Coming home from class and seeing a package on your doorstep can be an exciting thing when you’re a college student. When I saw a package waiting for me on Valentine’s day, I quickly grabbed it and ran inside. I didn’t take any time to read who it was from, and ripped the tape apart as quickly as I could. There was a little red bag inside, with “From: Mom” written on it. Was it flowers or chocolate or a stuffed bear with heart eyes? Nah, it was way better. I looked inside and to my surprise there was a sushi rolling kit inside of the bag with a card telling me to “make your own sushi”.
Being the lover of all things food and cooking that I am, I knew I had to try it out. I went to the Fresh Market to pick out my ingredients. It worked out pretty well, so I’ve included some tips that lead to some damn good sush’. Stay tuned, stay groovy and get ready to chop up some sushi.
Sushi
Ingredients
Instructions
Get out a pot. Put one cup of rice and two cups of water in the pot (I used Nishiki premium grade rice). Then cover the pot, bring to a soft boil and let the rice and water simmer for 20 minutes.
Make sure you have plenty of counter space to work with and place your sushi bamboo rolling mat on the kitchen counter. Then, gently place one Nori sheet on the rolling mat.
After your rice is fully cooked and sticky, take a big wooden spoon and spread the rice evenly onto the rolling mat.
#SpoonTip: Add just enough rice to cover the Nori sheet. If you add a lot of rice, it will be harder to roll.
Take out a cutting board and a sharp knife and very thinly slice your cucumber, avocado and fish.
Next, place your sliced fish and cucumber on the top of your rice (keep in mind that you’re going to have to roll it).
After that, grab the top of the bamboo mat, and begin rolling it towards you. If the rolling becomes difficult, just let go of the bamboo, slide the sushi roll closer to the top of the mat and begin rolling again.
Once you have finished rolling the sushi, remove the sushi from the mat and place it onto your cutting board. Straighten both ends of the roll and hold the roll in place (be careful not to put too much pressure on your sushi roll). Then, gently cut the sushi roll into eight pieces. Voilà! You’ve made your own sushi!
#SpoonTip: Don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t come out beautifully at first. It just takes a little practice.
Now get out your chop sticks, let your sushi take a dip in some savory soy sauce, throw back a sake bomb, and dig in!