Last hands-on experience with chefs from Bay Chapter of USPCA. Photo by Chef Claude Garbo |
Zen and the Art of Sushi Rolling
By Anna Muggiati*
I was a 20-something girl, recently
graduating in Journalism, and about two very fashionable sushi restaurants just opened in my hometown. Most of my friends were so proud of being brave
enough to risk on eating raw fish. So I sat down on the counter, where the
sushi chef was carefully making rolls and clapping wet hands. I was fascinated by the carefully cut colorful ingredients, and the tranquility of the old master. Yet, I
was doubting I would be eating those beautiful creations. So I asked for some
advice.
Although a huge admirer of other
Japanese crafts, like Ikebana, it took me a long time to try to actually make a
sushi roll. Other colleagues from the newsroom would invite me over to watch
them making nigiris, but I always thought the rice was not right, that the fish
was maybe not so fresh et etc. etc.… And then two decades later I became a
personal chef and a mom of two boys. And guess what? Learning the art of sushi from a Japanese
neighbor in San Jose, California. The effort was part of my cooking class project at
school, when we were talking about communities and an ingredient that would be
globally used for national staples. Something like rice.
Kimi, the kind Japanese lady who
used to live across my house, came to my kitchen and told me something
familiar. She told me to relax, enjoy and let tit flow. In my mind sushi
would be difficult, but she reassured me that it would be easy once I just visualized
the framework (the nori sheet), and spread the right amount of Cali Rose cooked
rice in it, spreading the beautiful ingredients I chose to use. She told me
about tamago, and said that would be the everyday sushi. I slowly learned every
part of it, and at the end of the day I couldn’t stop rolling all types, so to
be able to pass on my learnings to the kids on next week cooking classes. For
food safety reasons we just made sushi with vegetables, and sometimes a very
shy layer of cream cheese, to make some kids more comfortable.
As a professional chef, I also
did some deep research about food safety and how to make sure that I knew
everything about sushi-grade fish. That took me to this website, which has a
very comprehensive explanation about all the process needed to make sushi in a
restaurant. It confirmed something that my fishmonger friends already had told
me. Sushi grade fish means fish that was better flash-frozen in the boat.
I also went to find some interesting
tips about sushi rolling, The Kitchn, one of my favorite cooking lifestyle
sites, shared this knowledge. There are endless resources available, like this
site SushiFaq. The history of sushi is beautifully told here. But the most important factor on
my learning process has been that lovely afternoon spent with Kimi. The endless
hours observing the Japanese sushi chefs working in their elegant demeanor also
helped.
Above all, I enjoy the meditative art of eating sushi and the focus needed while I am preparing a roll for my family or friends. Like a
canvas, I love to paint it with white rice, all my favorite colors with bright
fresh vegetables, and a blissful state of mind.