It's crisping up!

Sensei don't forget me! - I will never forget you!

Hey guys and girls on Ask Japanese it's Cathy Cat!

I am very hungry, we are in Asaskusa, it's time to get some good Sushi.

On that note I have come to Umemori Sushi School....

let's see what it takes to become a Sushi Master. Let's go....

Umemori Sushi School is located in Asakusa. Just a few minutes walk from the famous Sensoji Temple.

Hello!

Heeeeey! - Gosh you're an energetic one! - YAy!!!

Come follow me inside!

Wait you wrote my name and our programme here.

You do that for all students? - Welcome!!!

CathyCat follow me!

Wow he is full of energy! - Go wash your hands first! - Ok!

Wash you hands please! - Ok let's wash our hands.

Ok my hands are SUPER clean. What's next?

Supergood. So next one is...

You gotta take this Japanese Costume called "Happi"

I know this from Japanese festivals as well.

Have you ever worn it? - I have but...

Not on this channel so you're gonna see me transform now...

Ok right I already feel ready for this. I feel ready and one step closer to becoming a sushi master.

Please tell me your name.

Hello everyone my name is Yoshi.

Please call me YOSHI.

I am a sushi master.

Ok Yoshi let's do it together. How many Sushi are we gonna make today?

We're gonna make 9 pieces.

Ok girl let's start making Sushi!

Gosh you're a jolly one.

Welcome and thank you for enrolling at our school!

Thank you!

We are a sushi school and I want you to have one goal! - Yes?

And that's to have FUN making sushi! - Gotcha!

Let me tell you our 3 rules.

We will teach you how to make sushi at home.

Ok! - Okay!

Number 2 is, we will be making it together. So don't make them faster than the teacher....

and please don't eat beforehand.

That's the hardest one. Ok.

And number 3, here we shout the sushi maker chant "Rasshaiii"

Rasshai? - Yes it's the abbreviation of "Irrashai arimase" (welcome to our restaurant)

This is how we form a sushi piece

1 ...2.....3.... RASSHAIIIII

Very good.

What's this?

Sharibanare...

Sticky rice will stick onto your hands... if you use this stuff...

it won't.

It's a fat only used for sushi. - Pretty much yes.

Whaat? I didn't know that.

Wow Japan!

First of all we will prepare the rice for Sushi we call "SHARI"

Shari!

Add a bit of vinegar and mix it as if you were cutting the rice with this spoon.

And your teacher will fan the rice to cool it down in a team of two. - Ok.

STOP! - OK!

Cut cut cut....

Okay!

Since this rice is freshly steamed it's too hot to form. You should wait 20-30 minutes

for it to cool down first.

Let's enjoy! (I originally said "Ask Japanese" but the director cut it lol)

With your right hand, grab the shari sushi rice.

Just a little bit.

Just take a little bit.

It should be about 20g. Check it.

Well that is too much. - Too much!

19 or 21g is still ok.

Oh perfect here we go!

Once you got 20, form it into an egg shape.

Softly shape it, don't grip too strong.

now with you left hand...

Grab the tuna...

this side up.

It's so cold.

With the indexfinger of your right hand, get some wasabi.

Can I reduce the wasabi? - You can.

As much as you want.

Put it on the back of the fish.

Am I good?

Perfect Cathy.

Put the shari sushi rice ON the fish.

Upside down sushi.

Use your thumb and middle finger to shape your sushi right.

One two three.

One two three. - That's it Cathy

Are you ready?

Let's do it. Start with the peace sign.

One two three RASSHAIIIIII

How does it look?

I have never seen this before. This is very nice.

It's very... unique. - UNIIIQUE!

Decorate it on the plate...

And next....

Nooooooo

Please hold the torch.

Whaaaat?

Oh it's crisping up.

I am soooo scared!!!!

Okay!

Wonderful!

Shape the eel on the rice.

One two three...

RASSHAIIIIII

Wow the eel is so long...

