with sushi is in proper preparation of the rice.  You stir it and spread it by using cutting motions with the paddle--it is, indeed, very sticky, but you don't want to smash it on the nori because really the smashing/sticking happens after you create the roll.  The rolling action, when done right (which is not the way I do it :)), is smooth and fast, to catch up all the good stuff and keep it where it's supposed to be.  Then you give it a good squeeeeeeeze.  Mine turned out okay, but I probably didn't use quite enough rice.  After rolling, you let it sit for 10 minutes or so before cutting, so everything has a chance to bond together.

We made four types of sushi--the Futomaki above, smaller tuna/rice, inside-out American cream cheese and salmon sushi, and Temari sushi.  Get ready, because this is where the giddy started.

For Temari, you don't use the rolling mat.  Instead, you just use some plastic wrap.  We placed a small cooked/peeled shrimp in the center, covered it with a thin sheet of salmon, and then put a scoop of rice on top.  Then you gather the plastic wrap and twist it, forcing the contents into a ball shape. Take the plastic off and Wa'allah!  (Or Wallah!), you have this perfect little rice ball covered in salmon with a shrimp embedded on top.  Now this, I can do! 

Here's a shot below of what we created.  Did you know that you're not supposed to refrigerate sushi?  That dries out the rice.  Of course, if you need to make it more than a couple of hours early, then that could be a problem...I guess you could set the tray on ice?  Those little tiny bottles are of soy sauce.  At home, I had some wasabi paste, which I love.  It's hot, but in an up-your-nose sort of way instead of in a sweat-your-brains-out-and-charbroil-your-mouth sort of way (like curries can be). It was funny--Adderi loves those hot curries but can take the wasabi heat.  I am more the opposite.

And then, to finish this perfect morning, our hostesses served green tea and a traditional Japanese dessert.  It is hard to describe, but it is like thick pieces of jellatin (like gummy fish, only larger and not quite as chewy) but then rolled in this delicious flavored powder and drizzled with a brown-sugar based syrup.  It was fantastic.

To top this all of, our teachers gave us each a color-printed cookbook.  Here's the front page.

Notice that Aki has indicated where to buy each item (Lulu, Carrefour, different aisles) and she's included pictures!


We students decided that Aki and Rika need to (1) make an expanded cook book and (2) offer a new lesson each month.  This was a special treat, and I am so grateful to have had their company and their expertise.