Benkay Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar

Sushi Class: May 4th, 2o08 at 12:30 to 2:30 PM

Sushi is a Japanese culinary art of preparing rice with various ingredients that dates back to the 7th century. They key to preparing sushi is to combine delicious flavor of fresh ingredients with exceptional presentation. Historically, sushi began with a form of pickling, that the Japanese acquired from 7th Century China. Nare-Sushi is 1300 years old and refers to the finished edible product resulting from this early method. Today, Sushi is made with fresh raw fish as well as other ingredients and comes in a variety of forms.

Our sushi class will introduce you to the art of preparation, presentation, and enjoyment of sushi. Please check our website frequently for the next series of classes we plan to offer in 2008. Each class includes:

Introduction to equipment - display & explain

Introduction to ingredients

Sushi making demo/practice - inari and nigiri

Rice - washing & preparing

Rice - cooking

Rice - seasoning and cooling

Sushi making demo/practice - temaki

Maki Roll - preparation and equipment

Preparing fillings, rolling, technique etc.

Cutting maki rolls

Practice session and cutting

California Roll demo

Practice session

	Nigiri Small rice balls with fish, etc. on top. There are countless varieties of nigirizushi, some of the most common ones being tuna, shrimp, eel, squid, octopus and fried egg.
	Gunkan Small cups made of sushi rice and dried seaweed filled with seafood, etc. There are countless varieties of gunkanzushi, some of the most common ones being sea urchin and various kinds of fish eggs.
	Norimaki Sushi rice and seafood, etc. rolled in dried seaweed sheets. There are countless varieties of sushi rolls differing in ingredients and thickness. Sushi rolls prepared "inside out" are very popular outside of Japan, but rarely found in Japan.
	Temaki Temakizushi (literally: hand rolls) are cones made of nori seaweed and filled with sushi rice, seafood and vegetables.
	Chirashi Chirashizushi is a dish in which seafood, mushroom and vegetables are spread over sushi rice.

Benkay Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar • 2 India St, Portland, Maine • (207) 773-5555