Today, we conducted another cooking class for teenagers in our town. The theme was sushi (seasoned rice).
Before the class, I prepared Shiitake No Nikata (Simmered Shiitake Mushrooms) and Gari (Sweet Pickled Ginger) to give them time to develop their flavor.
We started the evening by preparing dashi, a light soup stock flavored with kombu (dried seaweed) and bonito (dried fish flakes). We used the dashi in a recipe for Dashi-Maki Tamago, a rectangular shaped omelet, and Miso Shiru (Miso Soup), a thin soup with miso (fermented rice and soybean paste), tofu (soya bean curd) and green onions. Then, we prepared Sakana No Oboro (Sweet Fish Flakes) with halibut fillets cooked with mirin (rice cooking wine), sake (rice wine), shoyu (soy sauce) and sugar.
Finally, we prepared Sushi Rice, cooked medium-grain Japanese rice seasoned with komezu (rice wine vinegar), sugar, and salt in a hangiri, a wooden sushi tub. We wrapped sushi in nori (roasted seaweed) with different ingredients into Maki-zushi (sushi rolled in roasted seaweed). The ingredients included: braised asparagus, the egg omelet cut into thin long strips, avocado, the sweet fish, poached shrimp, and roasted sesame seeds. The sushi rolls were served with a spicy wasabi (Japanese horseradish) paste.
Today, we prepared a North African-inspired summer squash dish with patti pan, yellow straightneck, and yellow crookneck squash and, zucchini, accompanied by chickpeas and middle eastern couscous (a larger version of the more common small grain couscous). The dish was spiced with turmeric, cayenne pepper, coriander, cloves, cinnamon, and black pepper.
Luigi Cooks 