Sushi (a tutorial)

I hearby forbid anyone to say "I hate sushi."

No! Don't say it, don't THINK it!!

......you did that on purpose didn't you. Rude.

I am thoroughly convinced that unless you are allergic to rice there is a sushi out there that ANYONE can enjoy. Sushi is one of the most customizable foods I can think of, it can fit anyone! Vegetarian, gluten free, raw fish scaredy cats, seaweed haters, religious food restrictions. SER.I.OUS.LY you guys. Sushi can be amazing, you can do anything you want with it!! Just give it a chance! It is in my top five favorite foods, I was so upset that I waited 18 years of my life to try it. And I waited 6 more years to try to make it myself! It is way too easy, all you have to do is cook the rice and the stove does most of that for you.

Hubs and I tried our hand at making sushi a few months ago and it was one of the best days of my life. Honestly! I just happened to document the whole thing so you can try it yourself.

To make sushi, you will need:

• Sushi rice (I subbed jasmine rice with amazing results)
• Rice vinegar
• Sesame oil
• Nori (aka, roasted seaweed sheets)
• Filling: veggies, meats, cheeses, seriously, whatever you want
• Sushi rolling mat
• Wax paper

I know it seems like a lot of new, scary things, but just trust me on this one. Check your local Asian market and you can get the vinegar, oil, nori, and mat for CHEAP! Less than 10 bucks, and it will last you foreverr. (Intentional spelling error, it was for emphasis.)

First thing's first, you gotta make the rice. I use a rice cooker, best wedding present ever. You'll need to cook the rice with a 1:1 ratio. Yes, I am serious. One cup rice, one cup water. Two cups rice, two cups water. I was totally skeptical, would the rice even be cooked? Yes in fact, it cooks just fine. Cook it as you normally would but using that 1:1 ratio. When it's done and still warm, drizzle it with rice vinegar and mix it in well until it's shiny. This could be anywhere from a tablespoon to a quarter cup, just drizzle, stir, drizzle, stir, until the rice is a little shiny. Then, drizzle a little bit of sesame oil on and mix well. Set it aside and let it cool completely.

While the rice is cooling, prepare your fillings. You can seriously put an.y.thing you want in your sushi. Get creative! From top left, we used: avocado, cream cheese, cucumber, carrot, imitation crab, smoked salmon, tuna salad. Cut or shred everything into very long, thin pieces.

Next, cut a large strip of wax paper and lay it on top of your sushi mat. Lay out your nori sheet. I carefully tore mine in half so we could try several mini rolls of different combinations of fillers instead. Spread a layer of cooled rice right on top of the nori. You can use a rice paddle or your fingers, just make sure whatever you use is moistened with water, that rice is very sticky!

Fillings! Lay your fillings out on one side. This roll looks like smoked salmon, avocado, and cucumber. Mmm. Try not to lay out too much, otherwise your sushi roll will be too fat and it'll be hard to work with.

This is probably the trickiest part, but after a time or two it'll feel much more natural. As tightly as you can manage, roll that sushi up. The wax paper will get caught up in the roll, so just move it out of the way as you roll.

I squeezed mine tightly when I was done rolling it but I have no idea of that's how you're supposed to do it.

Tadah!!!! Sushi! I may have either over stuffed or squeezed it a little too tightly, that's why it's overflowing. Oops.

Use a VERY sharp knife to cut the roll into 3/4 to 1 inch thick slices. It will not stay together if you try to cut them any smaller, trust me. It will fall apart into a heaping mess of rice. Still yummy, but not pretty. Did you notice that there are "inside out" rolls on our plates too?

To make an inside out roll, all you do is put the rice down before the nori. Make a neat little rectangle of rice.

Lay down the nori.

Fill it up! David stuffed this one a little too much. Cucumber, carrot, imitation crab. Mmmmmm.....

Roll it up in the same way you did before. That wax paper is sooo helpful, the mess the rice makes on the sushi mat is horrendous because it is so sticky. Slice it up into one inch thick slices.

Take a flirtatious picture with your husband.

And devour your mounds of delicious sushi. I think my favorite combo during this round was smoked salmon and cream cheese. Though the crab, cuke, and avocado was amazing too. Gahh, sushi is so gosh dang delicious! For us, three regular sized rolls is PLENTY for a meal. It only adds up to about a dozen little pieces , but sushi is very filling.

If you've never made sushi before, you should really give it a try. This is a great meal that you can make with your kids, there is next to no cooking and each child can choose what they want in their roll! You don't HAVE to put raw fish in it! Fill it full of chicken nuggets and garnish it with ketchup if you want.

.......ok no. Don't do that. Gross.

Happy cooking!