Not Italian... But Japanese

Call me crazy if you like, it's alright.

I miss being around here! I've made the resolution that I will, indeed, get back in to my food-making and posting. I've missed it greatly. I haven't really had a chance to blog much in regards to my recipes and it's quite a missed subject.

So, because a friend today was teasing me about having sushi for lunch today, I had to share pictures of the last venture.

I love sushi. I eat it often. Except for lately- I just haven't had the time to throw some together. So in the meantime, I'll share some of the various kinds I've created. Most of these pictures are from when I was home during my Christmas 2009 break.

(sorry, I'm already drooling over this food!!!!)

Dad was the one that originally got me in to making sushi two years back. He tossed a mat at me and said "Wanna help?"

"Um... Ok!" I grabbed the mat, watched for a few minutes, and got to happily rolling myself.

Rice is essential. And how it's cooked is essential. You can't just boil a pot of water, and expect sushi rice in 45 minutes. No. No no no no. Not that easy.

Now, that being said, I'm an expert rice cooker. Never burned a pot of rice- ever. Not even on an electric stove (I promise to tell you about the risotto I make in another post...), not on a gas stove, not anything. Never. But... Cooking my sushi rice in a pot never turned out quite right. It was always a little too starchy, or too dry. Never just right.

Thank you again to my Dad, who bought me a rice steamer as an early Christmas Present. He had it shipped down to me back in August, after seeing numerous facebook posts and pictures about how many sushi parties I was having, and how it's such a hit amongst my friends. Let me tell you... I LOVE IT!

The rice comes out perfect each time... And you can pull little batches out so you don't have to mix it all at once and have the rice cool down too much while trying to put your sushi together. Oh, I also don't use Kokuho Rose Rice any longer... The best one I like working with now is Nishiki. It's a lot easier to mix, and spread over your Nori. All this talking of what to do, I think I'll have to thaw some sushi items and put together a tutorial...! Soon! I'm going home for little more than a week... Perhaps once I return! But I digress:

Cover your rice with a damp dishtowel.

Other than that, a bowl full of ice and cold water is needed.

A rolling mat, of course.

Saran wrap (which is folded over the mat to keep from getting dirty)

Nori (seaweed wrapper that holds your sushi together, roasted is the best kind!)

A good cutting board (bamboo is wonderful)

A good sushi knife (can be found at Asian markets!)

Various fish (tuna, shrimp, tilapia, crab, lobster, unagi/eel, salmon, etc)

Various vegetables (cucumber, avocado, carrot, asparagus, eggplant, etc)

All these materials can be combined to make some truly delectable, mouthwatering treats!

Remember- Sushi is anything that's wrapped in rice. Anything! I made a delicious pulled chicken teriyaki roll one night! You can go all fish, all vegetarian, all cooked- the combinations are endless! There's even recipes that you can make where the rice is a little sweeter, and fruits like kiwi, strawberries, and melons are used! Yum!

While waiting on the tutorial, here's a look at some of the rolls and Nigiri I've made.

From top corner clockwise:

Spicy Shrimp Rolls & Spicy Tuna Rolls.

Yellowfin or Shrimp that's chopped up, mixed with chopped scallions,

Japanese Mayonnaise and a touch of the Spicy Sriracha Sauce.

Unagi- Grilled BBQ Eel with Unagi sauce.

Mouthwatering, and it tastes like really good chicken!

This platter hosts a variety of seafood clockwise starting from:

Shrimp Nigiri- love those tails!

Philadelphia Rolls- Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese & roll it up!

Dragon Rolls (minus the avocado on the outside, it wasn't ripe enough...) Eel & Avocado.

Tobiko Tekka Maki- Yellowfin Tuna with Tobiko topping

Ok this platter had to be my favorite. Hands down.

I love all the other stuff just fine... But... I tried something new. Two things in fact!

Clockwise from the pink-ish roll:

Spicy Shrimp Roll- same as Spicy Tuna, just a fish difference. And SO delicious!

