Sushi

Date: Tue, 20 Sep 94 11:34:28 CDT
From: cgibas@wraightc3.life.uiuc.edu (Cynthia J. Gibas)

SUSHI

food shopping list:

short grain white rice (Nishiki=best, Kohkuo Rose=mediocre, Tamaki=good, Botan
Calrose=bad Goya=good)
unseasoned rice vinegar
kombu
sugar
sea salt
nori (flat 8"x10" sheets of seaweed)
rice wine
wasabe (green mustard, powdered or prepared available)
dark soy sauce
various fillings (see below)

Do I have to buy some bamboo thing?

Yes, buy a sushi mat. In the asian stores here they go for about 99 cents,
so I have three. A lot of little 1/8" diameter bamboo sticks, attached to
each other with string to make a square floppy mat a little bigger than a
piece of nori.

*What about the rice? I saw a recipe for sushi rice once, but I think I saw
*sushi rice in my HFS. Does anyone know about this? Is it possible to make
*this with brown rice? I guess it wouldn't be the same, probably not sticky.

The rice is key to the texture and taste of good sushi. Buy good rice. I've
never made brown rice sushi, but I think you'd need to use a little less
water than normal for brown rice and just cook until it's done, then season
it as below, maybe using a stronger seasoning mix to make it more sticky.

Wash 3 1/3 cups short grain white rice until water runs clear. Let stand
for a few minutes. Place in a pot along with 4 cups water and a piece of
kombu (thick strips of kelp). Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce
heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove cover and place an absorbent
kitchen towel over the top of the pot, then replace cover and turn off heat.
Let rice stand undisturbed 15 minutes. But: if there's still water showing
over the top of the rice after 5 min. simmer, allow to simmer a bit longer
before turning off heat.

Dissolve 5 Tbsp. white sugar in 5 Tbsp. rice vinegar, and add 4 t. sea salt.
After some experience, you may want to change this seasoning mixture and/or
increase the strength of the seasoning.

Turn rice out into a shallow bowl of some slightly porous material. I use
a big Rubbermaid bowl, and it works fine, but my cookbook recommends wood.
Stir gently with a flat spoon, keep from breaking or mashing rice grains if
possible. Sprinkle seasoning mixture onto rice as you stir. Rice will
gradually become slightly shiny and more sticky. You can fan the rice as
you stir to cool it, but lightly tossing it in a large bowl will cool it as
well.

To make sushi rolls, lay out a sheet of nori on your sushi mat so that the
long edge is parallel to the bottom of the mat. Use a flat spoon to spread
a 1/2" (or slightly thinner, as you like) layer of rice on the nori, covering
all but 1/2" at the bottom of the sheet and 1 1/2" at the top. Lay out a row
of fillings on the center of the rice. Roll the nori around the rice and
filling, bringing the bottom edge of rice and nori over the filling to meet
the top edge of the rice layer and then rolling up the exposed nori to seal
the roll. Wrap the sushi mat around the roll, using it to gently compress
the roll from many directions while maintaining its cylindrical shape.

Slice with a very sharp knife.

*What else can you put in besides cucumber?

Anything you put in should be cut into approx. 1/4" strips.
Some things need to be simmered in seasoning broth. I use one pot to do
all simmering, starting with a mixture of equal parts rice wine and water,
plus a little sugar and soy sauce. Cook things in order of taste, i.e
carrots, then mushrooms, then tempeh, so that strong tasting things don't
flavor delicate things. By the end your broth will be very tasty.

lightly steamed asparagus
alfalfa sprouts
steamed spinach--with a sesame oil/garlic sauce for Korean style, or plain
carrots--simmer
pickled yellow root--Korean. Don't ask me what this really is.
daikon radish--soak in sugar water after cutting
dried shiitake mushrooms--simmer and remove stems before slicing
tempeh--simmer
pickled plums--WEIRD
very fresh tofu--don't use both tofu and tempeh
baked/marinated tofu
kampyo==gourd strips--cook for a long time in a separate simmer sauce with
extra sugar and soy
avocado--in which case the sushi becomes a 'feast'
sesame seeds--just a few for crunch if you are willing...

Things that I have picked out of sushi rolls because they taste bad:

sweet red pepper