Sustainable Sushi Class at Diane's Market Kitchen

Photos Courtesy of Brad Lovejoy

Let me just start out by saying that I am married to the most fun person in the history of fun people. Brad has the ability to think of a unique activity that suits a loved one, find a venue or business that offers the activity and then to move forward without missing a beat. In this case, he came up with the best idea ever for my birthday; a class at Diane's Market Kitchen called Sustainable Sushi and Sake with Hajime Sato of Mashiko. Okay, I know that was a mouthful so I will provide details.

Diane's Market Kitchen is a cooking school located at Pike's Place Public Market in downtown Seattle. I had to stop to think about it, but I just realized that I have never taken a cooking class. When I think of cooking school, I guess I think of a somewhat sterile, disciplined environment that a person with advanced cooking aspirations would attend. Diane's Market Kitchen is the exact opposite of this so my misconception is now formally corrected. When we walked in, we were instantly enveloped by a sense of warmth and community. Diane has created a space that is professional and creative but has no pretentiousness whatsoever. This type of environment is right up my alley. I am officially hooked.

Photo Courtesy of Brad Lovejoy

Hajime Sato is a Japanese chef that owns and operates a sustainable sushi restaurant in West Seattle called Mashiko. Brad and I have eaten at Mashiko several times and the food is beautifully prepared. The restaurant's sustainable practices have been featured in several Seattle publications and online but until we heard Hajime speak in class, we had no idea what sacrifice and dedication is involved in running a sustainable sushi restaurant. The main points I took away from his presentation are that it is very important that fish sources are traceable, that fishing methods do not damage oceans, that fish farming practices are responsible and that dwindling fish species are given time to repopulate. Educating ourselves is paramount to these tasks and there are resources that we can reference. For starters, Diane and Hajime provided us with a sustainable sushi list from Monterey Bay Aquarium that can be accessed with the link at the right of my blog home page. I have referenced the sustainable fish list many times but I was not aware of the sustainable sushi list.

Now on to the fun part; making sushi! I am a big fan of sushi and I have always wanted to learn how to properly prepare rolls. The first fundamental we learned is how to prepare sushi rice. The rice needs to be washed three times in cold water while gently stirring. Rice then soaks in cold water for 30 minutes so it can "bloom". Blooming means that the rice has absorbed enough water to break easily when squeezed between two fingers. Blooming helps ensure that the rice cooks to the correct consistency. Below is Hajime's sushi rice with sushi vinegar recipe:

Rice:

4 cups Calrose rice

4 cups water (or follow rice cooker's instructions)

1 tsp cooking sake

Vinegar:

1 cup rice vinegar

2 ounces sugar

1 ounce salt

Prepare and cook rice per instructions above. Combine sushi vinegar ingredients in separate container. Once rice is done cooking, place in large bowl with enough room to stir rice. Spread rice out and quickly pour sushi vinegar over rice evenly. When mixing rice, be sure to use a cut-and-fold technique. The goal is to separate the rice into a uniform consistency with no bumps. Wait 2 to 3 minutes to cut and fold rice again. Continue process 3 to 4 additional times until rice reaches approximately body temperature. When rice is done, place in smaller container, preferably insulated so rice will maintain temperature.

The first two rolls we prepared were Creamy Shrimp Roll and California Roll. Hajime prepared the shrimp mixture so we could concentrate on learning how to properly roll sushi. By the time we got to the California Roll, we had learned that keeping your hands wet while handling rice is imperative unless you want rice sticking to every finger and the palms of your hands. Let's just say that sticky rice does not come off easily. We also learned that less is more when it comes to ingredients. If you put too much rice, fish, avocado, etc in the middle, the sushi will not roll properly. Less is more. Hmmmmm. That is not necessarily something the American culture embraces as a general rule.

To make the description of a fabulously long evening shorter, I will share two sushi recipes with you. We prepared four different sushi rolls, a hand roll and tasted two appetizers so this entry could feasibly go on forever if I allowed it to do so. Thank you to Diane and Hajime for making my birthday so wonderful and to my husband for being so fun and exciting. I love you, Honey!

California Roll-

Ingredients:

nori (dried seaweed sheet)

sushi rice

avocado slices

thinly sliced cucumber

crab meat (real or imitation)

Place nori (half sheet) on cutting board, rough side up/shiny side down. Make hand wet enough so sushi rice does not stick to your hand. Get a handful of rice and spread evenly over nori. Do not push hard. Sprinkle sesame seeds over rice. Flip rice and nori. Form a tiny bit of rice in a line on bottom of nori. This will create a cushion when you close the roll. Place ingredients next to line of rice. Roll gently. Put plastic wrap over roll and place makisu around roll to gently form shape. Cut into 6-8 pieces.

Creamy Shrimp-

Ingredients:

10 shrimp

2 ounces tobiko

1 ounce scallions

2 ounces Japanese mayonnaise

dash ponzu

Slice scallions thinly. Mix everything together in bowl. Place half sheet of nori on cutting board, rough side up. Spread rice evenly across seaweed, leaving 1" strip without rice on end of nori. Place shrimp mixture next to line of rice. Roll gently. Place makisu gently around to form roll shape. Cut into 6-8 pieces.

Photo Courtesy of Brad Lovejoy

A few random but important side notes. A makisu is a sushi mat that can be purchased at gourmet grocery stores or Asian markets. Junmai is a term for pure sake so if you want the good stuff, ask your server if the type you are ordering is Junmai. If it is not, rethink your order. According to Hajime, Junmai is the only way to go when it comes to drinking sake. Finally, according to Diane and Hajime, we should try to eat as low on the food chain as possible because it is better for both our health and the environment. The bigger the fish, the more impurities and the higher the mercury level.