I had asked my husband what he wanted me to make for his birthday dinner party, thinking he would say steaks or lamb and out came SUSHI! His eyes lit up at the thought of doing a Japanese style dinner and I became slightly nervous. How was I going to pull of making fresh sushi for 14 people after only making it once in culinary school?? Well let me tell you folks its all about the rice!! The rolling part gets easier and faster after doing the first couple rolls but the rice is key.
Other than that be creative with the fillings and toppings. For a couple rolls I used Soy Wrappers instead of the traditional Nori. If you live in the Chicagoland area definitely make a trip to Mitsuwa Market in Arlington Heights. http://www.mitsuwa.com/tenpo/cica/eindex.html It has all your necessities for a great Sushi Night! Remember to have fun and let me know how your Sushi Night turned out!
Here is the recipe I used for idiot proof sushi rice courtesy of Sushi by Ryuichi Yoshii:
Ingredients:
5 cups short grain Sushi Rice
5 cups water
1/2 cup Sake (optional)
Rice Cooker
Osaka Style Vinegar Dressing:
1/2 sushi vinegar
1 teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons superfine sugar
Put Rice in a bowl that is at least twice the volume of rice and rinse the rice with cold water. Repeat process 3 times, by the 3rd time rice water should appear clear and not cloudy. Place rice in colander to drain. In summer, it will need about 30 minutes and in winter 1 hour. Place clean rice, 5 cups water, 1/2 cup sake in the rice cooker and turn on, machine should notify when rice is done.
To combine vingear dressing with rice place hot rice in a wooden rice tub or a large, nonmetallic, flat bottomed bowl. Stir rice to separate grains, slicing the wooden paddle across bowl rather than stirring. Make some space in center of rice and slowly add vinegar dressing in center to distribute evenly. Continue mixing the vinegar into the rice while fanning the rice to cool as you stir until rice reaches body temperature and stop. Rice is now ready to made into sushi. If not using immediately spread a damp cheesecloth over the top of the rice and put a lid on.
Chef Rupali Amin 