When you think of sushi what comes to mind? Rice? Seaweed? Wasabi and soy sauce? Do you think of the whole sushi train experience, a take away miso soup, or just a quick ‘big roll’ as they are commonly referred to in Australia?
For me, I see your traditional big roll and inside is raw salmon and avocado, my favourite combination of ingredients in a sushi roll.
However, contrary to popular belief, sushi is not all about raw fish. That would be sashimi. Sashimi is a whole other kettle of fish (no pun intended). Of course, on your standard sushi train you can get both, and a variety of other Japanese dishes like stuffed fried bean curd parcels, fried chicken and so forth. But it is the sushi I have come here to write about today.
Why am I writing about sushi today? Primarily because it was sushi that we had for dinner last night.
I’ve never managed to get myself some sashimi tuna or salmon for home, so sushi at home never includes such delicacies, unfortunately. One day when I learn more about where I live I will source it. Has anyone else used sashimi tuna or salmon at home?
So, sushi at home usually consists of chicken, always avocado and usually carrot and cucumber. Last night I also sliced up finely green onions and capsicum which went down really well.
We started with a mug of miso soup and drank that while we put our sushi rolls together. That’s always fun isn’t it, putting it all on the nori sheet and attempting the roll? There really is a knack to it which includes how much rice, how much filling and where you put the rice and filling in relation to the edges of your piece of nori. I can make them relatively well these days, but I had a lot of fun when I first started, constantly ending up with these horrible looking lumpy sushi rolls, many of which didn’t close together because I had too much filling.
One of these days I am going to be brave enough to make sushi a dish at a party I throw. Even if it’s an appetiser. I’m so going to do it.
Whilst I enjoy eating sushi because the flavours and it’s good for me, I also enjoy it for the condiments. At home I have pinch bowls just like they in the sushi places and we squeeze some wasabi and soy sauce into it, mix it up and dip the sushi roll in. Usually we have pickled ginger as well. Taste sensation everywhere. It’s the dipping and the adding of ginger that really adds to the experience for me. In so many ways I think that’s strange, but then again it makes the meal a little novel. There aren’t many foods that we eat that you pick up and dip into something before taking a bite. A sausage with sauce on the side comes close, but it’s not quite the same.
One of the trickiest bits about making sushi at home though is for me (by far), the rice. This is such a delicate art of rinsing, cooking for the perfect amount of time, cooling for the perfect amount of time and seasoning with the perfect amount of liquid. I’m getting there with that too and this time my rice was the best it has been. I was quite pleased with myself. Especially considering that once upon a time rice was my weak point. I quickly learnt the value of heavy pots and pans once I had my own place, especially for rice. I honestly don’t know how I did the cheaper pots for so long now that I know the difference, but I digress.
So, I enjoy sushi, shop bought and home made, and I enjoy the process of making sushi at home, and the novelty of the dipping bowl. And I love it even more if it is preceeded with a mug of miso soup. So much so, that even though I’m not having sushi just now, I’m going to make a miso soup. Yumm….
My journey in the kitchen 