Hochner Family Blog

Today, I had a bad hangover from the mixture of white wine and others we had yesterday. The morning lesson was pretty tough.  Fortunately, we started slowly by learning with how to sharpen one of the knives, the Yanagi Bocho (Sashimi knife which is very long and thin).

Then, we started to prepare the Saba (mackerel) which we already cut and marinated in vinegar yesterday.  We peeled the skin, and cut it to prepare it for our lunch. 

Actually, we eat for lunch what we prepared in the morning, and bring back home what we make in the afternoon.  This way, we eat Sushi ALL DAY LONG.

Today, as Day 2, we timed how many Sushi we can make in three minutes. 

I take this opportunity to mention a few facts about Sushi: 
- Neta (the piece of fish or else that is placed on top of the rice): 3 cm width x 8 cm long
- Neta weight: 12 g
- Shari (rice) weight: 20 g (normal), 16 -18 g (light), 12 -15 g (very light:
this is what is usually served in the cheaper Mawaru sushi — you know, these sushi restaurants where the sushi dishes are presented on a  conveyor belt.

We prepare the Neta in advance.  To actually make the sushi, while rolling the proper weight of rice with the right hand, you take the Neta with the left hand.  Then you take a little bit of Wasabi condiment) with your right index finger, and spread it on the Neta.  With your right hand, you put the rice on the Neta which is on your left hand, and you make a sushi in 10 steps.
Today I made 10 Sushi in 3 min — to pass the test to be a Sushi Chef, I have to make 18 Sushi in this time, which means 1 Sushi every 10 seconds!  Well the test is Day 13th, so I still have some time to practice.  Today the teacher gave me a little Sushi rice shape made with wrapping film to enable me to practice at home.  Anyway, I look a bit more like a Sushi Chef, don't I?

Here you can see a huge Sushi made by Masayuki who came from San Francisco. He said that Americans love very large Sushi with a mountain of Wasabi on (this is unthinkable in Japan).

And here, you have today's special, Tako (Octopus).  It was alive and we touched it, punched it, teased it, etc.

First we turned the head skin inside out, and
cut the four attached parts.
The Octopus is moving around,
and Yasuhiro san is trying to cut off the intestines, while saying "Gomen nasai" (sorry…)
It's still moving…

We put some salts…

then scrub the skin to take off the slime from it — it was really slimy, a strange feeling!
Akio loved the slime!
We then cooked it in boiling water.  We introduce it in very slowly as to not break the skin.  We ate the head part later on (the legs were kept for tomorrow's lesson), and it was delicious.  It is usually difficult to get to eat Octopus while it's still warm — it's so good. 

Today we worked on some Kohada (some kind of fish).  We cut it into three pieces (upper and lower parts — fillets, and the bones) and leave it with salt, then marinating in vinegar.

Also we worked on Aji (Horse Mackerel), and here you can see some Aji Sushi with Ginger and leek.

At last, we made a Bou Sushi (Sushi Stick) with Saba (mackerel).  The Saba has quite a strong fishy smell and is oily, so the teacher  mixes with the rice some Gari (Sweet Ginger which is usually provided alongside with the Sushi) cut in little pieces together with some sesame seeds.  We really press the rice tightly, trying to reduce the air contained within it — this way we can keep the Sushi longer.
At the end of the lesson, we clean the knife we used and clean the kitchen.  A 6 hour course is quite long, but it's so exciting — the time flies away.  Some of the people attending live some 3 hours away from the school and have a total of 6 hours of transportation, but it is worth it! 

# posted by Famille Hochner @ 3:47 PM