Masaharu Morimoto hosted a sushi-making class at his restaurant, Momosan Foxwoods by Morimoto on Friday, Oct. 23. Morimoto is known for his appearances competing on the cooking shows “Iron Chef America” and “Iron Chef,” as well as hosting the Roku series “Morimoto’s Sushi Master.”
Guests received plates filled with ingredients like raw fish (tuna, yellowtail and salmon), avocado, seaweed, cucumber and rice, while Morimoto demonstrated techniques to put it all together.
Morimoto said that he has been hosting sushi-making classes since he opened his now-closed restaurant, Morimoto in New York, in 2006. Back then, he said, his students’ sushi would often come out “messy” and “flawed.”
However, in more recent years, he said his students have come to class with a better understanding of how to prepare sushi thanks to internet tutorials. He also noted that people often struggle with preparing the rice. Over the years, he has also done cooking demonstrations for dishes like ramen, which he said can be more challenging.
“Sushi is not difficult. Easy to eat, easy to even make,” Morimoto said. “The reason everybody (is) quite quite good because they can watch YouTube…then they can get their sushi-level, quality ingredients in the supermarket.”
The chef noted he was a little bit tired during the class because he had recently flown in from Japan. Morimoto said that he was also at the resort for the All Star Sumo event on Saturday, which featured professional wrestlers from Japan and Mongolia throwing down in the ring, while guests chowed down on sushi.
This wasn’t Morimoto’s first time appearing with sumo wrestlers at Foxwoods. When his restaurant first opened at the resort last year, he celebrated the opening with drums and sumo wrestlers.
“I’m a big fan of the sumo culture,” Morimoto said. “Bringing me here (is a) nice idea.”
Aside from Foxwoods, Morimoto has restaurants in places like Boston, Mexico City, Disney Springs, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, Napa, Montclair and Tokyo. He added that he plans to open up a new restaurant in Manhattan and that “construction is underway.”
Among Morimoto’s students for the event was TV personality and food writer Alex P. Taylor, who was celebrating his birthday. He said that learning how to make sushi from the chef “was amazing.” He had previously visited the restaurant for its grand opening.
“Certain techniques were a little harder than others, but overall we had a great teacher,” Taylor said. “I thought it was fantastic…I would just say, having just released a cookbook of my own, seeing a chef that is so credited with so many awesome things, it’s a great example for other people.”
Dining and Cooking