Sushi on the Road – Commerce Street Market
Commerce Street Market 602 Carroll Gartin Blvd, Laurel, MS
It is always such a pleasure to visit the Commerce Street Market. Owner Margaret Hortman and Chef Kay Campanella always extend such a warm welcome. Despite having taught over 10 hands on sushi classes in less than one year, the residents of Laurel continue to request my sushi classes and ask “So when are you coming back?”
It has been fun for me to create a new sushi class menu for each visit that is easy for first timers to prepare, but also challenging for those that may be repeating the class. And though most of the past classes have been reserved for adults, we included a hands on children’s class during this visit.
The Children’s Class
For this class, the turnout was a great range in ages. We enjoyed some lemonade and crispy fried shrimp chips while discussing a little sushi history and sharing thoughts on our favorite types of sushi.
When it was time to make make our own sushi, one attendee told everyone “This is just like playing with Play-Doh!”
Everyone else agreed, although one added, “Only you can eat it when it gets stuck to your hands. You’re not ‘spose to eat Plah Doh.”
During our time together, we made rice balls for tamagoyaki(sweet Japanese omelet) and asparagus, which we attached with nori “seatbelts”. One very observant and very young attendee stated “This is not very easy,” although she produced some very nice rice balls in the end. After making our nigiri, we made a California futomaki roll. And just for fun, we enjoyed some beautiful tempura shrimp with heads intact. For dessert, we had dessert “sushi” made with crispy rice cereal and marshmallows, pretzels and Snickers candy bars. And everyone got to take home some Yan-Yan, a delightful cookie treat with chocolate and strawberry dip, a pair of chopsticks, and a fun word search with some of the Japanese words we learned.
Sushi Class
While getting acquainted with each other, we enjoyed some shrimp chips along with some of the delicious dips sold at the market. This group was very interactive and spunky. And we kept each other laughing throughout the night.
After discussing basic sushi techniques, we made the following rolls: Seared Tuna with Apples, Bacon and Scallions; Ponzu Marinated Beef Tataki Roll with Avocado, Asparagus and Scallions; Sweet Potato and Shiitake Futo Maki; and Shrimp with Mango, Cucumber, Lettuce and Cream Cheese Hand Roll. (The delicious Ponzu used for the beef roll is bottled and sold by market owner Margaret Hortman.)
“I only had a piece a bacon, a few little apples and some taters,” joked the class comedian, “but I’m full as a tick.” Still, most had a little room left for a slice of pound cake topped with ice cream and some delicious fudge sauce, which is sold by the market.
We had a great time discussing ideas for sushi to make at home. The group even collaborated on ideas for two new rolls I should try. One was fried chicken and mashed potatoes topped with gravy which they dubbed the Jones County Roll and another with hot dogs and cheese deep fried dubbed the Tailgate Roll. These of course were jokes and we ended the night with a big laugh.
Thank you so very much Commerce Street Market and Laurel, MS as always for your warm welcome. Until next time…
For residents of Laurel, MS, Commerce Street Market carries a stock of sushi making basics such as sushi rice, sushi nori, rice vinegar, pickled ginger, wasabi and bamboo rolling mats. Also available are sushi gift baskets, all inclusive make your own sushi kits, locally crafted wooden cutting boards, and a selection of Asian inspired sauces and dressings.
Marisa in the local news (past articles) - Laurel Leader Call
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