Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Sushi-rama

I had purchased a bunch of sushi-making stuff two weeks ago and tonight I finally got around to trying my hand at sushi.

I was really hoping that this nori would be good. I have had homemade sushi that used seaweed wrap that tasted like they had picked it up off a hot beach. NASTY!!

The rice wasn't too complicated. Rinse one cup rice. Add one cup water and simmer in a tightly covered pot until all the water is absorbed.

Add some sushi vinegar to the rice and fluff in.

While the rice was cooling I made a sushi omelet (tamago). That's just egg whipped with a little water and sugar cooked like a crepe. I put the heat REALLY low and let the egg cook slowly. It is really hard to flip, but it doesn't need to look perfect. There. I said it.

I got a phone call while making the rice and omelet so they probably didn't turn out exactly right.

The rice was VERY sticky and hard to spread out on the nori. I found that using a fork worked pretty well at getting it to spread out. Spread out the rice leaving ~1" clear at on end.

A couple of sites suggested using plastic wrap on the sushi mat to keep rice from squishing into the crevasses, so I heeded their advice.

I cut the omelet into 1" wide strips. I also sliced up an avocado, a cucumber, and baby carrots into strips. I placed a small amount of each on the layer of rice opposite the rice free end.

Use the nori straight out of the package.


Rolling was pretty self-explanatory. Roll toward the rice-free end. I moistened the rice-free end a little once rolled to get it to stick down on the roll. You need to roll a couple before you get the hang of getting the roll real tight.

This roll was my first one.
Not bad, huh?

Then it is just a matter of slicing the roll into uniform sized pieces.

Here is a plate of my finished sushi pieces. The middle ones are my first ones, the fatter outer rolls are my later ones. If you look close you can see a difference in the density of the rice and the neatness of the roll.

The nori was delicious! It was mild and nutty. There was no fishy flavor at all. I would highly recommend this brand.

I didn't find the sushi much more difficult to make than tacos. I will definitely consider having this in our quick-meal rotation! It was fabulous!

By the way, for those of you not in the know - BEWARE THE WASABI!!!
I love spicy, so wasabi and I are good friends, but when you aren't expecting it, it can be very painful. A minute amount goes a long way for those who aren't spice-fiends.

12 comments:

Jenn said...

To paraphrase the commercial:

But WHERE'S the FISH?

:|

Yeah, I like that stuff. But your take on a the veggie roll looks delish!

Sylvana said...

Jenn, I didn't want to rush out and spend a bunch of money on fish for my practice pieces. Besides, I think fish will be a tough one for me as I never know when I will have time for something and there are no good fish places anywhere near my house! Have you ever bought fish online?

Sylvana said...

OH! I forgot to mention that for some of these I did use imitation crab. So there was some fish involved- just not quality sushi fish.

Jenn said...

Oh yeah, California Roll with that imitation stuff is really tasty.

I was just teasing, thinking you maybe didn't like fish at all, hence it's absence. ;)

And fresh is absolutely neccessary for sushi. Better without, if not fresh.

Sylvana said...

Jenn, I knew you were teasing.

It was pretty funny that I didn't mention any fish even though that is what sushi is known for! :)

Ladyseashells said...

Oh Sylvana, your Sushi looks yummy. My husband and I love sushi. Sometimes I use shrimp if I don't have fish. Thanks for coming to my garden. By the way Happy Easter!

Lynn said...

Well, I'm not one for sushi because the thought of raw fish is too revolting to me. I know, I know, it's a delicacy....but not for me! But I love it cooked. Oh well. All your other dishes look great to me.

Thanks for stopping by. I haven't been able to post much, but have gotten curious as to what everyone else has been up to! Happy Spring Sylvana. Oh and good luck with your new gardening adventures. What an awesome thing to have had happen!!

Sylvana said...

LadySeaShells, I can't even get good shrimp around here. We are seriously landlocked! No appreciation for good tasting seafood around here.

Primrozie, well, you might like this sushi because there is no fish in most of these pieces and the fish that is included is just imitation crab meat! They are basically veggie rolls. I think they are a good introduction to sushi, especially if you are raw-fish squeemy.
I was. But my friend makes sushi with raw fish and it was awesome! I couldn't believe that I was actually eating RAW FISH!!!

Naturegirl said...

Love this so now I can do this! Thank you!

Unknown said...

Mmmm... invite me over next time, please! :) Where does your friend get her raw fish? Could you use the same vendor?

Sandy said...

Mmmm yummy!

Sylvana said...

NatureGirl, you're welcome!

Blackswamp Girl, he gets it from the Twin Cities (about 45 minutes away). I really don't want to go that far or through that much traffic for the fish.

Sandy, it really is!