I am dedicating my first post to Ben, my boyfriend, because of him I decided to attempt trying to make sushi. Ben is half Japanese, forth generation, and I thought if we ever were to be married I better try to master the craft of it or at the very least give the old "college try". Sushi is the only aspect of his Japanese culture he has left and I planned to keep it alive for him and hopefully our children.
A basic sushi roll is actually not hard to make, it is trying to get all the tools you need and trying to find the ingredients that is the difficult part. But I took some short cuts and did a little Internet surfing and some book reading and figured it out.
I am naming the recipe for this roll "The Shara scared to death of getting some crazy fish bacteria from raw fish and using smoked Salmon instead roll". I know long but at the time when I tried my first couple of attempts at making sushi, I figured "this may take me awhile and I really don't want to have to hug-the-toilet the next day because I did not properly keep the fish at a certain temperature and go bad". So what I suggest and what I do is use smoked Salomon it can sit out a bit and taste pretty good.
The tools that are needed are a long list and may be hard to find depending on where you live( I will give sources at the end of the post), but all I had to do is go to Mitsouawa Market. Stand in the "Japanese Foods" isle and star at bottles for two hours to figure out if something had gluten in it, or if there is an English translation some where on the bottles. Luckily, after a while a very nice lady told me what to get.
Tools and Shopping List:
Bamboo Sushi Mat
Nior sheets(organic are the best)
good quality brown or white rice (preferably Nishiki brand both white or brown)
Rice Cooker (the cheaper the better that's what Ben says)
1 very sharp knife
cutting board
Powder form of wasabi (when you get to be a master you can splurge on the real stuff)
1 small Avocado
1 small cucumber (The Persian variety are the best)
1 package of smoked Salomon (the smallest possible and the cheapest too)
1 box of low fat cream cheese (you will only use about two large table spoons)
San-J Wheat Free Organic Soy Sauce
Nishiki Sushi Vinegar-Seasoned Rice Vinegar (buy the smallest bottle possible)
1 small lemon
1 small container of toasted sesame seeds
I had a few what i will now call "friends" back in my ASU days that were classically trained chefs who all had similar mantras "doing all your prep before you start to attempt your recipe is the only way you will succeed" so that is what I want you to do as well.
Measure 1 cup of rice and dump it into your rice cooker
add enough water to cover it and then stick you finger in and see if the water meets the first line of your first joint of your pointer finger that should be plenty if it does. If is doesn't add more water and turn you rice cooker to the on position.
While your rice is cooking, depending on the machine it should be about 20 minutes. It is best to make your rice a head of time if you can and let it cool to room temperature. Start to cut your cucumber. You need the cucumber to be cut as thinly as possible. Cut the cucumber in half and then cut in half length wise. Keep cutting into halves and then into strips.
Take your lemon and slice it with your sharp knife then cut the slices into four triangle sections. Then cut your avocado in half around the seed and take a table spoon and scoop out one side of the avocado then slice into thin slices. Everything you put into sushi rolls must be cut as thin as you can this is why it is important to have a very sharp knife.
Where to get this stuff:
A basic sushi roll is actually not hard to make, it is trying to get all the tools you need and trying to find the ingredients that is the difficult part. But I took some short cuts and did a little Internet surfing and some book reading and figured it out.
I am naming the recipe for this roll "The Shara scared to death of getting some crazy fish bacteria from raw fish and using smoked Salmon instead roll". I know long but at the time when I tried my first couple of attempts at making sushi, I figured "this may take me awhile and I really don't want to have to hug-the-toilet the next day because I did not properly keep the fish at a certain temperature and go bad". So what I suggest and what I do is use smoked Salomon it can sit out a bit and taste pretty good.
The tools that are needed are a long list and may be hard to find depending on where you live( I will give sources at the end of the post), but all I had to do is go to Mitsouawa Market. Stand in the "Japanese Foods" isle and star at bottles for two hours to figure out if something had gluten in it, or if there is an English translation some where on the bottles. Luckily, after a while a very nice lady told me what to get.
