Sushi

Is it difficult to make tasty vegetarian sushi?

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Vegetarian sushi can taste at least as good as sushi with fish.

There are several challenges when it comes to cooking. Most fish species are both soft and fairly firm in the flesh.

When making vegetarian sushi, there will often be some other ingredients such as vegetables that are in play. Vegetables have a completely different texture than fish and must therefore be handled in a completely different way. Some vegetables can be very hard, medium hard and others very soft.

The structure of the vegetables also has an impact on which techniques to use.

These are some of the reasons why it is challenging to make vegetarian sushi.

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Zoë has held sushi courses and cooking classes for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

How long can sushi stay in the summer heat?

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Sushi should not be in the sun very long time.

If you have bought take-away or made sushi at home then sushi should be kept in the fridge.

Normally, it is said that sushi must be taken out of the fridge 15 minutes before it is eaten so it has room temperature. If the food is too cold you will not fully benefit from the flavors.

When it’s as hot as it is at the moment I’ll first take sushi out of the fridge approx. 10 min before.

Bon appetite!

Read more about Sushi course for beginners

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Zoë has held sushi courses and cooking classes for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

Do the Japanese eat a lot of salmon?

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Japanese people eat many different kinds of seafood.

You can find salmon on the menu at many sushi restaurants in Japan. However, in recent years I noticed a change. In 2004 and until 2016, the Japanese did not eat much salmon.

In 2017 when I was in Tokyo, I could immediately see that the Japanese had changed their view of the salmon. Some of the very popular fish such as tuna are endangered species.

Instead, the Japanese are very interested in salmon. Today, the Japanese eat a lot of salmon.

I know that Japanese fishmongers travel around Scandinavia to take look at salmon. The salmon from Scandinavia is known for its high quality.

At the Sushi course for beginners, you will learn what to look for in order to buy top quality fish for the least amount of money.

Read more about the Sushi course for beginners

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

Does it require a special knife if you want to learn how to make sushi?

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In a sushi course for beginners, you will learn how to make delicious and tasty sushi that is suitable for a nice dinner at home.

In the class you will learn to apply Japanese cutting techniques at beginner level. To get the most success with the techniques required, you need to have a very sharp knife. The size of the knife or the brand is not crucial at that level.

If you want to make sushi that is suitable for a restaurant then you need to have a special knife and focus your skills.

You can read more about Sushi course for beginners

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

What are Japanese sushi chefs take on fresh raw materials?

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A Japanese sushi chef in Japan have a different view of raw materials.
If a fish is still alive or caught the same day when the restaurant collects raw materials from the supplier then the raw material is considered fresh.

In 2010, I visited the exclusive sushi restaurant Kyubey in Tokyo where I had a sushi dinner.

At one point the sushi chef came out into the sushi bar with a big shrimp sitting on a leaf on his hand and was looking.

He looked at me and asked, “Do you want it fresh or cooked?”
I thought “I can always get cooked shrimps in Denmark”. “I want it fresh,” I said.

2 seconds later the chefs broke the head of the shrimp and removed the skull and intestine. A few seconds later, the sushi chef made a nigiri. The shripm that lay on the nigiri was still moving it was the nerves that moved.

I looked with big eyes and thought “that might be fresh enough.”
I ate it and I have never eaten a nigiri with shrimp that tasted so good. It still had body temperature and it was so good.

Read more about Sushi chef & sake sommelier Zoë Escher

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

How many attendants are there on your sushi course?

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In the classes, that I hold there have always been fewer attendants compared to other culinary schools. This means that my students get more out of the course when there are not so many participants.

Including Covid-19, I have sharpened the number of attendance I will continue to do so regardless of how the infection developed in Denmark. There will be no more than 9-10 participants.

There are several benefits to

There will be plenty of space between the attendances
I have more time for the participants
The attendances also get to try more

You can read more about what you learn in the Sushi course for beginners

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

Can you tell if a fish is fresh?

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Unless you work in a fish shop it can be hard to tell when a fish is fresh. One of the area where you should not compromise is the freshness of the fish. There are several reasons for this.

Sushi made with fresh fish have a fantastic taste.
You also avoid your guests or yourself get sick.

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

Which criteria is the most important thing when Japanese buy sushi in Tokyo?

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Every year I travel to Brussels in December and spend a few days in the company a delgation of high-grade Japanese Kendo teacher.

A couple of years ago I asked them,

What is the most important thing when you buy sushi?

They all said that sushi rice cooked to perfection is the most important thing for them. None of them are interested in eating sushi rice which has a consistency like pudding. They are also not interested in eating sushi rice that is still uncooked in the middle.

For Japanese, they are the perfect sushi ripe firm but soft in consistency. It is consistency that can be difficult to hit if you are not used to boiling sushi rice.

At Sushi course for beginners the attendants learn what it takes to achieve perfect sushi rice.

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Zoë has held sushi courses and cooking classes for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

Tuna is just tuna

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TunaIn 2012 I visited my Japanese sushi chef instructor Toshi in Los Angeles. I got some private lessons in his restaurant where he introduced to a nigiri technique that takes 20 years to master. 

One day one of his talented Japanese sushi chefs showed me 2 different kinds of tuna. Tuna is called  toro and the piece on the left side is matured up to 3 weeks before it is used for sushi.

Read more about Sushi chef & sake sommelier Zoë Escher

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

Gem

Can all types of seafood be used for sushi?

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For that I have to say both Yes and No.

It depends a lot on how it is used in sushi.
You have to think that seafood has a completely different texture than fish. Most fish fillets are quite firm in the meat.

If you look entirely at seafood they remind you most about a bag of mixed candy. Seafood comes in many different sizes, tastes and texture. It is the raw material that is the hardest to use for sushi.

Some seafood used in sushi restaurants outside Europe are very difficult to prepare for sushi, it requires you as a sushi chef to use many different Japanese cooking techniques.

The consistency of seafood is also very different. Some shellfish have a very hard surface while others are very soft. In order for this type of raw material to become a gastronomic experience, you need to know which Japanese cooking techniques are best suited to it.

At the Sushi course for beginners the attendance learns to prepare the most sought after raw materials for sushi.

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Zoë has held sushi courses and cooking classes for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.