For many people, the thought of making sushi at home might feel overwhelming or inaccessible. But one woman in Birmingham is working to change that. Kelly Viall, who runs Birmingham Sushi Classes, leads tutorials at breweries in town (and around the country) on the basics of sushi making.

Viall, who has been making sushi for eight years, originally discovered her passion for it while working at restaurants in Orange Beach. After moving home to Birmingham, friends often asked her to teach them how to make sushi.

"After the fifth or sixth time I was asked, I thought it might be a good idea to start teaching classes," Viall says.

She posted a Groupon for the classes that was available for five days, offering 500 vouchers for one, two, or four people. In three days, the Groupon had sold out and 98 percent of them had been purchased for two people. That meant 1,000 people had paid for a class. Recently, Viall celebrated her sixth anniversary teaching the classes, and has taught more than 6,100 students.

Once Viall realized that the demand was there, the next thing she needed to focus on was demystifying sushi making by showing people just how easy it can be to do at home.

"There are only three things you need to make sushi," Viall says. She holds up both her hands. "One, two, and a sushi mat.

"Everybody feels like they can't make sushi at home. The point of these classes is to show that it is accessible, you can make it at home, you can do it safely, and you can get the whole family involved."

In her classes, Viall runs through the basics, beginning with rice making and then going on to explain the different sushi sauces and how to safely serve raw fish at home. She explains that "sushi-grade fish" simply means that the fish has been frozen at some point to kill any parasites that might have been in it.

When Viall teaches, you can see she has a passion for it. She keeps things interesting with tips and tricks--like wrapping your bamboo mat in plastic so the rice doesn't stick--that make it easy for the home cook. After Viall goes through the lecture portion of the class (during which you get to eat one of her homemade sushi rolls), she lets participants get hands on. You'll learn to press the rice onto sheets of nori, arrange the filling, and roll the sushi tightly. After the class, Viall emails out her cheat sheet so you can practice at home. Participants leave feeling confident in their ability to later recreate what they learned.

"I'm surprised by how many people come and don't know what they're eating," Viall says. "It's fun to see these lightbulb moments for everyone in the class.

A lot of people are fascinated by the whole thing."

Another benefit of making sushi at home? Cost.

"So many people like to eat sushi, but it's really expensive," Viall says. "A lot of people's kids like it, but they can't afford to pay $25 for their kid to eat. I promote it as you can do it at home for a lot less than you can in a restaurant."

Viall says the best way to become confident in your skills is just to practice. She also recommends that people go to a sushi restaurant, sit at the sushi bar, and watch the chef for an hour. "After taking my class, you'll get a whole new understanding of what's going on--and now when you go to a sushi bar and if you pay attention for an hour, you'll see a million things that can click for you."

Since the classes have become so popular (Viall has traveled to 16 states to teach them), she has big plans to expand her business. Those plans include a permanent classroom space in Trussville and a sushi meal kit delivery service. The delivery service, which will be called Yo Maki, starts with a 12-week program. Each week a new box will be delivered to your house (similar to Blue Apron) and you'll learn new sushi skills. The first will be the basics--making rice and something simple like a California roll. The next will be a little more complicated, and so on. After the end of 12 weeks, you'll have some solid sushi skills, and you'll be able to handle more advanced boxes that will come after.

"We already have 100 people signed up as beta-testers," Viall says. "We're going to keep the pricing affordable. I think people will be happy with it."

Between the classes and the upcoming delivery kit, Viall hopes that people will gain confidence in their own sushi-making skills and see it as an accessible food to enjoy at home. As for Viall, when she's not teaching and traveling, she's making sushi at home for herself and her friends.

"We'll just roll a bunch of sushi and have a big spread. We all eat off the platters family style," Viall says. "My favorite combination is apples and tuna. I don't care what you put in your sushi--if it tastes good to you, that's all that matters."

Kelly's Tips for Making Sushi Rice

Wash your rice before you cook it. Pre-measure the correct amount (remember that cup = 1 roll and most people eat 2 rolls, therefore 1 cup per person should be enough).

Cover the rice with water and agitate it for 30 seconds. Drain and repeat this step for a total of 3 times.

Put the rice and the correct amount of water (according to the rice cooker instruction booklet) in the rice cooker and turn it on.

When the rice is done:

Unplug the cooker and leave rice alone for 10 minutes. This will make cleaning the pot easier later. Invert the rice into a large bowl, add cup rice wine vinegar per 8 cups of rice. Use a rice paddle or a spatula to cut down big lumps of rice, taking care not to smash the individual grains. Spread rice out to cool. Fold rice 2 to 3 times over throughout the next 10 minutes to release steam/heat. Store rice in an airtight container and use within 4 hours.

Step-by-Step Sushi Making

Cook the rice (see above). Chop and prepare vegetables and seafood for filling. Place nori on bamboo mat (shiny side down). Using your hands, spread the prepared rice in an even layer on nori, leaving a small border on all sides. Arrange filling items in a line in the bottom quarter of the rice. Starting from the bottom of the matt, fold over and squeeze tightly. Continue to roll. Remove from mat. Slice and enjoy!

Kelly's Spicy Tuna Recipe

1 pound sushi-grade tuna

1/4 cup Tabasco sriracha

1 teaspoon Shichimi Togarashi

1 tablespoon hot chili oil

1 tablespoon eel sauce

Mince tuna as finely as possible. Add all remaining ingredients and mix with a spatula, smashing the tuna against the bowl in the process. Use spicy tuna in sushi rolls with avocado and furikake (a mixture of sesame seeds, seaweed, salt, and sugar) sprinkled on top. You can also serve it in a bowl with rice and the same ingredients, or with Doritos for dipping.

Tip: Furikake can be found at Asian grocery stores. Furikake comes in several flavors like shrimp, egg, and wasabi. The basic variety has a blue label.



Kapa'a Poke

Poke is a Hawaiian dish of cubed raw fish, seasoned and eaten on its own or in a bowl of rice.

1 pound sushi-grade tuna, cut into cubes

1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

1/6 of a small, sweet onion (ideally Vidalia), sliced

1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

1/2 sheet nori, finely shredded

Toss fish in soy sauce and sesame oil until completely coated. Stir in onions. Cover tightly and store in the fridge for 15 minutes. Top the poke with shredded nori or sprinkle furikake over top.

--Photos by Kelsey Freeman

This story appears in Birmingham magazine's October 2017 issue. Subscribe today!