When I wrote a list of new things I wanted to try this year, sushi making was one of the first things I added. And in a very specific way. It’s one of those kind of cliched activities now, as it went through a phase of being quite a popular date night activity (and I’m sure it still is, this is no shade to anyone who’s done it!). The reason I added sushi making to my list is that one of my favourite restaurants does a monthly session – it was this that I had in my sights…
Sushi masterclass at Moshimo
Moshimohttps://www.moshimo.co.uk/ has been long-established within the Brighton restaurant scene, but only came to my attention last year. Although I love seafood, sushi had largely passed me by until recently, and I went with someone else, whose turn it was to choose where we’d go that day. Needless to say, I’m very pleased I was talked into it.
Afterwards, I found out about their monthly class, and discovered that it tends to sell out quickly. At £40 per person, it’s reasonably-priced, but also not exactly a cheap activity. My spending this year has been prioritised in a few directions, and as well as knowing that Moshimo’s class is something which runs monthly, I kept bumping it down the list.
Eventually, I booked my place
I tend to refer to these moments as “pressing the Fuck It button”, and that’s what happened. I basically got sick of my own procrastination, decided I wanted to crack on and do it, and went ahead. During the summer, I’d gone through my usual phase of busybusybusy, appreciating having lots of plans lined up, and then suddenly running out of them. It always serves as a reminder to book things staggered in advance, so back in August, I reserved my place at Moshimo’s class taking place at the end of September.
To me, this is great, because I get to enjoy things twice – there’s the anticipation, then the occasion itself – double win!
How it went
I got super lucky – the class I went to hadn’t sold out. As a smaller group, we got that extra bit more attention from our host, Josh. He took us through a bit of sushi history and language, which was really interesting (“maki” just means “roll”, which makes a lot of sense).
We each had a station set up with equipment, were provided with gloves for ease and hygiene (and then oiled them once wearing them – again, makes total sense so that the rice doesn’t just stick to you!), and off we went. Josh talked us through making several types of maki. It might sound a bit strange, but I had imagined that sushi making could be a mindful experience, and pressing the rice carefully into the nori (seaweed paper) was just that.
There’s a knack to it – push too hard and you ruin the rice, go too gently and it won’t bind – and you have to fit the rice to the right space within the paper so that it doesn’t go everywhere when you start rolling. Josh explained that we wouldn’t be rolling salmon or avocado – staple sushi ingredients, but far too slippery for beginners! Instead, we rolled cucumber, celery, and a few more ingredients to still create several tasty dishes.
For those of us who eat fish – because Moshimo does offer substitutes for vegans and vegetarians, which I’m impressed by – there was a chance to make nigiri too. It was interesting learning to roll the rice one-handed for those, and then gently smooth the fish to the top to create the dish. It sounds easy, but it’s surprisingly tricky when you’re new to the task!
A successful evening
The most challenging dish was the California roll, which it surprised me to learn isn’t a standard recipe – Josh’s tip was to always ask what the “house” California roll includes when ordering sushi. To get the coating many of are familiar with, you press rice to nori as we had already done, then add your toppings… then pick the paper up and flip it over! This was a strangely scary experience as we were all convinced it wasn’t going to work, though of course it did. I found great satisfaction in creating such a pretty, impressive-looking dish.
The huge bonus in attending one of these workshops is that someone else has done all of the prep – the rice was cooked, fish and vegetables chopped – for you, and you will also be cleared up after. I ate some of my creations at the restaurant, and brought much of it home to enjoy during the days afterwards. Due to the way the rice is prepared, sushi should last far longer than many Westerners will expect, and I’m really pleased to know this for the future!
Sushi fans, I recommend this one entirely. It was achievable and enjoyable, something well worth doing.