All About Sushi

California Roll is actually sushi with cucumber, crab (imitation crab will do) and avocado or mango slices for filling. My family loves sushi very much that a week seldom passes by without having it either at home or at our favorite sushi bar. I'm not an expert in making sushi, in fact, this is something I have learned by myself through trial and error and by surfing the internet for tips and how-to's.

First off, is to make the sushi rice. Short grain rice is recommended. There are a lot of recipes for sushi rice which I'm sure will work just fine, but what is important is that you find one that works for you. Check it out first to see if it is up to your taste, add more sushi vinegar if needed.

To cook rice, rinse first in cold water. Others recommend draining the rice on a colander and setting it aside for 30 mins to 1 hr, but for me I just add water (1:1 ratio) and cook it in my rice cooker right away. When the rice is done, transfer to a wooden bowl (or glass) then add the sushi vinegar working quickly and gently with blending/folding strokes, taking care not to mash the rice.Use a fan to cool the rice quickly and prevent it from absorbing too much moisture. Make sure that you have enough rice though, (a cup of rice would make roughly one roll of sushi) so you won't have leftovers as sushi rice tends to harden if refrigerated. Now we're done with the rice, let's roll on...

Rolling the sushi...

1. Take out your mat, place one sheet of nori (others recommend using half a sheet but when I tried this, the sushi did not close right, I guess I'm still at the beginner's stage huh?maybe next time!). If nori is not available, try using plastic wrap. This might be a little tricky since sushi rice won't stick to the plastic wrap as much as it does to nori. It is also a good idea to use a plastic wrap under the nori since rice has a nasty way to getting off the nori and onto the mat.

2. Spread sushi rice on top of nori (how much? that would depend on how thick you'd want your roll to be). Using your thumb, create a groove on the rice. This is where you put your filling, starting with mayonnaise , mango and the crab or whatever else you want to put inside your sushi roll, it's your call! I started with mango and crab but when I ran out of the crab, I substituted it with yu-ho which is dried fish flakes something like ba-ho (dried pork flakes sold in Chinese stores) BTW, it is also a good idea to wet your hands with vinegar to allow easier handling of the rice.

3. Slowly fold the mat over (away from you), hold the end of the nori (nearest you) and tuck that end of the nori to start a roll. Lift up the mat and plastic wrap and tuck as you go.Until you reach the other side of the mat, end with the seam down, you might want to dab a little bit of mayonnaise to seal it.

4. Finally take the roll out of the mat and slice it into desired thickness. You might want to dip your knife in water to prevent rice from sticking to it. You can also slice the sushi at an angle on one end for a different style. After all, a sushi can be a beautiful work of art too!

Enjoy!

the verdict? always a HIT!!!



special thanks to sassy for the lesson on links....