How To Make Sushi

I love sushi.

I love all kinds of sushi - cooked or raw, store-bought or restaurant-made, or even homemade. I love it all. I could probably eat sushi once a week for the rest of my life, if that was possible.

The most popular kind of sushi is probably the California Roll. It's very basic, and not scary at all (there is no raw fish)! When Garrett and I were dating we used to make California Rolls for dinner sometimes. It's a great activity for couples or families who want to be more involved together in the kitchen.

Ingredients:
Nori sheets (seaweed - this can be found at WalMart)
1.5 cups sticky rice (you don't have to buy the expensive sushi rice - short or medium grain rice is fine)
1/6 c Rice vinegar
1 Tbsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
Imitation crab
1 cucumber
1 avacado

Cook the rice according to package directions.

While the rice is cooking, peel and cut the cucumber into thin strips, cutting out the seeds. Slice the avacado as well. If you have the thick legs of imitation crab, cut these lengthwise as well so they aren't too thick. Here, I have also cut up some asparagus that I needed to use up. California rolls don't have asparagus, but I thought I might try some in some of the pieces. That's part of the beauty of sushi - just throw in whatever sounds good to you.

When the rice is done cooking, transfer the it onto a plate to let it cool. While it's cooling, combine (in a small bowl) the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt, and heat through until the sugar and salt dissolve (just stick it in the microwave for a minute or so, or heat it on the stove). When the sugar and salt dissolve, sprinkle the vinegar mixture into the rice, stirring until it's all incorporated together. This gives the rice a little kick so it's not too plain-tasting.

Now, I usually like to buy the large square sheets of nori, but for some reason I've been having a hard time finding them in the store lately! WalMart still sells the half sheets, so that's fine too. However, with the half sheets, it's hard to roll the sushi up all the way after you've added the the rice, crab, cuke, and avacado. So, we're going to make the sushi rice-side-out. This is how the restaurants do it, and it makes for a better presentation. It is easier to roll it with the rice inside, but since we have the small sheets that won't really be possible.

Ok, we're ready to roll (haha).

Lay a sheet of nori on a plate and, with a spoon, spread the rice over it, smoothing it flat to cover the entire sheet.


Now is the time to sprinkle some sesame seeds on top, if you desire. I didn't this time, but you can do whatever you want.

Now, carefully pick up the sheet and flip it over onto a piece of seran wrap (so the sticky rice is laying on the plastic).
Next, lay your crab, cuke, and avacado across the front of the nori, near the edge closest to you.

Ok, now this is the hardest part. It is MUCH easier if you have bamboo rollers, but mine are lost. But it's possible to do it without them, and I'll show you how! Carefully pick up the front of the nori, with the seran wrap under it, and roll forward as if you are folding the nori over the insides.

Continue rolling the nori, carefully pulling off the seran wrap as you go so that it doesn't get rolled into your sushi! When you've rolled it all up, pick it all up and squeeze it tightly so that the roll is tight.

Then, completely remove the seran wrap and slice into pieces! If you look at the picture below, you can see that there is still nori sticking out on the edge, because when I was spreading the rice I didn't spread it all the way to the edges. That's fine. Sometimes you may even have pieces of crab, cuke, or avacado sticking out the sides. I actually love when this happens - I just trim off the edges and eat them! Then, just proceed to cut the sushi into pieces.

Serve with soy sauce for dipping (I recommend Kikkoman brand) and, if you are really brave, some wasabi paste (but don't add too much.. it's very potent).