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.
_
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.
In 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.
_
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.
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.
_ 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.
The Japanese are the population of the world who live the longest in the world and for good reason. The Japanese eat large amounts of seaweed and it is not only when they are having sushi.
There are many different types of seaweed depending on whether it is to be used for soups, cold dishes, hot dishes, a starter or a salad.
The different types of seaweed produced to be consumed are very healthy. Seaweed used for sushi is the vegetable in the world that contains the most minerals and vitamins.
So with a very small amount of money the Japanese can eat large quantities of vegetables.
_
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.
Toshi is a well known Executive sushi chef and sushi instructor in Los Angeles. He has almost all the movie companies in Hollywood as customers and do also have celebrities as private clients. He has 40 years of experience as a Executive sushi chef.
Toshi has a Japanese approach to sushi and a way of life. The Japanese culture is very result-oriented when it comes to work and sport. If I pracise kendo in Japan my progress will be tested every day.
When having af teacher like Toshi there are a few Japanese rules that I must follow. When I address him I must call him Toshi sensei or sensei. Sensei means teacher in Japanese.
When I show up in his restaurant I have to say “Ohayogozaimasu” which is a way greeting each other in Japan. Toshi speaks a little English and when he speaks you must be quite. When answering Toshi you say “Hai” which means yes in Japanese. He do not wants to hear the word Yes.
Toshi will test your skills or creativity every 14 days.
In a skill test you are tested on the following,
How sharp your sushi knife is? The level of your sushi techniques? The presentation of the sushi you have madee? How long it took you to make the sushi? How clean your chef uniform is? How clean you have kept your work space?
The result of such tests is placed on a wall in the kitchen so everyone can read it.
He will also test your performance in the sushi bar. He will look at how you work as a sushi chef and how you handle customers.
Beside thay you will also have to learn all the ingredients and raw materials in Japanese.
In 2012 I was in LA where he introduced me to a nigiri technique that takes 20 years to master.
I have learned a lot from him. When I go to LA in September I look forward to learn new things.
_ 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.
Japanese sushi chefs are stricter when it comes to handling raw materials to sushi.
There are several reasons for this.
Japanese sushi chefs have a completely different view of sushi and, the ingredients used for sushi. Sushi is a dish that you do not fry or cook as we know from dishes such as lasagna.
Sushi is a dish that is cooked as little as possible, which means that it places greater demands on the way in which food is prepared. This applies right from the purchase of fish and vegetables, storage, freezing, preparation of raw materials and preparing the food.
Japanese sushi chefs have a more in-depth knowledge of the different fish species for sushi because it takes longer to be trained for sushi.
At Sushi course for beginners you will learn how to handle raw materials and make sushi like Japanese sushi chefs in Japan.
_
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.
When making sushi the knife play an important role.
The secret to tasty nigiri include your ability to cut fish to perfection.
The more a clean cut you can make the more tasty is nigiri pieces too. The reason is that even the smallest “wrong” section of a fish or vegetables can be tasted.
It is also important to know the structure of the fish as it has a direct impact on how clean a cut you can make. If you cut the filet the wrong way the whole filet can fall apart.
The Japanese use very few ingredients when they make nigiri and because of that you will be able to taste everything because nothing can be hidden.
_
Zoë har holdt foredrag og afholdt sushikurser for A.P. Møller – Mærsk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis,Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup og mange flere.
It is a question I sometimes get on my sushi classes.
Black rice is whole-grain rice that is healthier than white rice. Black rice contains several vitamins and minerals. I have never used black rice and I am not going to. There are several reasons for that.
Black rice is much harder to cook than white rice. Nor do they have the same consistency as cooked white rice. Rice plays the main role in sushi if the rice is not cooked properly it affects the dining experience.
The disadvantage of black rice is that it is harder to see if the rice is dirty. Of course you can wash the rice but you can never be sure that there is no hiding somewhere in the rice.
There is sushi a dish where I can adjust the amount of white rice when I make sushi. I can just choose to use less rice thus becoming sushi automatically healthier.
_
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.
It’s really good questions that I sometimes get on my sushi courses.
In Denmark we have a lot of fish of very high quality suitable for sushi. It is especially whitefish found in Danish waters.
In Denmark most people are familiar with salmon, tuna and tiger prawns. Seafood is to find on any menu regardless of where in the world you are.
In different parts of the world have local seafood which can be advantageously to use for sushi. In Japan you can find sea urchin which is a fine and delicate shellfish.
Why there are no more local fish that has found its way to the menu is a good question. The consumers do also have the courage to eat sushi prepared with local fish.
_
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.
There are several reasons why it is difficult to cook sushi ris. You use less water compare to “normal” rice which means that it only that it takes very little to get them wrong.
The perfect sushi rice is solid but at the same time soft. It very diffcult to cook perfect sushi rice.
Another factor that has a major influence on cooking sushi rice is the weather. If it rains, snow or a hot summer day it will affect the process of cooking of sushi rice.
It means that you might have to change the way you cook the rice every time.
_
Zoë har holdt foredrag og afholdt sushikurser for A.P. Møller – Mærsk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis,Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup og mange flere.
Every year I travel to Brussels in December and spend a few days in the company a delgation of high-grade Japanese Kendo teacher.
