|
Shopping
Bag
|
|
 
|
|
|
Submenu
|
Eat Right
|
 |
Although
I am Australian, I think I must have been a Japanese
housewife in my past life. There is nothing I like
better than making my own sushi, buying the freshest
of ingredients at a supermarket, cooking vinegar rice
and then when everything is set, rolling my sleeves
up to, well, roll my own sushi.
The best thing about homemade sushi is it can turn
into quite a show – to impress kitchen novices at
your own private party. Guests whose maids rule the
kitchen will naturally be all eyes and ears. The idea
of preparing food themselves is grand, deterred only
by visions of limp noodles and burnt roasts. I know.
I’ve been on that road before.
But sushi is different. Except
for the tricky part when you roll – your hands have
to be moistened just right or rice will cling madly
to your fingers – it’s quite idiot-proof.
|
|
|
 |
|
| Like making
your own fresh popiah, practice makes perfect. Sushi should
look smooth, not lumpy, tightly packed but not spilling
over. Buy a makisu, or bamboo mat – it’s about $4 at Takashimaya’s
Household Department.
Sushi is absolutely fresh and healthy, and only as expensive
as you want it to be. Fillings can range from cucumbers
to choice tuna belly that may cost you an arm and a leg.
Whatever filling, though, the process is invariably the
same. Spread, fill and roll!
|
|
|
Preparation
The rice
-5 cups short-grain Japanese rice
(makes 6 to 8 rolls)
- 1 cup sushi vinegar (buy ready-made or make your own
using 1 cup rice vinegar, 2 Tbs apple vinegar, 50g sugar,
25g salt and 1 Tbs lemon juice – stir in a small bowl)
Wash rice in a rice cooker pot under running tap water
until water runs clear; drain. Add the five cups water
into pot and leave to stand for 30min. Cook rice till
soft and slightly sticky (35 to 40mins). Once done,
scoop hot rice into a mixing bowl and stir in sushi
vinegar. Set hot rice aside to cool slightly. |
|
Ingredients
Half a fistful of cooked vinegar rice
50g crab meat
1 sheet seaweed
1 Tbs tobiko (flying fish roe)
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
25g avocado, cut into one-inch strips
25g cucumber,
thinly sliced
1 tsp wasabi (Japanese mustard) paste
|
|
 |
California
Roll
1 roll makes 8
pieces so multiply accordingly. You also need
makisu (see story, left) and cling film
Instructions
1. |
Spread
the warm rice over the seaweed sheet,
leaving a border around the edges – the
rice should stick easily to the seaweed
sheet |
2. |
Sprinkle
the tobiko and sesame seeds sparingly
on top of the rice |
3. |
Flip
the rice bed over and spread ingredients
in layers beginning with crab meat, avocado
and cucumber |
4. |
Dot
wasabi paste (liberally if you like it
strong) on the cucumber |
| 5. |
Roll into
a log; place cling film over the top, and
shape with the makisu |
| 6. |
Using a
very sharp knife, cut into pieces |
| 7. |
Serve with
wasabi, pickled ginger slices and soy sauce
on the side. |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
| |
|
