Ballpark Sushi

This is my (the other half of the WE) first post. I will start with my one of my favorite things...Sushi. People generally think of raw fish when they hear sushi, but the real tastiness is in the rice. I have made my own sushi about a half dozen times and have learned these few things. First, it takes a long time to make the rice properly but is not hard at all. Second, it is best to let people make their own rolls or else you never get to eat. Lastly, avocado is key. My favorite ingredients for fillings are avocado, cucumber, asparagus, sweet potato, eggplant, tempeh, peanuts, and some sort of hot sauce or mustard. If you can roll all these things into one roll more power to you but it is easiest to just make simple combinations of one to three things. Our last sushi dinner consisted of vegan hot dog rolls complete with mustard, ketchup, and pickle relish. They tasted somewhat gross but you probably already figured that out after seeing the picture.

One cup of rice generally is enough for about four rolls. I am not going to go into detail about how to make the rice because that info is everywhere on the internet and comes with most sushi mats and seaweed wrappers. Basically you rinse (5 min), soak (15 min), dry (15 min), cook (5-8 min), steam (10-15 min), set (10 min), and finally mix in sushi-su (recipe below) while fanning. I am not patient enough to dry the rice but it seems to work well enough without that step. The rice itself is good enough to eat.

Sushi-Su for 1 Cup of Sushi Rice

2T rice vinegar
2t sugar
1t salt

Once the Sushi-Su and the Rice have been mixed and are close to room temperature you simply spread some rice on the nori with wet hands or a rice paddle. Leave about one inch at the top of the nori to seal the role. Add your ingredients and roll. The vinegar in the rice purposively re-acts with metal blades so it is best to use a ceramic knife to cut the rolls.