Next Sushi Attempt

And to finish this weekend off - sushi! After the first attempt going rather well (read here), there is no reason not to try it again. Why do I call my sushi "cooking" attempts? Well, I am pretty sure that if a sushi chef, a true sushi chef, either reading this and previous posts or overseeing me in the kitchen will most certainly be outraged. What sushi chef does is like painting Mona Lisa, by comparison what I do is like drawing stick figures. But one only gets better with experience. So here we go.

To start easy, I prepared the same octopus dish as last time.

Next, sashimi. This is still easy - just slice the fish evenly.

And now, rolls. I started with something relatively easy - a roll with rice inside. I learned from my mistake last time and used less rice (although I still need to reduce the amount!) and used less of fish and avocado. Then I wanted to do a rainbow roll, although it didn't occur to me until it was too late that for rainbow roll rice should be outside. Oops. It does look less appealing when blackness of seaweed is showing through the thin slices of fish. But I certainly won't be making that mistake again.

And the hardest challenge I set for myself today is in fact to do a roll with rice outside. I wrapped my bamboo mat in plastic wrap.

Then, as usual, I spread rice on the nori sheet. Next, nori sheet needs to be flipped. I was afraid of rice falling off, but it does stick pretty well. Nori sheets have a glossy smooth side and a rougher side, and rice goes on the rougher side, so I think that does help it stay on the sheet as you are flipping it.

Once nori sheet is flipped, add the filling as usual and roll. Unfortunately this is my sloppiest roll today, but I did overcome my slight fear of dealing with a rice-outside roll. Yay!

I keep looking for best information on sushi and sushi making, and after going through several books, I think I found a most informative one.

Sushi Taste and Technique is one of those books that is light on recipes, but has a lot of background and basic information. I always appreciate books like that much more than the ones that simply list recipes - ingredients and instructions, and leave the most important stuff - the "why" of the subject - out.

I haven't had a chance to read the whole book yet, I simply don't have the time, and I am so behind on my Modernist Cuisine reading, but flipping through it and reading few of the subjects covered, I do think that this is the best book to start with if you want to really get into sushi.

And this brings an end to a very exciting weekend. I hope yours was just as awesome as ours.

All the best to you in your kitchen and a very good night!