Sushi and Miso Soup Recipes

*Keep a cup of water and dip hands in as you roll so rice does not stick to hands.

Buy wasabi paste and mix with water from Japanese grocery store.

California Roll

Ingredients

• avocado
• 5 cups of sushi rice
• 4 sheets of nori (toasted seaweed)
• 7 teaspoons toasted seasame seeds
• 1/2 Japanese cucumber (or English cucumber)
• 5 ounces of imitation crabmeat (I prefer the "sticks" and not the chunks)

Utensils

• bamboo mat wrapped in plastic
• sharp knife

Method

1. Cut the cucumber and imitation crab into matchstick slices
2. Cut the avocado in half and remove the large seed. Peel and slice.
3. Just before rolling sushi, toast the nori by passing the shiny side over a high flame. The color of the nori will change from brownish black to dark green. (Without toasting, the nori will be gummy and hard to chew.) Cut toasted nori sheets in half crosswise.
4. Place the shiny side of the nori facing down on the bamboo mat (cover mat in plastic wrap first).
5. Dip your hands in water and shake them.
6. Grab a ball of sushi rice (about 1 1/4 cup) and press it evenly over the sheet of nori.
7. Sprinkle on the toasted sesame seeds.
8. Gently pick up the nori and flip it upside down so that the rice is facing the plastic.
9. Evenly spread out the cucumber, crab, and avocado on the nori facing you.
10. Lift the sushi mat by placing your thumbs underneath the mat.
11. Grasp the ingredients with your remaing fingers to keep everything in its place.
12. Bring the mat forward until it touches the edge of the ingredients.
13. Gently squeeze and form the roll using both hands.
14. Slowly unroll the mat and as you do this bring the roll back to the edge of the mat.
15. Repeat these steps until all of the nori disappears.
16. Let your roll rest for about a minute.
17. Moisten a very sharp knife and cut the inside-out roll into two even halves.
18. Places the halves side-by-side and cut again. Slice into 4 or 6 pieces.
19. Serve on an attractive plate with a bit of pickled ginger and wasabi.

Spicy Tuna Sushi Roll
Ingredients:

4 cups Freshly Prepared Sushi Rice (see recipe)
2 Nori Seaweed, roasted sheets
1 tablespoon Sesame Seeds                                                                                  
Thinly sliced scallions
6 ounce Fresh Raw Tuna fillet (without skin)
1 tablespoon Mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon Togarashi (Japanese Hot Pepper)

Preparation:

Chop tuna (first dice into squares, then finely chop) and mix with mayonnaise, scallions and togarashi. Refrigerate if not using it right away.

Just before rolling sushi, toast the nori by passing the shiny side over a high flame. The color of the nori will change from brownish black to dark green. (Without toasting, the nori will be gummy and hard to chew.) Cut toasted nori sheets in half crosswise.
Cut nori sheet in half and place it on bamboo mat, shiny side down. Dampen your fingers in water. Spread a thin layer of sushi rice over the seaweed, do not cover completely. Leave a 1-inch margin at the ends uncovered to seal the roll. 
Spread tuna mixture lengthwise. Position them about 1 inch away from the bottom edge of the seaweed. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. 
To roll; slowly fold the end of the mat closest to you over the filling and tuck it in.
Use medium pressure to create compact tube. Remove the mat from around the roll, press in the loose ends and place it on a cutting board, seam side down. 
Using a wet, sharp knife, slice the roll in half then in 6 equal pieces.

Rice

Ingredients & Utensils

• 2 cups of short grain rice
• A large bowl to wash your rice
• A heavy medium-sized pot with a tight fitting lid

Choose the right rice!

All sushi recipes require short grain rice. Don’t even think about grabbing that big bag of Uncle Ben’s converted rice sitting in the cupboard.  

You know you have the correct type if the grains are uniform in size and somewhat transparent.

Wash your rice

This may seem like a chore, but it is necessary to remove talc and starch.

• Carefully measure 2 cups of raw short grain rice.
• Yields approximately 5 cups of cooked rice
• Wash the rice in a large bowl of cold water. Gently rub the grains together with your fingers. The water in your bowl will quickly turn a milky colour.
• Carefully tip your bowl to drain off the cloudy water.
• Fill your bowl with fresh water and repeat the process above until the water is almost clear.
• Place the rice in a sieve and let it drain for about an hour.

How to cook the rice

1. Place 2 cups of washed rice into a heavy saucepan
2. Add 2 cups of water
3. Make sure to put on a tight-fitting lid and bring to a boil on high.
4. Never remove the lid!
5. Turn heat to low and let your rice simmer for 15 minutes
6. Remove pot from heat.
7. Lift the lid and stretch a tea towel over the pot. Replace the lid and let the rice finish steaming for another 15 minutes.

While you are waiting for the rice you can prepare your sushi-zu. This is the seasoned rice-vinegar solution used to flavour your sushi rice.

Ingredients

·         5 cups of cooked sushi rice

·         1/4 cup rice vinegar

·         1 tablespoon of sugar

·         1 teaspoon of salt

·         Dash of sherry vinegar

Utensils

·         Wooden mixing tub

·         Wooden spatula

·         Small whisk

·         Paper Fan

·         Small sauce pan

 Preparing the vinegar mixture

1. Combine the vinegars, sugar and salt in a small sauce pan. Dissolve over medium heat using a small whisk (continually use whisk to stir). Don’t allow the mixture to reach a boil.
2. Allow the vinegar solution to cool.

Making the sushi rice

1. Transfer your cooked rice to a wooden sushi tub that has been moistened with a wet tea-towel.
2. Using a wooden spatula spread the rice evenly across the tub. (Pour mixture from pot to wooden spoon so that the mixture falls from the spoon onto the rice and move spoon around the bowl)
3. Sprinkle vinegar mixture evenly over the rice and fold it into the rice with the spatula. Don’t stir as this will break the grains.
4. As you fold the rice use one hand to cool the mixture with a fan. This might take about 10 minutes.

Miso Soup

Ingredients:

·         3 cups dashi soup stock 

·         1 block tofu  

·         3-4 tbsps miso paste 

·         1/4 cup chopped green onion

    Preparation:

    Put dashi soup stock in a pan and bring to a boil. Cut tofu into small cubes and add them to the soup. Simmer the tofu for a few minutes on low heat. Scoop out some soup stock from the pan and dissolve miso in it. Gradually return the miso mixture in the soup. Stir the soup gently. Stop the heat and add chopped green onion. Remember not to boil the soup after you put miso in.

*Makes 4 servings