California Roll- Crabstick, cucumber, avocado, wasabi and roll it up!

And finally, but certainly not the last post about Sushi,

the entire amount of sushi we served for dinner...

Minus a few rolls my Mom and Sister scarfed while waiting for us to cut it all!

I love making sushi with Dad!

Don't forget! Serve with Soy Sauce & Pickled Ginger!!

Believe it or not... We couldn't finish all this food! We had great lunch a day later!

Sushi Night!

Yes, yes I did it. Finally....

After living out of boxes for 2 weeks because the move was postponed, and being packed 2-3 weeks prior to that in prep for the move... I haven't made sushi in a while. Typically, I make it up to once or twice a week, just because I love it. So does my roommate. So do my friends. It's just a lot of work actually getting it done.

The good news is that the more you make it, the better you get at it.(Sometimes... I do find that rolls at times just don't want to cooperate, so I just don't let THOSE leave the kitchen!!)

Well, I've been in the new place a week. Unpacked quite a few of the kitchen things, and of course, one of the first to come out was the rice steamer!

I promised the people that actually showed up and helped my roomie and I move that I would make them sushi- so I figured heck, it's Shan's birthday as well... So I'm going to do both!

For her, I made an angel food cake in a special pan that I found. Flip them out, you've got a heart shape inside that you can put filling in to- it's neat. So in went some fresh sliced and mashed strawberries and coolwhip. Outside was more as frosting- so it wouldn't be too rich and fattening, and decorated with more sliced strawberries- delicious! (no pictures, I forgot!)

Now for the sushi- I made a lot. Epic amounts! The ones I have here pictured don't include the two additional platters I whipped up since they were still hungry... But this should suffice for now! I think a lot of what made it easier to make this time around is all new counterspace I now have in the new apartment! It's expansive! I have room to move! Plus, I tried a different way of prepping for dinner. I made the rolls first, then cut them all at once- instead of making one at a time, and then cutting each as I go along. It worked!

Spicy Tuna mixed and marinating in the bowl!

Just Roll With It!

From the foreground: Philadelphila Roll, Spicy Tuna Roll.
Philadelphia roll is Smoked Salmon, Cream Cheese and Cucumber- wonderfully refreshing!
Spicy Tuna is Yellowfin, scallions, Japanese Mayo and Siracha Sauce mixed and marinated... Then rolled up! I like it because you can adjust how spicy or creamy you want the Tuna filling to be.

And here's a new one! It's Sesame Teriyaki Chicken. Oh was it gooooood! Different change of pace- but hey, sushi can be made with anything! I boiled a chicken breast, cut it into thin slices, and then drizzled Teriyaki marinade over it and let it sit for a few hours to infuse the flavor. A few drops of Sesame Oil- OH! Heaven!

This is another flavor packed one- Sunshine Roll: California Roll, with Smoked Salmon layered outside and drizzled with fresh tart lemon juice- oh so tasty!

And the tasty Dragon Roll- this one has got to be one of my personal favorites! Unagi (eel) and ripe avocado make up the inside filling, roll it up and top with more avocado. Top it off with Unagi Sauce and there you have it!

I also tried some new things with the Nigiri Sushi- I typically do shrimp, and snow crab. The crab drives me nuts though, because the pieces are so thin, and it's difficult to balance them on top of a skinny piece of rice... But I made a few. I also forgot that Yellowfin is absolutely delicious when it's served as Nigiri Sushi. Thinly sliced Tuna is packed full of flavor, it melts in your mouth like butter! And of course the Shrimp Nigiri is tucked into the center of the platter- nothing like sweet succulent shrimp!

And the new addition that will be at my table often now- Tilapia Nigiri. It's a very sweet, mild tasting fish, and I love it cooked (as you've seen from other recipes). I've just never actually had it as sushi. But the roomie picked some up at the store, of course it's especially prepared to be served as a sushi item- not just frozen fillets you buy to cook at home- and made nigiri. Drizzled with a bit of lemon- I'm telling you it absolutely is one of the best things I've tasted in a long time!!