One year ago today, Alex and I went with our friends Lucy and Richard to a sushi making class at Yo. (We learned during this session that Yo Sushi is now just called Yo.)
Trigger warning: This blog post describes events preceding the coronavirus outbreak, including:
- A visit to a restaurant.
- Socialising with others in a physically close fashion.
- Eating food that others had prepared at the table with their own hands.
Alex had received this class as a 30th birthday present from her office. In turn, we got it for Lucy’s birthday so we could all go together.
While I have made sushi before, I haven’t done so under the instruction of a head chef at Yo Sushi. So this was our chance to do it right!
It was an early start — 10am — presumably to get us all out of the restaurant before real punters start wanting sushi for lunch. It was pretty early in the morning to be eating sushi, but I wasn’t complaining.
We each got our own rolling mat to take home, as well as a handy booklet containing instructions on how to make all sorts of delicious Japanese treats.
First up: a seemingly straightforward cucumber maki that was easier for some to make than others (me). I couldn’t get the folding quite right, so the seaweed didn’t join at the ends. This picture is of Lucy’s, which worked much better.
Then, a salmon inside out roll. These are the circular rolls with the rice on the outside. The chef told us to roll it up using an action that reminds me of absolutely nothing else whatsoever.
Some of us had more artistic interpretations than others.
Next up, a larger California roll. The head chef at the Princes Street branch of Yo Sushi turns out to be allergic to crustaceans, as I am. So they don’t actually use crab in their California rolls! They use fish instead.
Nevertheless, I was given breaded chicken to use as a substitute. Just in case. Because the chef overheard me joking that if I accidentally eat a crustacean I might die.
Last but not least, we made hand rolls with tuna. Surprisingly simple to make, and delicious.
We ate about half of what we’d made, then ate the other half for lunch when we got home about an hour later.
I would highly recommend the Yo Sushi School, if for no other reason than it’s a pretty good way to get loads of sushi that would normally cost quite a lot of money.