So, this coming post was somewhat complicated to write. Due to the circumstances, I couldn't take notes as I worked.
What circumstances? Well, my hands were in gloves, wet and covered with rice. That's right, it was the...
SWALFIN CLASSIC FINE ART OF SUSHI AND SAKE EVENT
And it was *amazing*.
This was our set up. I'm to the left of mom: between us is a black box full of seaweed and a rice cooker (in front of the box, out of view, is a pot of wasabi and two little bowls to put it in). On the work board was a napkin and an apron (we already had plastic gloves), as well as a bamboo rolling mat for making sushi. Next to the work board was a bowl of water for getting the hands wet. To the back right were various cups for sake (two of them already full). Then in the back was a board with raw vegetables, shrimp, salmon and crab. Left of that was a grater for real wasabi root, the real wasabi root, powered wasabi like you get in most places, poppy seeds, ginger, roe and mayo. On the left were two classic sauces often put on sushi that I forget right now.
On the right is a blatant advertisement for Disney's Refillable Mug service, bringing you White Tea from the Boardwalk. Mmm.
We honestly walked in to this event with no idea what was going on. No matter how hard mom and I searched last year, we couldn't find a single review. It was 70$ per person, though, so we decided we'd chance it. And I was so glad we did.
Here's a close up of the sake cups. We were served seven sakes that night: Sesshu Otokoyama Tokubetsu Junmai, Kagiya Namazake Junmai, Hikos Milky Nigori Junmai, Watari Bune 55 Junmai Ginjo, Jizake Tenzan Junmai Genshu, Tenryo Kosho Junmai Daiginjo and Dassai "50" Junmai Daiginjo. They were served while we were making sushi, so it was a bit hard to keep track of what sake was what- and the sakes printed in the guide were wrong (I only got the right list by badgering it off the presenter). I can say all of them were delicious, but I think my favorites were three and four. Honestly, though, everything was good. Try those sake. I wish I could say you could probably get them at kimonos, but kimono's actually has a fairly dismal sake selection. Try the sake store in Japan.
Oh, and here's a close up of what we'd be using to make our sushi rolls. Mmm.
So, basically, the chef started with us making sashimi. We weted our hands (but not too wet), rolled an oval of rice, and put a piece of shrimp/tuna/salmon on it.
Ta-da! All the pictures of the actual sushi will be mom's, who was much more skilled at this endeavor then I was. By the end of the event, I had rice everywhere, including in my hair. Yeah. Don't ask.
We made sashimi for a while. Chef Cid (who I believe is an executive chef at the Swalfin) and the sake presenter Joe went over making sushi and making sake for us. At the front of the room, an assistant chef would make a piece of sushi and it would be filmed on a very large television so we could see exactly what was going on. The making the sashimi part was actually pretty easy, after a bit of practice. Then we grated ourselves some wasabi (which tastes very different then the powdery green dyed stuff you often get at sushi restaurants- it's both stronger and yet not as horseradishy) and started making inside out rolls.
This is a basic inside out Califironia roll- only made with real crab, not the krab with the k (Chef Sid said that's now you tell if a place is a good sushi restaurant- do they make their California rolls with real crab or not should be your first clue). We spread the rice on the outside of the sushi, then placed the usual crab, avocado and cucumber in the inside. Then using the bamboo roller we slowly rolled the sushi in to a tight roll.
Like this.
Then we covered in roe, and one of the chef's came around and cut it in to pieces. They were also very helpful, too- I couldn't get my first roll tight enough, so one of the assistant chef's showed me how to properly roll it in slow motion.
And then there's the California Roll. Nice, right?
Here's the next roll we made, the spicy tuna roll.
And then finally, the hardest roll: the Dragon Roll, made with a tempura battered prawn. I still can't bring myself to eat shrimp's head. I'm pretty adventurous, but I haven't been able to do it yet. I should have tried right this time, but... I didn't. Maybe next time.
Here's the finished Dragon Roll, covered with sauce and cut...
And here is mom's beautiful selection of handmade sushi, all for her to eat. She's already eaten three pieces of sashimi, so with that and three rolls, that was actually quite a bit of sushi. Good sushi. There was something really cool about making them all by hand: it was a bit difficult at first, but also a ton of fun. All of it tasted lovely: we were definitely using fresh ingredients here.
Finally, here is all the sake bottles. And as a bonus, to those of us who were lingering finishing our sushi (and not rushing out to the Causeway event), we were basically told, "Hey, we can't use any of the sake that's already open, so if you want some more, go for it." Another party and we stayed and lingered over sushi and sake, talking to the assistant chef's that were still around and some of the helpers. The other group was a regular at the Swalfin Classic, and gave us some pointers- like that we really should do the pasta demonstration Chef Sid does, too- for next year. Well, this year, now.
All in all, it was an amazing experience. A huge amount of sushi that we got to make ourselves, an engaging presenter, lots of sake and general fun. I can't recommend this enough. I really wouldn't mind doing it again. The events at the Classic should definitely be considered by anyone staying at the F&W during that time.
Next is... I'm actually not sure. We'll see soon!
+ Knives = 
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Just when they are old enough to leave alone, they are too old to leave alone - right? 
