Contributed to the Telegram

Japanese II students from Tarboro High School recently participated in a special cooking class where they learned about Japanese food and prepared sushi with local restaurateurs.

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Contributed photo Javon Jenkins slices yellow fin tuna to make nigiri sushi.

The idea for the Japanese cooking class came from foreign language teacher Shigeo Yamaguchi and On the Square Restaurant owner Inez Ribustello. Yamaguchi originally contacted Ribustello to speak to his class about Thailand. After discussing ideas, Yamaguchi and Ribustello decided to have a hands-on cooking class for the students. Inez, along with husband Stephen taught the students how to prepare different types of sushi. The students also learned proper hand washing techniques, how to avoid cross-contamination and how to hold a knife correctly when cutting.

The students prepared crab rolls with spicy tuna, yellow fin tuna nigiri and barbecued eel nigiri. Nigiri sushi is one of the classic sushi styles. The basis for this sushi is the sticky rice is formed by hand into small oval rice balls. The rice ball is topped with some thin slices of fish.

The class also sampled edamame, a preparation of immature soybeans in the pod commonly found in China and Japan. The pods are boiled in water with condiments such as salt and served whole. At the end of the cooking class, the students were allowed to eat the sushi they prepared. For most students, this was their first encounter with sushi and they were pleasantly surprised at the flavor. The majority of the class enjoyed the barbecued eel nigiri over the other types of sushi.

On the Square Restaurant and Wine Shop is located on West St. James Street in downtown Tarboro.