 Remember!! Comment at the end (below the blog box where it says in little blue letters, “comments” click on that and it takes you to comments and a comment box) in order to enter our giveaway. Drawing is Feb 13th. This time TWO people win one of the two identical packages – Pie tin set and First Out Pie Spatula. So comment early and comment often because every single time you comment, your name goes into the pot!!  Growing up, my parents demonstrated to us girls about the precious gift of “hospitality”. Mom and Dad were ready and willing to open our home to anyone who needed a hot meal or a place to stay. Most of the time, that included students from other countries who were attending the university in our town, which was also my father’s place of employment as a professor. From these visits by young people from all over the world, we girls were introduced to new foods and treats that were authentically cooked or, in the case of the treats, provided from stores overseas.  I remember one of the young women, with whom we became very attached, Mitchiko Kawase, loved to tease us and presented us with a bag of little, dried squares that she encouraged us to try. The squares were dark and salty and as we took a taste, she giggled and told us that it was dried octopus. All of us squealed in horror and she laughed hilariously as she told us that it was really seaweed. I’m don’t remember that we were all that much more impressed! One Japanese food that I love is sushi. I’m not a fan of the raw fish type – more the California roll type – but I put all kinds of stuff in mine and chow down. Mr. Fix-It uses a fork and I use chopsticks. He thinks I’m pretentious! I just think I’m being disrespectful if I use a fork. I thought that in the second of these three posts on some international dishes, I thought I’d share my sushi-making. And you don’t need one of those $19.95 jobs as seen on tv!  You can use a rice cooker or a pot to make your rice. For three large sushi rolls, make three cups of rice. Sushi rice is different from regular rice. It is much stickier. I use a type called Hanmi but you can go to any specialty store and many larger groceries and ask for sushi rice.  Once your rice is cooked, put it into a large bowl. A bamboo bowl is great too. Add two tablespoons of sushi vinegar to the rice. Sushi vinegar has sugar in it and is slightly sweet/sour.  Toss the rice to evenly distribute the vinegar   There are any number of proteins that can be used in sushi. Here, I am using a tempura shrimp and Crab Smart. You can also use scrambled egg that is sliced, fresh crab, salmon, cream cheese and the list goes on. And there is no limit to the veggies! Anything goes.  The crab sticks are too thick and so I cut them in half.  I make a sauce that I will use over the sushi by mixing 1/3 cup mayonnaise with 1 teaspoon Chinese chili sauce.  I mix until smooth and creamy  And put the sauce in a squeeze bottle like is used for mustard or ketchup. This gives me a nice little bead to design on the sushi rolls.  I use cucumbers and slice them into 1/4 inch thick slices and cut off the seed area  I square off the ends of each slice  I also slice the shrimp in half after baking it and also slice up an avocado.  A sushi mat is made of either flat bamboo slats laced together with twine or with round sticks laced together as well. I like to use Press and Seal on my mats because it keeps them clean instead of pressing rice down between the gaps.  Sushi Nori is actually kelp seaweed and is full of iodine and is one of the highest plant sources for calcium. It is also chocked full of other vitamins and minerals. Some people toast their nori prior to making sushi by spraying a skillet with a light layer of oil, heating and then placing a nori sheet on the skillet for about 30 seconds and then turning. Others just use the nori straight out of the package.  Place the nori on the mat with the narrower end parallel to the lines of the mat  Place 3/4 to 1 cup of rice on the nori. Place a bowl of water next to your work area. You will want to keep your fingers wet to work with the rice to avoid sticking.  Spread the rice evenly over the nori and press down to make an even surface.  Place crab and cucumber at one narrower end of the nori running parallel to the mat, leaving about 3/4″ of nori showing at the end.  Place the avocado on top of the crab and cucumber  I find it easiest to pick up the roll and start rolling the mat at the end with the filling one full roll and then placing it back onto my work surface to continue  I continue to roll, lifting the top edge of the mat away from the roll so that it does not get rolled up with the sushi. I squeeze the mat with both hands as I go to keep the roll tight.  I am lifting the top side of the mat with the Press and Seal away from the roll as I continue to roll.  I continue to tighten the roll  And Voila! There’s my sushi roll.  I wrap it in a wet paper towel and set aside as I continue to make more rolls.  Now then, you can have the rice on the outside of the roll instead of the nori showing outside. And to do that, first I do the first steps of putting rice on the nori and patting it out and then I lift the nori and rice from the mat and set it aside. I spray the Press and Seal with a little olive oil.  Now, I place the rice package with the rice against the press and seal and the nori on top – basically upside down from the first way I showed you.  I add my center, this time using the shrimp instead of crab  I roll exactly like I showed you above on the first sushi roll and here you have the result  To slice these rolls to get the nice little medallions you see in restaurants, you need a sharp, finely serated knife. I keep my knife wet to cut as well.  Slicing the roll with the rice outside is a little trickier than when the nori is on the outside. Also, I keep my hands wet so that the rice does not stick.  Here are a combination of the two rolls put together. You can see that I squeezed the sauce in a squiggle along the top of the roll and sprinkled with salmon rice seasoning and have carrots and pickled ginger on the side.  This is a roll that was made with the rice on the outside and is served with edamame and tempura onion rings  Here are a few things you can serve with your sushi – Soy Sauce, Wasabe and Rice Seasoning. I sure hope you won’t be afraid to try making this!! I know it looks complicated, but really, it goes very quickly and you sure will love the results!!  |
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