No matter where you decide to dine in the United States, sushi will always feel like a royal meal. By some it’s even poised as a delicacy reserved for special occasions, which is a notion that most likely arises from the cuisine’s uniqueness and exotic appeal. This thought used to be one that held true to my personal dining galivants as well, until my recent experience at Pod, a STARR Restaurant, for its popular Sushi School. The school is currently running all summer long on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 6 p.m., proving that you don’t have to get all dressed up and wait for a weekend to enjoy a STARR Restaurant’s unmatchable offerings.
Rock Before You Roll
Each Sushi School class includes eight lucky students who are seated at Pod’s conveyor belt sushi bar and taught by in-house master Tomoyuki Takasu, who was incredibly considerate from beginning to end, happy to answer questions and careful to revealed each important detail. Class attendees were also invited to observe master Takasu’s butchering techniques while diving into a wholesome bowl of miso soup that kicked off the class’s thorough menu. The starter dish did not go without pairing either, as Pod’s attentive servers quickly delivered your choice of red or white wine, coffee, tea or soda.
Class Is in Session
Once the belly was warmed by the generous bowl of perfectly seasoned miso soup, master Takasu dove into the hands-on portion, divvying out essential sushi-making tools and ingredients for the initial lesson, a California roll. Although a very traditional and simple roll, he explained it can easily serve as the building block for any other sushi-making endeavors you decide to have. He was quick to approach each student and kindly refine our technique or encourage those who seemed to get the hang of it right off the bat. Since the intimate class only allowed for a maximum of eight students, the one-on-one instruction was an important step that allowed for maximum takeaway from the class without creating a huge lag time in the experience.
After confirming each student’s finished roll, master Takasu invited us to enjoy the creation and, while I understand the incredible flavor derived mostly from Pod’s super fresh ingredients, there was something extra delicious about enjoying the fruits of my own labor.
A delightful dish of tuna crispy rice was served while master Takasu prepared ingredients for the remainder of class. After devouring the offering with smiles in tow, the class happily cruised through similar steps for the secondary lesson, a tuna hand roll, with extra enthusiasm at the consumption stage. The entire meal was then capped off by a palate refresher of in-house berry sorbet. I couldn’t think of a better reward for completing the class with success but the sushi kit provided for take-home might have topped it.
Sushi Advice You NEED to Know
The ultimate perk to this unique STARR restaurant experience was a Q&A session with Master Takasu that unfolded after our lesson. It was at this time that he revealed that the most important aspect of sushi making is the rice—hands down. He then went on explain how you can achieve perfect rice in these 5 easy steps:
- Collect the same amount of rice as water.
- Rinse the rice through cold water twice.
- Keep the temperature very hot right from the start until the water (with rice) boils.
- Turn the temperature down and let the rice simmer for 20 minutes.
- Turn the temperature off and let the rice sit for 10 minutes.
You can certainly try to steal this advice and take a stab at your own sushi making at home, but there are many more detailed techniques taught throughout the Pod class that are very valuable when you get down to the nitty gritty of sushi creation. Plus, why wouldn’t you want to grab friends or family and liven up a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday night? Just be sure to do it quickly! Summer School isn’t around much longer.
Pod is a STARR Restaurant located at 3636 Sansom Street in Philadelphia. Be sure to like them on Facebook for more delicious sushi updates and experiences and check out other STARR Restaurants here.
