This week, Les Petits Chefs, Ms Carter, Miss Lynch and I were fortunate enough to welcome Sang Kim of Sushi Making for the Soul into the science lab for a lesson in sushi making! Sang has worked in the Toronto restaurant scene for the past 27 years in virtually every position, front and back. He is the author of A Dream Called Laundry and Ballad Of A Karaoke Cowboy, both of which explores aspects of Japanese and Japanese-Canadian culture and history. His latest writing project, Woody Allen Ate My Kimchi, is a candid and hilarious look behind-the-scenes at some of the top restaurants in Toronto. The book is scheduled to launch in the summer of 2013. He is co-organizer of Reel Eats a monthly gastronomic, film, and storytelling event taking place at some of the top restaurant venues in the GTA on one gloriously delicious night and co-director of the Small Press of Toronto (SPoT), a bi-annual book fair in a variety of venues across the city of Toronto, celebrating small press writers and publishers from all over the country. The culinary mind behind some of the most innovative modern Japanese restaurant concepts in Canada, including Blowfish, KI Modern Japanese, KOKO! Share Bar, Sang has shaped the way sushi is eaten in Toronto. We were honoured to welcome him into our humble space!
Sang had picked up the ingredients for the boys to make kappa maki (cucumber rolls), temaki (the cone-shaped rolls) spicy salmon uramaki (with the rice on the outside) and futomaki (the biggest fattest sushi rolls you have ever seen!).
I certainly think the biggest challenge for the boys was keeping their hands free of the sticky sushi rice…
I was amazed to see the boys working with ingredients I would never have thought to produce (hello spicy salmon!) and then even more shocked to see them sneaking bite after bite of most of the rolls we made. Yes boys, I saw you snarfing down those rolls when you thought I was not looking!! (you’ll see a few half-eaten rolls in the pictures actually!)
It always amazes me that the boys can focus on making things like perfect-looking sushi rolls. Especially in this last week of school, focus is a little, shall we say, hazy. But on Monday afternoon in that science lab, there was only amazing concentration going on. The power of food. The power of kinesthetic learning.
I mean, look at how carefully they are patting down the rice and rolling the rolls. I LOVED watching them make the sushi. Meanwhile, I was really not that great at it. Fortunately I won a sushi making lesson for 2 with Sang in a silent auction at a recent event. I definitely need it!
I think part of the appeal of sushi is how pretty all the ingredients are..
And the result? (Well MY gigantic sushi in any case…)
Ok, far from perfect but I was pretty pleased with these!
For those of you interested in making sushi at home, Sang has a great section on his site showing sushi ingredients and where to buy them. For those of you not quite so ambitious, he offers sushi making classes in Toronto as well.
Thanks Sang, for opening the boys’ eyes to some ingredients they might not have realised they like – and to the beautiful art of sushi-making.
Mlle MIchels was being sly with her camera-work, here. Her GIGANTIC sushi was at least as tall as they were round. Sort of “sushi cubes”. 😉
At any rate, this was a surprise treat for my Tuesday lunch – thanks LPC, for my last lunch of the academic year! With a small container of soy, and powdered wasabi, I was able to have myself a most decadent lunch, and be the envy of many in the canteen.
Needless to say, the obvious pairing is some nice sake. If you haven’t tried it – heartily recommend, even if you “think” it’s not your thing. Personally, a dry Fino Sherry is a favourite alternate of mine. The saltiness works well with the seafood. Otherwise there are several white wines you can have if you prefer…Melon de Bourgogne, crisp Soave, tart Riesling. Just avoid, for the most part, the buttery oaked Chardonnays. (Now a nice Chablis is an entirely different matter…)
Congrats on another fine season, boys.
Well you can’t complain – you’ve had amazing lunches most Tuesdays!
Your Petits Chefs are true young professionals being able to maintain their focus so late in the school year and produce some wonderful hand-made sushi! This was a wonderful season for all of you in your little lab kitchen and for all of us who followed along with their culinary adventures. Thank you Mardi and all of the young gentlemen who comprise Les Petits Chefs. May you all have a wonderful summer and Mardi, enjoy your Sushi Lesson for 2 with Sang.
I think if you give them a task involving food, they will concentrate as long as you want them to!
Mm, sushi. 🙂
It’s so impressive to see your petits chefs making sushi… And, they did a fabulous job!
They are pretty talented!
Ahhhh… what fun! I think the hardest part about making sushi is not getting carried away and stuff the rolls too fat! I’m seriously impressed at how well the petits chefs did with this one – it definitely takes concentration. (and i’d totally have been sneaking bits too!)
Oh mine were WAY too fat!
Yummo, I loooove sushi!!!! Though used to buy it rather than make it – until I bought my Sushezi machine.
Yet, these little guys make it look so easy – well done LPC.
They DO make it look pretty easy!