Living in the dead center of the country and no where near water, it is incredibly difficult to find good, edible, or anything that might resemble sushi.
That is why Paul and I make our own sushi at home. It's much easier than it sounds, but I will admit it's not near as beautiful, which is why you will not see any pictures of the actual rolls (however, we are getting better with practice).
That is why Paul and I make our own sushi at home. It's much easier than it sounds, but I will admit it's not near as beautiful, which is why you will not see any pictures of the actual rolls (however, we are getting better with practice).
Also living in Nebraska, it is very hard to find fish, let alone fish that is fresh and safe enough to serve raw, so Paul and I buy Krab. Krab is made with white fish that is cooked, colored, cut, and marinated to resemble crab. When I first heard of the stuff, I was very against it because, to be honest, I would prefer my fish not be colored and cut to resemble something else, but the truth is, it does taste good, it has a good texture, it's safe to use, and it's available!
I don't think we are quite to the crazy combinations stage, so we start our sushi off with sliced cucumber, sliced avocado, and the sliced krab, but I do encourage you to experiment with other vegetables and flavors. Because I do have a rice cooker, the sushi rice is really easy to make, but do make sure you rinse the rice under cold water until the water runs clear. If you skip this step you will have VERY gummy rice (yuck). After cooking the rice, add the seasoned rice vinegar to the rice. The seasoned adds a salty and sweet flavor, and the vinegar itself helps it stick together without being gummy. |
California Rolls
Yield: 8 rolls (about 4 slices each) prep time: 20 min total time: 2 hours
ingredients:
directions:
Yield: 8 rolls (about 4 slices each) prep time: 20 min total time: 2 hours
ingredients:
- 2 cups sushi rice
- 3 cups water
- 2 tbsp. seasoned rice vinegar
- 1 cucumber, peeled and cut into thin strips
- 1 avocado, peeled, seeded, and cut into thin strips
- 1 package of krab, cut strips in half
- 1 package of nori (in Asian aisle of supermarket)
- wasabi to taste (in Asian aisle of supermarket)
- soy sauce for dipping
directions:
- prepare rice according to cooking directions on package. Once done cooking, add seasoned rice vinegar.
- Prepare all vegetables and fillings.
- using rice spoon or spatula, spread a layer of rice onto nori. Fill with fillings and roll closed. (it helps to add a line of water to the end of the nori to get it to stick shut). Cut into individual pieces using a wet chef's knife, (or just eat whole.)