East vs West: 2 different sushis

Hi everyone,

Ok so it has been a long time since I wrote. In my wife's family most of the birthdays are in April or May, work got supper busy and didn't let up, and well I went to Ireland for my late honeymoon. Recently I quit the IT world to follow my passion of good home cooked dinners, and started my own business of teaching and sharing how that can be done. First order of business is to find those who want to cook, but don't know where to start. I am creating a ebook to cover the most basics, and then subsequent editions to follow, to hone skills and master good food.

In my life a lot of good came from family dinners, a lot of sharing and talking happened while feeding a common need. It was a time where no matter what the war between siblings or parents was, there was a cease fire long enough to enjoy a meal. When family that we hadn't seen in a while came to town, it was time for a special dinner, so in my eyes food was a way to bring people together.

That being said, I wanted to start where I left off, Sushi. The last post was that of a first attempt at sushi, and the second time around I tried to take a staple and make it a bit special. Making a good sushi rice is key to this and bellow is a recipe for Sushi rice. I took the ever-so-basic but ever-so-lovely California roll and taking the same ingredients inverted it to make what I am going to call the PEI roll. I call it the PEI roll since it is as opposite of California as it gets and it has a friendly piece of smoked salmon. Both are easy to make and you will want to start making sushi yourself too.

Sushi rice:

1 cup short grain rice (Kohuko Rose is my fav)

*1-1 1/4 cup water (for rice maker use higher amount for stove top use lesser amount)

1/2 cup rice vinegar

2 tbsp white sugar

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp garlic powder

For a rice maker put rice and water in machine and let sit for 20 mins powered off. Then cook as normal.

*for stovetop, get a pan with snug fitting lid and enough tin foil to cover top of pot. Put rice and water together and let sit off the heat for 20 mins. Wrap the top of pot with tinfoil and place lid on top ensuring air tight seal. Turn on high heat for about 3 mins and drop heat to low for another 15 mins without opening. When done the water should be gone and the rice just a bit al-dente.

When rice is done either method, get a non metal bowl and put rice in it. Mix the garlic, ginger, rice vinegar, sugar and salt together in a separate dish and then stir into rice a part at a time mixing into rice and separating the rice at the same time, so you don't get mushy rice.

California Roll (8 pieces):

1 sheet of Nori

1/3 cup of sushi rice

1/4 cup imitation crab meat shredded

1/4 avocado sliced

1 tbsp mayo

1/4 tsp wasabi paste

pinch of garlic powder

1/3 of a cucumber julienned

Mix garlic powder wasabi paste and mayo together. Take Nori sheet and place on either sushi roller or a sheet of plastic wrap and spread rice on it thin enough to cover nori leaving about one cm (1/2 inch) strip on the top with no rice. Place crab, cucumber and avocado about 1/3 of the way from the bottom of nori sheet in a row across, then spread mayo beside ingredients. Lightly wet bare strip, then roll carefully and tightly pressing into shape as you roll towards moisten part. Start slicing by cutting in 1/2. then cut each piece into half again, repeat one more time to make 8 even pieces.

PEI Roll:

1 sheet of Nori

1/3 cup of sushi rice

3-4 slices cold smoked salmon

1/4 cup imitation crab meat shredded

1/4 avocado sliced

1 tbsp mayo

1/4 tsp wasabi paste

pinch of garlic powder

1/3 of a cucumber julienned

You will need the plastic wrap here, spread the rice thinly but enough to cover nori sheet without leaving gap. Invert so that rice is directly on the plastic wrap and top the same as you would a california roll. Roll tightly using plastic wrap. Remove enough plastic wrap to evenly place smoked salmon, then re-wrap to press smoked salmon on top. Start slicing by cutting in 1/2. then cut each piece into half again, repeat one more time to make 8 even pieces.

These were a hit at my house, hope these work for you. Coming up on Nights Around the Table, some of our culinary highlights from Ireland which is making local it's obsession.

The sushi experiment: The Grasshopper Roll

I am a big fan of sushi, and a big fan of do it myself so it wasn't long before I attempted to make my own. I always left it to the experts because I didn't want to get sick and I didn't know that sushi grade fish is so readily available at fish mongers. When I lived in Vancouver, I never really thought about making my own because I could just go down the street and there was at least 2 good sushi restaurants in minutes from where I lived. The Fish was always fresh and tasty. Then I moved to Montreal, and well until recently, I couldn't find good sushi, most of it is either over-priced or mediocre. A while back when I was looking for a good piece of salmon for tartare I found that all the fish at my fish mongers was sushi grade (well in the display). That got the wheels turning, but still intimidated it took me a while to try making my own rice and wrapping a roll or two.

I was going to my local fish monger to get some fresh Haddock for fish and chips, and in front of me was a bag of Kokuho rose rice (the best short grain rice). Living with Korean roommates for 4 years I remember that brand as the best sticky rice. My friends used that for Korean sushi (Gimbap). So now I needed a good fish, and the fish monger recommended Talapia. I never would have guessed that Talapia was good raw. Talapia worked well because it has a firm flesh which makes it easy to slice thin for sashimi. It has a mild flavour and goes with things that won't over power it. I used some papaya, cucumber and carrots which worked well.

Being a beginner on the whole sushi thing I came up with the name of my new roll from the Kung fu series. I called it the grasshopper because it is not complete, with patience I will be able to perfect it, and I thought it was funny. So that said, sushi was good but I need to keep practicing and I will keep you posted.