Jimmy ‘Sushi Jimmi’ Sinh
Jimmy “Sushi Jimmi” Sinh is starring in his own cooking show, Jimmi Sinh, on YouTube.
Sinh made sushi on the first episode, which aired January 18th, but he plans to prepare all types of cuisine.
“What I’m showing people is what I do every day,” Sinh says. “How I do it. And then I can help people who are Sushi Jimmi fans and also help people who want to learn to become a chef. Everything I teach is done by a chef’s knowledge base.”
For the past six years, people have asked Sinh, who is a cook at Saito 2 in Arlington, to do an online cooking show, he says. “I was going to do this a long time ago but I just never had the time. I was requested from a lot of my customers to do classes.”
He usually just taught people who cook professionally. This is the first time he is teaching home cooks. But, Sinh says, “For me to be able to train someone, they have to have a passion for it, because if they don’t, it’s a waste of my time. I have such a huge passion for it, it has to be someone who has the same type of passion.
“I train chefs because I love for another person to do what I do. If I do it virtually, you have a choice to hit the ‘pause’ button or ‘play’ buttons. That’s up to you.”
Someone watching his videos may decide to “become another chef Jimmy Sinh. The skills I can teach you, you can go out and find yourself a chef position job and maybe open your own restaurant one day. That’s the kind of skills I’m teaching people.
“Everyone wants to put on a chef coat, but not everybody knows what to do with the chef coat. I want to put out an inspiration for all the younger people and make sure they do want to become a chef — why you want to become a chef (and) what it takes to become a chef.”
Sinh plans to feature new episodes about twice a week. “It’s everything that I ever cooked. It’s going to be out there. And if any one of my customers requests me to do something, I’ll do it. ‘We want you to cook some Vietnamese food.’ OK. Let’s make a Vietnamese food episode.”
Jimmy ‘Sushi Jimmi’ Sinh
And, he says, “I want people to know my where my culinary background is, but I want to do some grilling techniques to show people how I marinate my meat. What I do for my private parties.”
Sinh also will show viewers “the right place to go” for the ingredients for the dishes he’s making. “All of the stuff I’ll be teaching you can find locally at the store or you can order online.”
His recipes aren’t secret. “People say, ‘Oh, man. You’re giving out your secret recipes.’ You cannot ever hold your recipes for the rest of your life. I want to be the person who shared great food with everyone.”
Currently, Sinh’s show is being filmed at the restaurant. But he also plans to do some filming at home and at other locations. “I’m going to be using my sister’s backyard. I’m going to set up a mobile kitchen in the backyard. I’m going to show people how to do outdoor grilling.”
He’d eventually like to do some traveling so he can show restaurant techniques from other restaurants around the country.
As for being on camera, Sinh is more than ready for his closeup. “I’m still learning. I’m what you call an amateur.” But, he says, “I’m very comfortable around a camera.”
And to make himself feel comfortable on camera, Sinh wears chef pants and a black T-shirt — his usual kitchen attire. “We work around all kinds of conditions. The more comfortable you are, the better your food tastes.”
To watch Jimmi Sinh, click here.
Jimmy ‘Sushi Jimmi’ Sinh
