Another Asian Atlanta Adventure

I want to share about the sushi class Caleb and I went to for Valentines Day!

Me, eating the first sushi roll I ever made: the California.

Caleb found sushi classes available for $80/person at Sushi House in Doraville, Atlanta.  (Here's their Facebook page.)  He's been wanting to learn how to make sushi for a while now, so this was a no brainer for our Valentines Day date.

Our teacher Sunny was excellent.  You could easily tell that he enjoyed teaching and sharing what he knows.  You gotta love a person like that.  His encouraging and gentle teaching style was paired with energy and knowledge, and the combination was lots of fun, which helped make the class easier.

Here is our table prepped for making sushi.  The nori (seaweed) is at the top of the table by our sake bottle and glasses, and the seasoned sushi rice is ready next to the plastic wrapped bamboo mat.  A knife, towel, and water are nearby for when they're needed.

This is my sushi roll!  We made a California first.

Sushi times = good times

Turns out, when working with the sushi rice, your hands need to have a very specific level of moisture.  The moitsure allows you to manipulate the rice without it sticking to you (if your hand is too dry) and without it turning to mush (if your hand is too wet).

Next we made the happy sumo roll.  We added a spicy mayonnaise sauce, eel sauce, and sesame seeds on top.  We learned that, when arranging sushi, it is proper technique to have all the pieces touching.  Caleb arranged his happy sumo roll in a cascading line.

iPod pics of the Happy Sumo roll

This was the third roll we made.  We used less rice and used a rolling technique that pinched the roll tightly to make it smaller.  It only had white fish inside.

For our fourth and final roll, our teacher gave us the assignment of creating and naming our own original roll.  We had free reign on the ingredients available, and everyone made something unique.

Caleb and I made these!
The one on the left is my creation!  I used salmon, escolar, avocado, lemon juice, and sesame seeds on top.  I called it the Setting Moon roll to match Caleb's Rising Sun roll.  (When I announced the names of our rolls, the other couples in the class gave an audible Aww.)  Caleb used tuna, cream cheese, Fuji apple, and Sriracha sauce on top.

The creation of the first Setting Moon roll

Here are everyone's original sushi rolls!

Class picture

This is the sake we got with our class!  I've only tried sake one other time, in Japan, and it was lovely, sweet, and light.  There are tons of varieties, though, which I didn't know, and this one reminded me a little of makgeoli, a Korean rice drink.  Sake is made with rice, too, so that makes sense.  This sake felt very clean.

There you have it!

We had a great time, and I'd highly recommend this class to anyone who's interested.

Bonus: Click here to see how Caleb and I had our first sushi dinner party!