Sushi

[G. Couch]

Any sushi fans here?

My wife and I made sushi for the first time this past weekend. Lot's of fun but harder than it looks! We stuck with vegetarian sushi...still a bit scared of preparing raw fish.

Anyone got any good tips for making sushi? As you can see from the picture, our sushi rolls were a bit uneven but not too bad for beginners.

[T Paul]

Wow impressive looking! So how were they? I haven't been brave enough to try sushi, but those veggie sushi rolls look pretty tempting!

~T

[G. Couch]

They were very good! We used things like cucumbers, asparugas, carrots, cream cheese...even some proscuitto! (ok...so they were not entirely vegetarian!)

[T Paul]

I found a couple of web sites for you:

Rolling Your Own Sushi

More Sushi Info

The Sushi Site


Enjoy!

~T

[jeaniesa]

I love to make (and eat) sushi!! I stick with vegetarian also. Your rolls look great - esp. for a first try!!

Do you have a sushi mat for rolling? I wouldn't even try rolling sushi without one. It allows you to make nice tight rolls. I took a sushi making class years ago and here are the veggies that were suggested in that class:

Kampyoo (dried gourd) which is washed with salt water and boiled in dashi, soy sauce, salt, sugar & mirin. If you want the exact directions let me know, but I just found out recently that you can by the kampyoo already cooked in the seasoning in cans - a LOT easier. (You'll need to have an Asian market nearby to find it though.)

Spinach - steamed or boiled till wilted

Eggs - beat 2 eggs with 2 t sugar and a pinch of salt. Make a thick omelet and cut in 1/2" strips when cool.

Carrots - cut in 1/4" sticks and cooked till crisp tender.

You can combine all of those ingredients for a "Futomaki" roll.

Other possibilities (for more Western pallets):

Cream cheese and smoked salmon (this was a HUGE hit at a party recently)
Add avocado to the above (or just about anything with cream cheese)
Cucumbers
String beans (cooked till crisp tender)
Crab or shrimp (cooked)

Also, just wondering if you added the rice vinegar/sugar/salt mixture to the sushi rice and tossed it into the rice as it was cooling? It does make the rice taste more "authentic" than just using pain boiled rice.

OK, now my mouth is watering!!

Jeanie

[G. Couch]

Lot's of good ideas Jeanie! We will have to try the "Futomaki" rolls. We did use sushi rice and added the vinegar mixture and it turned out very well. The rice was the thing I was worried most about although I think my proportion of rice to vinegar was a bit high. The sushi mat was a definite must...glad my wife had one!

Thanks for the links T!

[jeaniesa]

OK, so you've got the sushi mat... To make tight rolls takes practice, but one thing to try is after it's rolled, wrap the mat around the roll and squeeze it firmly and hold for a few seconds. If the roll is loose to begin with, you might see a small "fold" when you unwrap it. But, you can just explain that away by saying you are bored with simple circles and are moving on to more complex shapes. Seriously though, before you unwrap the mat, check both ends and press back in any loose "filling" that has come out in the process.

It does take practice. If I could figure out how to describe what I do when I roll my sushi, I'd tell you. But I'm more of a "show and tell" teacher when it comes to cooking.

Jeanie

[twinkissed]

I know this post is from a while ago but I love making sushi. The two I make though aren't the raw fish because I don't have a local market to get sushi quality fish. I make tempura salmon (tiny pieces), my rice is on the outside of the seaweed (wrapping your mat in seran wrap helps), then cover the top with small plain tempura crunchies and top with eel sauce (which most restaurants use a teriyaki glaze). The other roll I make is with creamcheese and crabsticks. You use the imitation crab sticks. I top these with sesame seeds (my rice is still on the outside). Here's one I get made fun of if I order it at a restaurant so I make it at home too. Crabstick, creamcheese, spicy mayo, tomato, and sometimes cucumber topped with asago (roe eggs). I might have spelled that wrong. One restaurant knows me as the tomoto lady because they think it's weird, yet another restaurant I once went to put tomato on half their rolls. Anyways those are my favorites for the non-raw fish ones. Wow, I think I know what I want for dinner now.

[grafx]

You know you guys are inspiring me. My husband gets scared everytime I try something new. I worked on "blooming onions" for like month and gave up. Boy did it stink up the house! I normally have to stick to ol'fashioned southern cuisine, but I do LOVe sushi.

[Loverly]

G.Couch,
Good job!!!!
We also made our first batch of California rolls this year and you are right they make it look easy! My kitchen was a mess any my fingers were sticky when it was all done!
I had to start trying them myself since my hubby and kids all love the stuff. My husband worked for a Japanese man for 6 years and we all got hooked on the sushi and sushimi (raw fish) as well and I got tired of paying so much for them.

Loverly

[twinkissed]

Oh I forgot to mention, my one son likes the rolls but my other kids HATE fish... so to keep them from feeling left out we make peanut butter and jelly sushi. Take the crust off, roll the bread a bit, spread on the stuff, roll it up, and cut. Easy and cute and the kids love it. You could probably do it with other things too. Here's a pic when I made it for them at lunch, it was just peanut butter cause we were eating other things too. Don't mind the dirty counter LOL...