Homemade Sushi

Hello Lovely ! 

This afternoon Gilbert and I both had a craving for sushi. Since we are trying to eat better and not go out to eat, we found ourselves extremely disappointed heading to the grocery store instead of our favorite sushi place. We normally head straight to the back of the grocery store to look for any sales on meat and fish before venturing to the rest of the store. During our normal stroll through the meat department a box of frozen tempera friend shrimp caught my eye and I instantly knew I was going to attempt to make sushi for a second time. The first sushi roll I ever made was a California roll and I told myself I was never making sushi again, if that can tell you anything about how that process went (LOL). Long story short, it worked, but it was a two hour long process to get three mediocre sushi rolls that were thicker in some places than others. A couple weeks ago I ended up buying a sushi mat (considering I didn't use it last time I made sushi) just in case I was to dare to go down the sushi route for dinner again. Sushi mats are very inexpensive and you can order one online or you can typically find one in your grocery store. Anyway, I picked up a box of tempera shrimp and an avocado (YUM - and full of healthy fats). Fortunately, I still had a huge bag of sushi rice and nori (seaweed paper) at home from last time I made sushi. A couple weeks ago I went home to visit my parents and my mom sent me back to Radford with cucumbers from her garden that I could cut and put inside the sushi rolls with the shrimp. This recipe is definitely not an everyday one, but super delicious to do every so often ~with patience~. 

Ingredients/Supplies:

• Sushi mat
• Plastic wrap
• Cutting boards and knives
• Nori-Seaweed paper
• Cucumber
• Avocado
• Mayonnaise-2 Tablespoons
• Sriracha- 1 Tablespoon
• Short grain rice-1 1/2 Cups
• Rice Vinegar-1 Teaspoon or to taste
• Sugar- 1 Teaspoon
• Frozen Tempera Shrimp (Private Selection from Kroger is what I used)
• Sesame seeds

Directions:

The first step, which is the most time consuming, is the rice preparation. Before following the directions on the back of the bag of rice, you will need to portion out however much dry rice your directions call for (mine was 1 1/2 cups) and place it in a mixing bowl. This is the most important step of the recipe. You have to wash the rice until the water starts running clear. I washed mine (filled the bowl with water, agitated the rice, and drained the water) about ten times. This process causes the rice to be sticky and can be used for sushi after it's cooked. After washing, you cook the rice according to the directions on the bag. After cooking the rice, it is important that you season it or else it will be pretty bland. I seasoned my rice with 1 teaspoon of of rice vinegar (start with a half teaspoon-you can always add more), 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. You can adjust these measurements to your taste, this is just worked for my portion of rice. After mixing these together, I like to spread the rice out thin on a baking sheet/dish and pop it in the refrigerator until it is cooled (15-20 minutes). 

While your rice is cooling, assembling a good amount of room on your counter or table to work on is a good idea. I set one cutting board down for all of my prepped fillings/toppings and one cutting board to work on. To prepare your cucumber, all you need to do is cut the ends of, peel (or not-your preference), and cut them down the center long ways. After cutting them in half, your going to want to continue cutting them in half until you end up with a cucumber stick, which I then cut into about four inch lengths so  that 2 sticks fit nicely in the sushi roll. Next, you need to prepare your avocado. When picking an avocado to use, make sure it is not too soft or else it won't hold its shape and will fall off of the sushi roll. Cut the avocado in half and take the pit out. I took a spoon and scooped out both sides of the avocado so they were still whole. Now, cutting the avocado a certain way is very important. You want them to be as thin as you can get them, so they will lay flat on your sushi. Cut the slices very thin, also making sure you keep the avocado together and not taking away the cut pieces. After half is cut, you can begin laying the slices down in a domino style affect. This is going to lay on top of your roll, so you don't want any gaps in the avocado slices. Repeat this for the other sushi roll. 

This is now a good time to get your shrimp cooking. I personally cooked my shrimp in an air fryer. Air fryers are great, because you are eliminating the mess of deep frying (plus the calories of deep frying) and there's no preheating involved. I set my air fryer to the 'shrimp' setting and they cooked on 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 minutes. Half way through the cooking time, I flipped the shrimp so they would get super crispy.  If you don't own a air fryer, you're 100% okay. Cook them in the oven according to the directions on the back of the box. This cooking method may take a little longer, so start cooking your shrimp before you prep your sushi toppings and fillings. The last preparations you need to do before rolling your sushi are to pull out a bowl of water to keep your hands dampened so they don't stick to the rice, to fully wrap your sushi mat in plastic wrap to make for easy clean up, and to make your sriracha mayonnaise. To make the sriracha mayo, all I did was mix 1 tablespoon mayonnaise and 1 tablespoon sriracha. If you don't like spicy foods at all, I would increase the amount of mayonnaise you use. If you LOVE spicy foods, add more sriracha (I ended up putting extra sriracha on top of the rolls later).   

This shrimp was delicious!

Finally, time for the fun part; rolling your sushi! At this point you're going to want to take your rice out of the fridge and put it on your working station. Place your nori shiny side up on top of your sushi mat. Then, wet your hands and start placing small amounts of rice onto your nori. Try to focus on 'rolling' the rice across the nori vs. pressing it into it. Cover all but 1 inch from the end of your nori with rice. Leaving a one inch gap on your nori without rice will allow the sushi roll to seal so your fillings don't fall out. After putting your rice on your nori, carefully flip the nori and the rice over to where you are now looking at the rough side of the seaweed and the one inch gap underneath is furthest from you. Now, take your tempura shrimp and place it on the nori with the tail sticking off the side of the seaweed. You don't have to keep the tail on the shrimp, but I chose to leave mine on for presentation. My nori held two pieces of the tempera shrimp longways. Lastly, are then going to put your cucumber sticks as close to your shrimp as possible. 

Rough side of the nori is now facing up.

Now is the part that can get a little tricky.  Pull up the end of your sushi mat that is closest to you and begin to curl your sushi into a roll. Remember, while rolling your sushi don't let it get too loose and to always have slight pressure on the mat. The difficult part here is to not roll your mat into your sushi. While rolling your sushi, try to aim for 'folding' your sushi mat in half, because that is how you should finish your roll. So if you keep rolling this way, your roll will meet the end of your nori with the one inch gap. I like to dampen this by dipping my finger in the water and running it along the edge so it will stick to the rice better. After completely rolling your sushi you can gently squeeze to the mat around the roll to tighten it. 

Roll the mat back towards you so you don't
roll it into the sushi!

OKAY, the hard part is done! Now it's time to add the avocado. I found the easiest way to pick it up without it all falling apart was to slide a knife right under the laid out avocado and slide it on top of the roll. After placing it on a roll, I put a piece of plastic wrap on top of the avocado and molded it to the roll using slight pressure. You can pull the plastic wrap off directly after. Then, all that's left to do is drizzle your sriracha mayonnaise (and any extra sriracha if you choose) on top of the roll, add sesame seeds, and cut your roll into 8 equal pieces with a sharp knife.  You can serve your sushi with soy sauce, wasabi, and ginger if you like. This may be time consuming at first, but after your first roll and understanding the process, it will come easier. I am definitely not a professional but making sushi at home can save you a lot of money and calories. Enjoy!

                                      

The final product. So delicious!