Tardy!

I wondered how long it would take.. I have been very good in getting a post up every Sunday, even through vacations, and yet this would be the week I forget. In my defense, I was gone almost all weekend on a marriage retreat and I started a new job last week so things have just been a bit crazy around my house. I will try to not let it happen again!

This week I did sushi! I've sorta done it before with my in laws once, and a few months ago my mother in law sent me a bunch of stuff for it, including pickled ginger, wasabi, and the nori wrappers. I'd been wanting to try them for a while, and finally had an excuse for it! One of the things I very much so didn't want to do was work with raw fish, I know there are proper ways to do it, but it just makes me so nervous! So I went with a few of the simpler ones, a spicy tuna roll, philadelphia roll, and a california roll. If you're trying this for the first time, or have kids you're worried about liking everything, try the tuna roll and go from there. All in all it turned out very well and I started to get the knack of rolling them! Don't worry if they aren't too pretty at first, it takes a while to get the hang of it :)

Sushi Rice

• 3 cups uncooked short grain rice (not minute!)
• 3 cups water
• ½ cup rice vinegar
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

Wash the rice and rinse thoroughly. Place rice and water in a rice cooker and set until cooked. Alternately, place rice and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a simmer, and cook covered until done, 35 to 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, mix together the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small saucepan; cook over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool. Put the cooked rice into a large mixing bowl; pour the vinegar sauce over the hot rice and mix. Allow to cool slightly before using in sushi recipes.



Spicy Tuna Roll

• 1 cup of cooked Sushi Rice
• 1 (6 oz) can solid white tuna in water, drained
• 1 Tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp wasabi paste
• 4 sheets nori
• ½ c. cucumber, julienned
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced

In small bowl combine tuna, mayonnaise, chili powder and wasabi paste. Break up tuna into small flakes and make sure all ingredients are combined.
Cover a bamboo sushi mat with plastic wrap and lay a sheet of nori, rough side up, on wrap. Firmly pat a thick, even layer of rice over nori. Place 1 Tbsp of cucumber, carrot and avocado in a line along the bottom edge of the sheet, and spread a line of tuna mixture alongside the vegetables.
Pick up edge of nori up , fold the bottom of the nori up , enclosing the filling and tightly roll the sushi into a thick cylinder. Once the sushi is rolled, wrap in the mat and gently squeeze to seal. Cut each roll into 6 pieces and refrigerate 2 hours or until ready to serve. Repeat until all ingredients are used. If you don't have the mat, don't worry, I just rolled mine up on a cutting board. It's a bit messier but it works :)



California Roll

(a good example of how to put everything together so it rolls up nicely)

• 1 cup sushi rice
• 8 nori seaweed sheets
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• ½ cup imitation crab meat, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 avocado, peeled, thinly sliced lengthwise
• ½ cucumber, peeled, cut into long, thin matchsticks

Combine the crab meat and mayonnaise in a bowl, and then put together the roll the same way as the tuna roll was done, sprinkling the rice with the sesame seeds before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Philadelphia Roll

(Forgot to get pictures of this one, sorry!)

• 8-ounce block cold cream cheese, cut into long, thin sticks
• 1 cup cooked sushi rice
• 4 ounces smoked salmon, thinly sliced
• 2 nori seaweed sheets
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced

Roll together the same way as the other rolls and Enjoy!