It’s taken Jun Oya two decades to perfect his craft, but the Warabi head chef doesn’t consider himself to be a sushi master just yet.

“In Japan, in sushi restaurants, they used to say it takes three years to learn to cook the rice properly and eight years to make a nigiri sushi,” he says. “In my head, you need to be doing this for at least 10 years before you can call yourself a master. I have more than 20 years’ experience, but I don’t think I’m a master yet.”

The very humble Oya is going to be imparting his secrets as part of a sushi and sake masterclass at Warabi for American Express delicious. Month Out. He says the key pillars of sushi are rice, ingredients and knife skills.

“Anything can be sushi if it’s on top of sushi rice — the steamed rice with rice vinegar is the most important thing,” he says. “Also the ingredients have to be very fresh. You need to know how to select the best ingredients as well as how to prepare them.”

“The knife is also important, you must have a sharp knife — it can make a considerable difference in how the ingredients taste as well as their texture.” Oya will teach diners how to mix the sushi rice, how to shape it and how to cut the fish.

To recreate the rice at home, he suggests a rice cooker. “It is the easiest way to cook the rice properly, otherwise a clay pot. It’s got a double lid on it that creates the pressure, the heavier lid makes the steaming better,” he says.

And when it comes to soy and wasabi, less is more. “Do not overdo it. You need just the right amount. Either brush the soy sauce on top of the sushi or you can dip it in, but some people are dropping it in and it is too much,” he says.

The second part of the May event is a sake masterclass with sommelier Rosie Kim. Sake is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice. Kim says that the biggest misunderstandings about sake are that it’s high in alcohol, clashes with food and is only served at one temperature.

In actuality, the alcohol percentage sits between 15-17 per cent, the different styles available means it marries well with food and it can be served at different temperatures to bring out the beverage’s different flavours.

“Some people still think that hot sake is bad and cold sake is good. But it is a part of the unique culture in Japan that it is served at a wider range of temperatures than other drinks,” she says. “There was no refrigeration 2,000 years ago, so people tended to drink sake as hot. Modern technology allows sake to be more aromatic and good to be drunk at chilled temperatures.”

During the masterclass, Kim will widen people’s perceptions of what sake can be. “I will showcase a variety of sake, such as fortified sake that’s a bit sweeter and higher in alcohol, a sparkling sake made in the same method as Champagne with in-bottle fermentation and aged sake from 1999,” she says.

Warabi’s Sushi and Sake Masterclass
May 28 at 12:30pm
408 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
$380 pp
Includes four courses of sushi matched to four different sake styles.

For more details on Sushi and Sake Masterclass head to delicious.com.au/dmo.

Related news: 20 of the best: Melbourne cafes, bars and restaurants to visit during American Express delicious. Month Out