Sushi!

Remember how I said yesterday that I was making sushi for the Super Bowl??  Well, guess what!  I made it AND people ate it AND no one died!!  Hooray!!!

It was totally easy!...and tasted great!...and it's TONS cheaper than buying it! 

Here's how you do it...in case you're feeling ambitious.

1.  Make rice.

You can't use long grain rice for sushi.  It has to be short grain so that it's sticky.  

I saved this rice pot from my parents' house.  There is no easier way to cook rice than with one of these.  1 1/2 C rice to 2 C water.   I doubled that (so 3 C rice to 4 C water.)  Press the button and in 20 minutes...POOF! it's rice!  I'm sure you could do this in a pot on the stove, but I don't have any idea HOW to make rice that way.


2.  Transfer the hot rice into a stainless steel bowl.  This gives you more room to stir the flavoring into the rice and it helps the rice to cool down faster.

3.  Flavor the rice. 

Flavoring:  5 T rice wine vinegar, 2 t sugar, and 1/2 t salt.  Mix together until sugar dissolves and pour over the hot rice.  Stir and let the rice sit until it comes to room temperature.  Cover it so it doesn't dry out.  I used a damp towel draped over the bowl.  And I let it sit for a couple of hours while I worked on other stuff.  This isn't a quick thing...so make sure to plan ahead.  

4.  Prepare all the stuff that you want inside your sushi.  This part is totally personal.  I had some combination of the following in my sushi...avocado, cucumber, carrots, imitation crab, crab salad, and asparagus.

5. Wrap the sushi!  You need one of these laid on the counter:

Bamboo Sushi Rolling Mat

  ...and you need a package of these...

Nori

These are super-thin, dried sheets of seaweed that you'll use as the wrapper for your sushi.   They come in packages of about 12-15.  


When the rice has cooled to room temperature, scoop about 1 C onto the Nori (which should be laying on top of the bamboo mat.)  Evenly spread the rice in a thin layer that completely covers the Nori.  The rice will be TOTALLY sticky, so wet your hands occasionally to make the spreading easier.  You have to use your hands.  The Nori is really delicate and it'll rip if you try to use a utensil.

After the rice is spread, add the filling ingredients on the bottom of the rice.

avocado, crab, asparagus, and those are black sesame seeds sprinkled on the rice

6.  Roll

 
Using the bamboo mat, roll the sushi starting with the end that has the filling on it.  Don't touch the bamboo to the rice.  Use it to keep your hands from touching the Nori.  Press firmly as you roll so that the rice is snug in there.  When you're finished rolling, it will look like this...

Cut the rolls into pieces about 1" thick.   A serrated knife works best.  (or an electric knife!)

TA DA!!!

Cool, huh?  I MADE sushi!!  Oh, and I also made Spring Rolls...

I might have to try this again sometime soon!  :)