nigiri

Yesterday was the first day of second session. We still have 7 students - same ones so we're all familiar with each other. This session is only focused on sushi making - this is the class everyone has been waiting for and will be judged on our timing, skills and accuracy.

Our first task was to make nigiri - rice balls. We spent all day yesterday learning how to make a rice ball. It's a bit more technical than I thought. We have 8 steps to follow and when you're rushed, you forget the steps or better yet, mix up the steps.

Our class goal is to make 8 nigiri in 2 minutes. Yes, we're timed and today I only made 6 which most of them fell apart - not good at all. Some of my classmates made 5 and 7 but they were too big. So far, none of us has made a perfect rice ball - size, weight, looks. Takes practice.

We're also learning how to filet various sea foods. Yesterday was a review on how to filet salmon and tuna and how to cut it into sushi/ sashimi form. Today we dissected pomano (cute little fish), scallop and squid. Amazingly, the scallop had a huge liver - almost the size of my hand. I've never seen such a little creature have such a large liver before. So I asked if it was natural... thinking maybe the scallops were bred for their liver - like foie gras. Nope... that huge liver was normal - in season liver. Wow. Then we learned how to make bone chips - literally. We air dried the pomano skeleton then deep fried it, seasoned it and made good eats... like a potato chip -salty and crispy.

scallop liver - some are brown like this one, others are red

scallop liver dynamite

sushi - pomano, scallop (2 kinds - nigiri and in seaweed), shrimp

stuffed squid sushi

squid tempura roll