How to make your own sushi

            Many people that are interested in sushi can take the time to make sushi in the convenience of their own home. It can be  fun dinner activitiy that gets everyone involved. The website http://makemysushi.com/index.php/Recipes/sunset-sushi.html gives you some direction on how to create your own sushi masterpiece.

            To begin a simple roll, you will need some beginning ingredients. First you will need 2 cups sushi rice, about two or three sheets of nori, crab or imitation Krab, masago, and a fish of your choice such as tuna. These items will best be found at a local asian market, where they sell sushi-grade fish. Or you can head over to this website: http://www.catalinaop.com/?gclid=CK3a8o3h36sCFQNggwodKg9BUg  , where you can have fish and other things delivered fresh or frozen! The utensils  you are going to need are: a bamboo rolling mat, a rice cooker, rice spoon (for spreading), and a very sharp knife.

            The first thing you want to do is follow the directions on how to properly make the rice. Then cut thin slices of the tuna to put on top of the roll for later.  Now, place the seaweed(nori) on the rolling mat, and spread the rice all over the nori. It should be mostly covered besides about 2cm from the edges. Then lay the crab or krab sticks, and masago evenly in the middle of the rice. Then roll it up, and place the pre-cut tuna on top of the roll, now use the bamboo mat to make it tight. Then, take the mat off, and cut it into rolls, each about 2inches wide to make around 8 pieces.

            Place on plate and garnish with wasabi and ginger if available and enjoy! Now that you know the basics of how to make sushi you can experiment with adding new ingredients!

First steps should look a little like this -->

Sushi Presentation

Sushi Presentation

When going to a local sushi bar, you expect your food to be presented to you in an appealing way. The website http://sushinow.com/presentation.htm guides us through what is most pleasing to our eyes, and taste buds. There are three main points to take into account when creating a roll; color, flavor and texture.

Fish comes in all different types of colors, the red tuna, orange salmon, pink yellowtail, white & purple octopus, and is nicely paired with a green vegetable. A tuna roll with cucumber and some carrot complement each other visually.

             Flavor plays an important role in making sushi as well. One of my favorite’s is adding a thin lemon slice with yellowtail, it creates an acidic taste that balance the two out.
             Texture is also a main component, for example the best combination is soft, chewy and crunchy. The softness can be found in cream cheese, or fish. Chewy can come in forms like the seaweed or octopus, and crunchy could easily be shrimp tempura or a slice of cucumber.

Now that we have the three main factors down, there are also a few things to keep in mind when making a roll. You want to make sure that the sushi piece can be eaten in one bite. It’s messy to have to take two, and have it fall apart, so keep it small.
Think of decorative and edible garnishes, flowers made of cucumber or radish make the roll that much more fancy.  Arrange the pieces of sushi that show off their ingredients. This can be show by having them laid face down, showing the middle, in a separated line if there is fish on top, or even stacked like a cake. Remember sushi is a lot different now than it used to be, and even random ingredients can be made into a fusion type of roll. Think outside the box when coming up with new ideas!