Tools and Shopping List:
Bamboo Sushi Mat
Nior sheets(organic are the best)
good quality brown or white rice (preferably Nishiki brand both white or brown)
Rice Cooker (the cheaper the better that's what Ben says)
1 very sharp knife
cutting board
Powder form of wasabi (when you get to be a master you can splurge on the real stuff)
1 small Avocado
1 small cucumber (The Persian variety are the best)
1 package of smoked Salomon (the smallest possible and the cheapest too)
1 box of low fat cream cheese (you will only use about two large table spoons)
San-J Wheat Free Organic Soy Sauce
Nishiki Sushi Vinegar-Seasoned Rice Vinegar (buy the smallest bottle possible)
1 small lemon
1 small container of toasted sesame seeds
I had a few what i will now call "friends" back in my ASU days that were classically trained chefs who all had similar mantras "doing all your prep before you start to attempt your recipe is the only way you will succeed" so that is what I want you to do as well.
Measure 1 cup of rice and dump it into your rice cooker
add enough water to cover it and then stick you finger in and see if the water meets the first line of your first joint of your pointer finger that should be plenty if it does. If is doesn't add more water and turn you rice cooker to the on position.
While your rice is cooking, depending on the machine it should be about 20 minutes. It is best to make your rice a head of time if you can and let it cool to room temperature. Start to cut your cucumber. You need the cucumber to be cut as thinly as possible. Cut the cucumber in half and then cut in half length wise. Keep cutting into halves and then into strips.
Then cut your cream cheese into strips as well(this is why it is important to get the cream cheese in a box and not in a spreadable container).
Take your lemon and slice it with your sharp knife then cut the slices into four triangle sections. Then cut your avocado in half around the seed and take a table spoon and scoop out one side of the avocado then slice into thin slices. Everything you put into sushi rolls must be cut as thin as you can this is why it is important to have a very sharp knife.
Then pull out a piece of smoked salmon and cut into thin strips. Take 1/2 tablespoon of wasbi powder and drop into small dish. Take a teaspoon of water and mix together to form a paste and set aside.
Your rice should be done by this point if you decided to make it at the last minute. Open lid and be careful of the steam and let cool for about 30 minutes. It is better to make your rice early in the day, but if your in a hurry 20 to 30 minutes should be ok. Add about 1/4 of a cup of Sushi Vinegar to your rice and one table spoon of Sesame Seeds to the rice. Then lay out your sushi Mat and then take a piece of Nori on top of the mat and spread your sushi rice on to the Nori completely covering all the Nori. Make sure the layer of rice is not too thick it will make the roll too fat after you roll it.
Then pick up the end of the bamboo mat closest to you and roll over the mat little by little and tuck the the insides of the roll with your fingers and then press firmly and roll the mat while pressing firmly. Lift mat back and you should have a half way decent roll.
Your rice should be done by this point if you decided to make it at the last minute. Open lid and be careful of the steam and let cool for about 30 minutes. It is better to make your rice early in the day, but if your in a hurry 20 to 30 minutes should be ok. Add about 1/4 of a cup of Sushi Vinegar to your rice and one table spoon of Sesame Seeds to the rice. Then lay out your sushi Mat and then take a piece of Nori on top of the mat and spread your sushi rice on to the Nori completely covering all the Nori. Make sure the layer of rice is not too thick it will make the roll too fat after you roll it.
Then pick up the end of the bamboo mat closest to you and roll over the mat little by little and tuck the the insides of the roll with your fingers and then press firmly and roll the mat while pressing firmly. Lift mat back and you should have a half way decent roll.
Seal the end of the Nori and place on a cutting board with a very sharp clean knife and cut into one inch wide slices. Place slices on a pretty plate. Take your lemon cut in half. The proceed to slice into very thin slices and then proceed to cut the slices in half. Place each half slice onto each piece of Sushi. Mix up more wasbi powder and put into small decorative bowl or directly on the sushi platter. Guess what you just made your first sushi roll!!!!!!!!! The one created in this Post turned out great!!!!!!!!!
Where to get this stuff:
Books:
Harumi's Japanese Cooking by Harumi Kurihara
1 comment:
Thanks , and good luck with Ben. just recently experienced pink lady sushi and loved it. I am going to try to make the salmon rolls and I believe they should turn out thanks to your detailed recipe!
Kat
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