Tracy Chang, chef and owner of Pagu, the Japanese Spanish restaurant in Cambridge, prepares sushi with a uniquely artful look. Lightly torched and slightly charred, sometimes adorned with slivers of satsuma orange and cucumber and salmon roe, each one is sublime. Chang now offers hands-on sushi classes to teach you the skills, and some secrets, of making sushi at home, including hand rolls and chirashi (sushi bowls). If you eat sushi a lot, learning how to make it yourself will save you money. “The educational component of the classes is also part of our goal,” says Chang. Learn where to source sushi-grade fish, how to handle ginger, and create various marinades and sauces, like yuzu, white soy, ponzu, and tamari to pair with different fish. Using small kitchen torches, Chang demonstrates the process of quickly flame searing the fish. Despite what it sounds like, it’s safe. Children, in fact, can participate in the class as ticketed members, with sessions on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 2:30 p.m. In a recent class, Chang set up a kids’ station with bamboo mats, molds, and presses. The chef is also giving classes on the science and technique of crafting hand-pulled, or biang biang, noodles from scratch. Mixing the dough and pulling the noodles by hand is an old-style technique. In fact, as part of Harvard’s Science and Cooking series, Chang once gave a lecture on just this topic. Classes are Thursdays, 6-8 p.m. “We’ll show you how approachable it is to do it all by hand,” she says. You’ll enjoy your creations at the end of class and go home with a goodie bag. All classes are $119. For details and the schedule, click on gopagu.com/classes.
ANN TRIEGER KURLAND
Ann Trieger Kurland can be reached at anntrieger@gmail.com.