about two weeks ago, cavin and i metro'd our way to pentagon city and headed towards sur la table. we weren't shopping for kitchen gadgets (though, we would do that later in the evening), but instead we were there to take one of the culinary classes they offer throughout the year: beginning sushi.

i've made sushi before on my own, and it's really not that hard. but we thought some instruction might be a fun way to spend the evening. that night we ended up making california rolls, spicy tuna rolls, vegetarian rolls, shrimp tempura rolls, tuna nigiri, and bagel maki. we even got a %15 discount at sur la table (which we used to buy a muddler for mojitos, as well as cordial glasses).

since taking the class, though, cavin and i finally mustered up the courage to make it at home. stopping by super h-mart over memorial day weekend (and hong kong supermarket in philly), we picked up sushi-grade salmon, oshinko (japanes pickled radish), sushi rice, nori (seaweed paper), cucumber, carrots, avocado, fish sticks, surimi (crab stick), and unagi (eel, which was pre-cooked and frozen).

like i said earlier, it's really easy to make. all you do is make the rice (which is slightly different than making other white rice because you add vinegar and sugar), spread it out on the rough side of the seaweed wrapper, add your ingredients, and roll it up using a bamboo mat covered in plastic.

sushi rice
(yields 5 cups cooked rice)
2 cups sushi rice
2 cups water
3.5 tbsp vinegar (we used rice wine vinegar)
1 tbsp sugar
1.5 tsp salt

-rinse the rice well, at least three times. since we have a rice cooker, cavin just added the rinsed rice, and water. while the rice is cooking, add the remaining ingredients to a small sauce pan, and heat up the mixture making sure the sugar and salt are fully dissolved into the vinegar. when the rice is done, spread it out in a large dish (we used a pyrex casserole dish). add the vinegar/sugar/salt mixture a third at a time, mixing into the rice. let cool to room temperature.

the seaweed wrappers come in a large square, so cavin and i cut them in half so we wouldn't have excess seaweed in our rolls.

once you do that, to make a california roll, take the cut piece of seaweed, and place it shiny side down on your mat, the long side of the seaweed towards the bottom. add a thin layer of sushi rice on the entire piece of seaweed, leaving a gap of no rice at the end furthest away from you. (you may find it much easier to dampen your hands with water during the process of adding the rice to the wrapper.) add the crabmeat, julienned cucumber, slices of avocado, then roll the mat away from you, making it tight as you roll. (if you've ever been in college, you will notice that this is similar to rolling other things and you might have an easier time doing it than someone who has no idea what i'm talking about, hehe).

once you have your roll, get a sharp non-serrated knife, dip in water to wet the blade, and cut your sushi into pieces.

we had dried wasabi powder, which we added to a small bowl, and added drips of water at a time, mixing thoroughly, until the wasabi is at the correct consistency. (the wasabi adds a horseradish bite to your soy sauce. i like a lot of it, but it gives me this bizarre, but addicting head rush. i'm wacky).

so once you get the hang of it, you'll be making sushi in no time, which is what cavin and i did, alternating making rolls and cutting them. we also made spicy salmon rolls, which turned out delicious and very easy to make. here's a rough "recipe":




spicy salmon (or tuna, etc.)
chop up the sushi-grade salmon (or any other sushi-grade fish) into pieces. add a bit of garlic chili paste (i didn't have any, but i used sambal and it worked out ok) and a tiny bit of mayo. mix and add more of the ingredients to your liking. done!

once you get the rolling part down, you can pretty much make whatever type of sushi you want. we had leftover adobo so i even made chicken adobo sushi. woah!

Labels: event, seafood, sushi