I MADE SUSHI!

[RottenApple]

Ok. Totally (and I mean TOTALLY) not firearm/CHL related, but I made sushi for dinner tonight. Futamaki (fat sushi) made with salmon, avacado, & cream cheese. This was only my 3rd attempt at making sushi.

FYI, the total on this came out to less than $20.

[The Annoyed Man]

Where's the Uni?

[mojo84]

We cut up bait quite often when we go fishing.

I'm actually starting to like some sushi. However, still not excited about eating raw fish though. If you were to grill it before wrapping it in the rice, then we would be talking good food.

[RottenApple]

We cut up bait quite often when we go fishing.

I'm actually starting to like some sushi. However, still not excited about eating raw fish though. If you were to grill it before wrapping it in the rice, then we would be talking good food.

You're making a common assumption; that sushi is raw fish. Sushi may indeed be raw fish, but it is more often, in America at least, smoked. In this case, I cold smoked the salmon (wild caught Alaskan) over a 4 hour period.

[RottenApple]

Where's the Uni?

Yuck! Perhaps you forgot, TAM, but my family keeps kosher. No sea urchin, shrimp, etc. Ew!

[Wodathunkit]

Looks awesome, what is the prep time for a spread like that?

[Dave2]

Where's the Uni?

Yuck! Perhaps you forgot, TAM, but my family keeps kosher. No sea urchin, shrimp, etc. Ew!

That's not what Uni is. "Yuck" doesn't even begin to describe it... (I mean it tastes pretty good, I'm just glad I'd already finished lunch and used the restroom when I found out what it was.)

[mojo84]

We cut up bait quite often when we go fishing.

I'm actually starting to like some sushi. However, still not excited about eating raw fish though. If you were to grill it before wrapping it in the rice, then we would be talking good food.

You're making a common assumption; that sushi is raw fish. Sushi may indeed be raw fish, but it is more often, in America at least, smoked. In this case, I cold smoked the salmon (wild caught Alaskan) over a 4 hour period.

Interesting. I was unaware the fish in some sushi is cooked or smoked. Thanks for the info. That may make it easier for me to eat it. I like the flavors but I just have a little hang up about raw fish.

[The Annoyed Man]

Where's the Uni?

Yuck! Perhaps you forgot, TAM, but my family keeps kosher. No sea urchin, shrimp, etc. Ew!

I guess I can't be kosher. When I was a kid, surfing SoCal beaches and sloshing around tide pools, I used to harvest live sea urchins, bust them open with a rock, and eat the "Uni" out of them so fresh that their spines were still moving around. We were that kind of a family. That was 25 years before I had even heard of sushi.

And by the way, you can certainly smoke the fish if you want, but most "raw" fish served as traditional sushi is exactly that....raw. Sometimes they'll grill the freshwater eel, and they'll steam the shrimp, but if you order traditional sushi/sashimi, you're eating raw fish. I love it, and I could live on it as a high protein diet for years if I had to.

[RoyGBiv]

Nice job RA.!

We make a lot of sushi at home... The kids enjoy salmon and cream cheese rolls too.
WifeGBiv likes crab stick with fresh and/or roasted vegetables (asparagus works very nicely in a roll).
I'm a pretty lazy sushi-chef, not caring much about what it looks like on the plate. But, here are a few tricks I find handy.
1. Rice matters. Use a good quality rice, never Uncle Ben's
2. Vinegar improves the taste. Sushi rice is always coated with "sushi rice vinegar". Just enough to wet the rice, be sure to mix thoroughly. I didn't think it changed the taste any, until I finally tried it.
3. I like to use the back side of a wet (water) tablespoon to smooth the rice into a thinner, wider sheet. This lets me use less rice per roll, saving calories and reducing the proportion of "plain" rice to flavorful fish. As the spoon dries you can see the rice starting to stick to it. I just rinse the spoon in a small bowl of water and keep spreading until I get as close as possible to a rice layer that's one grain thick (or close enough). If you like a lot of rice, skip this suggestion

Next time you're over in the 35E/Carrollton area, be sure to check out Super H-Mart. Lots of fresh prepared fish ready for rolling and all the fixin's and sauces.

LOVE Uni. Family HATES Uni
Another favorite at my house is Masago. I like mine with a quail egg, but we skip the egg for the kids.
Easy enough for the kids to make themselves.



Have fun!

[TheCytochromeC]

Not too shabby! I've "made" sushi a few times myself. Are you using a single edge knife? Anyone got a source for good fish? The best fish I've found in the area is unfortunately accompanied by the biggest jerk in the area as well.

[RoyGBiv]

Not too shabby! I've "made" sushi a few times myself. Are you using a single edge knife? Anyone got a source for good fish? The best fish I've found in the area is unfortunately accompanied by the biggest jerk in the area as well.

Super H-Mart is the easiest place to get a wide variety of fresh fish.
Along the back row of the store they have a section of prepared fish, cleaned, trimmed and ready for rolling or eating as sashimi.
I have had good luck at my local Krogers, actually. I have a good relationship with the seafood folks. They let me know what days they receive deliveries and what's the freshest. I always ask them to take the freshest fish out of the back fridge, never from the display case. Salmon is usually easy to find, tuna too. On salmon, it's worth the extra few bucks to buy the "natural" stuff, rather than the "farm raised". I find the flavor difference to be noticeable. Of course crab stick is cooked and pre-packaged. easy to find anywhere. For the less mainstream stuff, H-Mart is the best choice, IMO.

[Texheim]

Thanks, now I'm hungry. Love sushi and you did a great job.

[RottenApple]

Where's the Uni?

Yuck! Perhaps you forgot, TAM, but my family keeps kosher. No sea urchin, shrimp, etc. Ew!

That's not what Uni is. "Yuck" doesn't even begin to describe it... (I mean it tastes pretty good, I'm just glad I'd already finished lunch and used the restroom when I found out what it was.)

Ummmmm. Uni is sea urchin.

[RottenApple]

Looks awesome, what is the prep time for a spread like that?

Rice: 10-12 minutes
Smoking salmon: 4 hours
Slicing salmon: 5 minutes
Slicing avocado: 5 minutes
Rolling 7 rolls: 30 minutes (hey, I'm not a pro)
Slicing & plating 7 rolls: about 10 minutes

So except for the smoking part, about an hour from raw ingredients to finish product.