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Week 14 - The Cookbook Challenge: Sushi

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Week 14
Theme: Japanese
Cookbook Used: Japanese Home Cooking
Author: Shunsuke Fukushima

This week I had planned to make sukiyaki beef, but ran out of time. I had time to make sushi, and I had a few critics who helped me eat it all at a picnic on Saturday night.
Disappointed that Woolworths didn't stock sushi rice, Hamsley and I had to take a trip to the nearest Asian grocery shop in Clayton. We ended up having a ball shopping there, finding Japanese iceypoles, as you can see here on twitter. We found the shop keepers so friendly and cheery; as well as all the ingredients we needed nice and cheap.

I have made sushi before, but the 2nd time I made it the rice was super gluggy as I over worked the rice whilst trying to make it cool down. This time, I seasoned it then let it cool down; only stirring it occasionally until it was cold.

I used the rice cooking instructions from Taste.com.au as they were FAR less complicated than the ones in the book. The rice was cooked to perfection, nice and fluffy; not gluggy or too dry.
I made 3 different flavours; vegetarian, chicken and tuna. I cut off the bum ends as they weren't very pretty, and Hamsley and his housemate gobbled them up. Hamsley was unsure if he would like sushi, but after one bite, he was hooked. His house mate had expressed his thoughts on sushi whilst I was rolling it, by saying 'I had sushi once... didn't like it'. We invited him to try my sushi, and he was pleasantly surprised. He stuck around and ate more.

My friends were rather impressed too with my sushi, making this week's cookbook challenge a huge success. This was the picnic spread at the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra's free concert at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. We were so lucky with the weather, unlike at Carols by Candlelight where we had torrential rain!

Sushi


Get your hands on: 
1 cup sushi rice
1/4 cup sushi vinegar
Your choice of fillings: eg; tuna, chicken, avocado, carrot, omelet, etc..
Japanese mayonnaise

Serve it with:
Wasabi
Soy Sauce
Pickled Ginger


1. Rinse and drain rice 3 times or until water runs clear. Place rice in a strainer. Drain for 10 minutes.


2. Place rice and 1 cup cold water in a saucepan over medium heat. Cover and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, for 12 minutes or until rice has absorbed water. Remove from heat. Stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Transfer to a large ceramic dish. Stir rice with a plastic spatula to break up lumps. Gradually add seasoning while lifting and turning rice every now and then, until the rice is cold.


3. Place a nori sheet, shiny-side down, on a clean work surface. Use wet hands to spread one-quarter of the rice mixture over half the nori sheet, leaving a 2cm-wide border along the edge closest to you.  Arrange your fillings across the centre of the rice.. Roll up firmly to enclose filling. Brush edge of nori with warm water to seal. Repeat with remaining nori, rice, avocado, capsicum, cucumber and carrot. Set rolls aside, seam-side down, for 5 minutes to rest.

4. Cut each roll into 6 piece, and serve with soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger.


Rice recipe makes 3 cups.


16 comments:

I like making sushi - best when there's a few people to cook for though, rather than just myself, otherwise I end u with too much.

Good job on the sushi and it looks like the real deal. I am a very messy sushi maker and so not made any for awhile.

Nice work Shellie. Sushi always goes in the "too hard" basket for me.

Sushi, Shellie, has a nice kind of ring to it, well done it looks very taste tempting to? I always thought Sushi was a raw fish dish, but now I have learned that you can makes many various types. It sounds great to me, being a rice lover. Great to see you had a lovely picnic, of a different kind. Great work Shellie. Hugs Jeanne.x :)

what great looking sushi! looks just like the kind you buy too - good work!

Never made sushi- I'm way to clumsy for that! LOL

Nice work and looks nicely tasty! Wasabi!

Great sushi Shellie! I always make a batch when I throw a party, it's such good sharing food :)

I'm curious though - I always add a combination of rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt to my sushi rice. Is sushi vinegar a mixture of these?

Great photos my dear, and well done on converting the non-sushi eater :D

These look wonderful! You make me think I might actually be able to make sushi myself. ;-)

Very pretty! Sushi's always been one of those things I've avoided making for fear that all the rice will spill out the side in my attempts to be as generous with the ingredients as possible! You look like you've done a pretty awesome job though!

making sushi looks fun!
but procrastinating forever gets me nowhere.
but they are perfect for picnics.
easy and yummy to eat!
gorgeous looking sushis btw. love the colours.

Hi Fiona - So true, if you do it on your own, it's a bit of work!

Hi Penny Aka Jeroxie - Thanks =D haha when I made them inside out it was VERY messy!

Hi BuBbles - Thanks! I always thought it was too :P

Hi Jeanne - hehe, oh no, it doesn't have to be raw fish at all!

Hi I'm A Sugar Junkie - Thanks! My friends said it tasted better than the stores =D

Hi Adrian - Lol! Thanks =D

Hi Conor - Thanking you! I dunno I would make it frequently, it was a bit of work, but maybe I say that cos I was melting in a hot house :P Yes, sushi vinegar is all of those combined for you =D laazy! hehe

Hi Teresa - Thank you! Yes, anyone can make sushi with a little patience :)

Hi Vee - Thanks! I watched Food Safari and tried to do what the woman on there did =)

Hi Muffins Are Ugly Cupcakes - Thanks! It is fun, as long as you don't make too much mess and have everything prepared ;)

These look delicious, and that's coming from someone who could eat sushi for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

The hardest part for me, when it comes to sushi making, is getting the filling to stay in the middle! And to use as little rice as possible, since too much rice gets me choke-y. I admire your first attempt! It looks better than anything I've made!

Eek! Do you not own a rice cooker?!! Or was it because you were making it at Hamsley's place? I do the cheat's thing and buy sushi vinegar - that combined with a rice cooker to make the rice for me makes sushi very easy!

what great looking sushi! looks just like the kind you buy too - good work!

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