Sprinkled With Love: Sushi

Friday, April 13, 2012

Sushi

The word Sushi used to make me squirm. The thought of eating raw fish did not excite my taste buds one bit. All of this changed when my husband moved to Tampa Bay for a few months, and got us both hooked. While we stick mostly to the cooked rolls, we have ventured out and tried a few raw rolls as well. Who would have guessed a few years ago that when we go out to a restaurant, that it is usually for sushi! We have enjoyed some great sushi during our travels and at our many hockey homes.

Last year for Valentine's day, we decided to stay at home and try to make a sushi roll ourselves. It was a lot of fun, and tasted decent. This season, we have started to make sushi a lot, and I must admit, I think we do pretty good! The rolls are pretty easy, but very tastey!

The following roll consists of some of our favourite ingredients and has become known as:

The Big Rich Roll

Ingredients:
Sushi Rice (read the directions on the back to see if you just need to add water, or if you need Rice Vinegar as well)
Nori

1/2 package of Crab Meat
1 Tbsp. Mayonaise
2 Tbsp's Sweet Chilli Sauce

1/2 of an Avacado
1/2 of a Cucumber
Cream Cheese

Cook the sushi rice according to the directions on the package.

Once it is done, I spoon it onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper so that it cools a little quicker.

While the rice is cooling, make the crab mixture. Rip the crab into smaller pieces, add the mayo, sweet chilli sauce and mix together.

Peel the cucumber and avacado, then cut them into long, slim pieces. Cut up some cream cheese as well.

Since we didn't bring along our sushi mat to Norfolk, we had to improvise. We put out a piece of plastic wrap and then place a nori sheet on it, rough side up.

Wet your hands and divide the rice into four quarters. Take one quarter of the rice and cover the nori roll, leaving about a 1/2 inch strip along the bottom.

Carefully flip the nori (with rice) over, and add a layer of the crab, avacado, cucumber and cream cheese on the nori side. This really is the fun part. Feel free to add whatever fillings you want. We have done shrimp tempura in place of the crab, and it is delicious. Personally, I want to try adding shredded carrots next time.

Now my husband always does the rolling, so hopefully I can explain this okay. Use the plastic wrap to roll the bottom half up over the fillings. Tuck it over firmly so that the filling is enclosed. Continue to roll forward, applying firm and even pressure. Remove from plastic once it has taken shape and use the plastic wrap to help smoothen the roll. Trust me that this gets easier with practice. We watched lots of youtube videos to help with the technique and I would suggest you check some out too if you have never done it before.

Here is our finished roll. Make sure you use an extra sharp knife to cut the rolls, and don't force the knife down. Cut it nice and slow. If this looks to big for you, feel free to cut the nori sheets in half to make skinnier rolls.