Recipe Test - Sushi

Recipe Test - Sushi

Game plan:

-  Seasoned sticky rice, tuna, avocado and sesame seeds, with spicy mayo garnish and small bowl of soy sauce with a pea sized ball of wasabi paste.

 It's my favorite restaurant sushi to order and pretty sure I could live on it.

Original Recipe Link Here

So I've tried to make Sushi and rice balls and other finicky things like that before, but never with any real success. Most of the attempts tasted alright, but ended up as a sticky ball of rice mess. So as a perfectionist I knew I just had to keep trying until I mastered it. Or at least made one pretty plate of sushi, because  I accept that I will never truly be a sushi master.

I am pretty positive that the only reason my sushi attempts failed before was because I didn't bother getting a bamboo rolling mat and thought I could get by without it and that it would be expensive when I did get it and in my small kitchen I don't have time for one-use only kitchen tools.

Let me tell you, you certainly can not get by without one, I've tried. Also, they are pretty cheap at Chinese Markets, I literally paid $1.77 for the one I ended up getting.  It's my new favorite one-purpose-only cooking tool. Plus I am moving soon to a better home and nicer kitchen (with a dishwasher!!) so it's alright that I have one more tool to try and hide away.

Tuna Sushi

Original Recipe Ingredients:

• 40g tuna
• 20g avocado
• 100g sushi rice, cooked
• ½ sheet nori
• 10g sesame seeds
• ½ cup rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 banana leaf

Changes I made:

I had about 250g of Tuna, used 1/2 whole avocado and I cooked 1 cup dry sushi rice. I ended up with enough ingredients to make three full rolls, and one half roll. Also pretty positive there are no banana leaves on the island of Newfoundland so I just didn't even bother looking for it. Pretty sure it's only there as a serving garnish to make the plate look all fancy and what not.

Pretty only is as pretty does. . .

To season Sticky Rice:

• 1/3 Cup Rice Vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon Mirin
• 2 Teaspoons Salt

I added all ingredients to a small bowl and stirred to dissolve the salt and mix in the mirin.

I also made a Spicy Mayo:

• 1 Tablespoon Mayo
• 1-3 Teaspoons Sriracha Sauce

Place in a small bowl and mix well to blend. Transfer to a pastry bag with a fine tip. Drizzle over top of cut sushi for a spicy kick. Or serve in a small serving bowl to dip the sushi in if you prefer.

Instructions:

1. Cook the sticky rice according to package directions. 
2. Once cooked transfer to a wood or stainless steel bowl. Let cool for about 5 minutes.
3.  Add the seasoning mixture to the rice and stir gently to coat. 
4. Trying not to over stir as that will make the rice gluey.
5. To prepare sushi, Slice the tuna fillet into 1cm X 1cm square finger sections. So that you have long small tuna "finger" fillets. Keep sliced ready to use tuna in a bowl which is in a ice bath to keep the tuna cold as you work. 
6. Thinly slice the avocado, or chop into small pieces.
7. Place bamboo mat on clean work surface. 
8. Lay a slightly larger piece of plastic wrap over the bamboo mat. 
9. Place nori sheet on top of plastic wrap. 
10. Carefully spread some sticky rice over almost half of the sheet of nori, only leaving 5 centimeter  band at the top of the sheet to be used to seal the roll together.
11. Sprinkle some sesame seeds over top of the rice. If desired you can lightly toast the sesame seeds in a skillet. But I just didn't bother. . .
12. Arrange 3-4 tuna slices along the bottom edge of the rice. Layer slices of avocado along side the tuna.
13. Working carefully begin to tightly roll the sushi,  using the bamboo mat. Once tightly rolled, use your fingers dipped in a water bowl to dampen the bare exposed nori at the top of the roll, and press the roll closed and seal.
14. Wrap the rolls in the plastic wrap and place in the fridge until ready to serve. 
15. When time to serve, unwrap from plastic and slice with a very sharp knife into pieces that are about 1 inch wide. Drizzle with spicy mayo and serve with wasabi and soy sauce.

YUMMY! I actually made this!

Can't lie, pretty pleased about this one.

Enjoy!

PS, June 2014, made it again! Added some panko bread crumbs to the center of the rolls, as well as lightly toasting the sesame seeds in a dry skillet until just browning. Oh golly they were even better on the second attempt.

Notes:

Also do you know how to tell for certain how ripe or usable your avocado is? 'Cause I live on a island in the north Atlantic ocean so I know my avocados are always going to be frozen first, then shipped and then thawed when they get to me. Meaning sometimes the gentle squeeze test can be very misleading. I find the best way is to check the navel/stem spot on the fruit. Pluck out the little nub if there is one and have a look in the navel. It should look fresh and not browned or dried out. Fresh navel means fresh avocado. Just don't pop the navels out of every avocado or else someone is sure to shoot you an evil eye stare. If you honestly can't find a decent one after 3 or 4, you probably wont find a fresh one at that store/in the pile.

Other Places:

Something baked?

White Bread