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Training in Cooking Sushi
Sushi and Japanese food in general have gained such popularity in the United States that becoming a professional sushi chef has become an attractive option for Americans. If this is a career you’re interested in, you can learn how to become a sushi chef by taking classes or a series of courses at a culinary institute. If you simply want to prepare these dishes at home for friends and family you can sometimes take single-day classes for quick training. Professional training to become a chef will take several weeks at least. These courses generally cover a series of topics related to preparing this Japanese dish.
Topics Covered in Basic Classes
• Learning how to determine the quality of a fish
• Skinning fish
• Making rice
• Cutting vegetables
• Making various types of sushi dishes
• Presenting the dishes
Additional Topics Covered in a Professional School
• Using knives properly and maintaining them
• The culinary history of Japan
• Making sauces
• Business management
• Certification preparation and exams
• Internships
Applying for Chef Training
There are several institutions around the country that train sushi chefs. They offer both professional and amateur courses. A certification program generally lasts twelve weeks. Prices and duration of each kind of training vary.
• The California Sushi Academy – If you are aiming for a career as a sushi chef this academy has an intensive, twelve-week course for future professional chefs, at the end of which you will receive a chef certification. It also offers one-day courses at both basic and advanced levels. The basic course will only cost you $80. The costs of the intensive course, which include fees, materials and tuition, totals about $7,000.
• New York City’s Sushi by Simon – offers both public classes and private classes. The public classes that provide a basic training in preparing sushi cost $100. More advanced classes cost up to $200. Private courses can cost up to $600.
• The Sushi Chef Institute in Torrance, California offers a professional course with a two-month duration with a chef certification program as well as private lessons and an advanced class for graduates. Private lessons cost a minimum of $100 per hour. Professional-level training will cost about $2,400.
Some institutions also offer online workshops to help people become familiar with this form of cooking in the comfort of their own home. Teach Me Sushi offers a pure online environment for learning this culinary art, and they even have their own iPhone app. The Sushi Institute also offers a variety of online classes for $75 each.
