I stepped into the kitchen for this installment of Hiring Heiditrying out a truly hands-on job as a sushi chef for the popular Tucson food truck Samurai Sombrero.
Once I had my gloves on, I had to spread the rice evenly on the noridried seaweed found in Japanese cuisine. In the roll I was making, their namesake Sombrero Roll, shaping the rice on the nori was the first step in creating the outer layer.
For the interior, I added cream cheese, cilantro and fried shrimp:
Ready to move on to the hardest part, I ended up in a little trouble and needed a real professional to step in.
My roll ended up on the uglier sideand didn’t quite hold together. Luckily I had a
makisu
a sushi rolling matto help me out.
It helped, but my roll still wasn’t looking right. Surely adding toppings would remedy the situation.
In one last attempt to shape my roll correctly, I ended up squishing the avocado:
Slicing the roll might have been the easiest part. Plating was a different story: Next came the ginger, wasabi and my personal favorite, the eel sauce.
As I discovered, I could dress up some of my mistakes with a little artistry:
And now the moment of truth: Could my last minute save land me a job at Samurai Sombrero?
Turns out I passed both the visual and taste testhired!
If you have a job you want me to try, send me an email at hiringheidi@kgun9.com.