Safe Sushi! (no raw fish) Plus a recipe for sticky rice at the way bottom . . .

Recently my family has developed a tradition.  Whenever a family member has a birthday, we go out to dinner at Rice Temptation, our local sushi restaurant, and eat a delicious meal of seafood (and sticky rice).  They have such delicious sushi and display it so beautifully that it inspired me to make my own (along with sticky rice, there's a recipe at the way bottom).  But there was only one problem; there isn't anywhere to get raw sushi grade seafood.  I wasn't going to let this little problem to get in the way of homemade sushi, nor did I want to make vegetarian sushi, so I decided to make sushi with cooked seafood!

You can fill sushi with basically anything you want, as long as you don't overfill the rolls, which leaves endless possibilities.  I made four different types of sushi; California Roll (chopped crab mixed with wasabi, sliced avocado, and julienned cucumber & carrot), Shrimp & Avocado Roll (chopped shrimp mixed with wasabi, sliced avocado, sliced fresh ginger, and julienned cucumber carrot & bell pepper), Omelet & Asparagus Roll (sliced omelet, asparagus, green onion, and julienned cucumber, carrot, & bell pepper), & Philadelphia Roll (smoked salmon, cream cheese, and julienned cucumber carrot & bell pepper).  I used smoked salmon, whole shrimp, sliced avocado, black sesame seeds, and peels of carrots, cucumbers, and bell peppers for garnish on top of my sushi slices.  I also decorated my sushi platter with Radish Flowers and iced green onions.

You do need 3 specific things for making sushi at home.
  1. Sushi rice (short grain rice).  You can find sushi rice at your local grocery store, they even sell        brown short grain at Trader Joe's!
  2. Nori sheets.  Nori is the special seaweed that is used in sushi, you can find it at Cost Plus or 99 Market.
  3. A bamboo rolling mat.  You can substitute a rolling mat with a folded kitchen towel, but the bamboo mats work better and are sold at Cost Plus for only $1.99.


Once you have all your ingredients prepped, it's time to roll!

Cover your rolling mat in plastic wrap (this prevents the mat from getting dirty).  Lay a sheet of nori on the mat, rough side up, then spread a handful of rice evenly across the rough side of the nori.  If you keep your hands wet, the rice won't stick so much.

If you want to get fancy you can flip the nori and rice over so that the rice is facing the mat (this makes the inside-out rolls they serve in restaurants), or you can leave it with the rice on top to make regular seaweed-on-the-outside rolls.

Place a thin line of your ingredients on the upper side of the nori/rice sheet.

Use the bamboo mat to tightly roll up the ingredients, incasing the fillings in nori and rice.  This should create a long, relatively thin roll (about 2 inches).

Use a wet, sharp knife to cut off about ¼ inch of the roll on each end, then slice the roll into eighths, wetting it repeatedly in-between slices.

Repeat this process with all of your ingredients, then transfer the sliced rolls to a large platter and decorate with your desired garnish.

I served my sushi with Asian Noodle Salad in Chinese cabbage cups alongside asparagus and baby broccoli for a perfect paring of flavors.  Maybe my family's new tradition will be to make sushi on birthdays!

 

If you have any leftover sushi rice, you can add some sugar to it and use it like sticky rice.  Just use an ice cream scoop to shape it into balls, then drizzle with coconut milk and serve alongside your favorite tropical fruits!

To see more of my pictures you can find me on Instagram at @audreygracephotography.