Conquering Sushi

This evening I tackled item #26 on my list of 101 Things (to do before I buy the farm)…. I successfully made good sushi. John didn’t have a great week, and as much of a sushi lover as I know he is, I thought I would surprise him by trying to make some.

While very intimidating, it’s not hard as long as you take your time and follow the instructions. This afternoon I made up a batch of sushi rice and set it aside to cool. While looking up a recipe on the internet, I discovered that I had made the rice incorrectly. As much as it sucked, I tossed out the rice and started over. I’m glad I did, because it tasted just like restaurant sushi. The steps that I had missed were making the rice wine vinegar seasoning and fanning the rice out to cool. The vinegar (boiled with sugar, salt and a fish powder) give the rice a sweet and tangy taste, and more importantly, decreases the risk of bacteria growth.

I made four rolls: California, Shrimp Tempura, Yellowfin and Salmon. They were a bit too large (note to self: use only 3/4 of a nori sheet next time) but we thoroughly enjoyed them. We polished off half and put the other half in the fridge for tomorrow.

I did my shopping at the Asian market in Ellicott City yesterday evening so that I could pick up “sushi grade” (there’s really no such official thing) fish and some tools (bamboo mats, disposable chopsticks, soy sauce cups) as well as miso powder for soup, wasabi paste, oolong tea, and some other sushi ingredients. I also picked up a bottle of good saki while I was there.

So, my lessons learned:

• Make the rice properly, and don’t skip the rice wine vinegar seasoning
• Cut off 1/4 of the nori sheet so that the rolls don’t end up so big
• Plan out one or two things instead of trying to make several
• Although he did enjoy it, John isn’t a real salmon lover

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