It looks tasty. And I like how it smells.

It smells really good now. - Yeah

Itadakimasu! - Let's eat!!!

That was a feast!

Congratulations!

Cathy you have made a great sushi set today! - Yeahs

I would like to give you a graduation certificate today.

This is your graduation certificate - YEAH!

You did your best at this sushi experience

You learned about sushi today

and finished your experience here.

As graduate of the Umemori Sushi School

I hereby certify this.

Congratulations! - Thank you so much!!!

I got my own certificate! Look!

Sensei thank you so much!!!

Don't you ever forget about me sensei!

I will never forget you. - Sensei!

Thank you so much!

Right now I am here with two sushi teachers and I wanna find out more.

So let's start

What are you the most careful and concerned about when making sushi here?

Having a clean and save food environment is number one.

Many foreign customers ask us why we disinfect so much with alcohol and such.

But this is part of Japan's food safety culture and we practice that here

What are the common fails that foreigners do at this school?

Taking too much sticky rice ...

Or putting on too much spicy wasabi!

It would be a bit too early for me to open up my own sushi restaurant now, right?

That's right. In order to become a Sushi professional

You will have to learn the trade from 5-10 years as apprentice.

In order to become a real sushi chef.

The course you took here is like a cooking class for cooking this at home.

But we also have a course for future professionals here too.

What about people who can't eat raw fish ....

or other food requirements of foreign visitors?

We have different options. One is to fry the fish if it shouldn't be raw.

People who don't want raw fish get their fish grilled.

And then for people that can't eat fish at all there is a vegetarian option

so if customers tell us, we can make it even vegan too.

The other day we made a vegetarian sushi with a group from India.

We all had great fun doing this.

Do you have anything else apart from vegetarian and vegan options?

We are also Muslim Friendly.

Fish is generally ok, but all other tools like the oil and alcohol have no pork ingredients.

Alcohol is only being used to disinfect the hands.

Some can't even use alcohol as disinfectant. So we have to try without it.

They have to really wash their hands carefully before hand.

This is a very specific case though.

I think you mainly have foreign customers.

Have you felt any culture shocks?

We have spice for the udon noodle soup and we got asked for more spices.

I said "We have spices for the soup" and I was wondering why they asked

But those foreigners used the spice on the sushi rice.

What!?

I was so surprised!

And the other questions are now from our Ask Japanese members. Let's find out

I heard Japanese sushi and American sushi is different. Is that true?

When I went to America I saw that they prefer the rolled type of sushi like California rolls.

They generally adjust the sushi instead of having to eat the fish raw with things like mayo

They arrange the flavors to match the American pallet.

Japanese traditional Sushi has a long history.

We have the Edo sushi and the Kansai Sushi strands and other types.

They have evolved and changed over years. And so the sushi abroad is also an evolution

of our sushi too.

What's the hardest sushi to make?

Decoration Sushi.

Rolled sushi that has shapes and designs inside needs a real steady hand and skill.

Also... they are not as hard as decorated sushi but...

we have also made design sushi here too, can I show you.

It is a bit more difficult too.

What is this? Temari Sushi and Inari Sushi.

They look almost like Japanese sweets.

They remind us of spring flowers and look really cute.

We have just come up with this design and we will teach it soon at our school too.

That's instagramable.

We wanted to make sushi that girls would like and take pictures of.

What's this school's concept then?

No matter the age and what gender you are...

We want people from all over the world to enjoy making sushi here.

And that is why we have menus catering for different requirements

So people with a different diet can still enjoy making sushi.

I am sure some viewers are now wondering how to enroll at this school here.

How to enroll? You mean make a reservation!

If they come to our Umemori Sushi School website

You can make a reservation directly there. No problem.

We are also doing Facebook and Instagram.

And that also connects to our reservation sites.

Thank you so much!

Thank you!

- I had so much fun!

You did a good job! - And it was so tasty!