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Making sushi rolls involves a little creativity and a lot of patience. Depending on how many you are making, the act of tamping down the rice, inserting filling, rolling and finally slicing can take a fair amount of time. My sister calls it her “Zen” time. No one helps, and it does take her a fair amount of time, but in the end, her efforts and our patience pays off. A sea of colourful jewels lays before us and a smorgasbord of flavour. Every bite is a new experience, and depending on your tastes, can be quite different even in the same roll. Maybe you like to dip in soya sauce, or a mixture of soya sauce and wasabi paste. Maybe you have a soya dressing you prefer. Whatever it is you like, anyone can dig into sushi. Not just for the raw fish eater, sushi can cover many bases. Cooked fish and eels, vegetarian, raw scallops, crab, plum, spicy, mild, crunchy, soft, large and small, it’s all there.
The following will give you a recipe for sushi rice, and prepare you for some of the things you may need to buy. The rolls themselves are less a recipe, and more of a list of possible ingredients. I hope you’ve liked my three part series on my family’s favourite Japanese food. Tune in soon for ideas for your next holiday feast!
Japanese Mayo plays a starring roll in this meal
Sushi Rolls (Maki)
For rice, cook sushi rice as directed on package. When rice is ready, immeidiately add anough “Nakano” seasoned rice vinegar to taste (should be able to taste it but not be overpowering). Remove rice to bowl, cover in damp towel and allow to cool completely before beginning rolls.
Barbequed Eel Roll (Unagi)
Makes enough sauce for a few rolls
One small piece of barbequed eel (available at Japanese seafood stores)
6 Tbsp soy sauce
4 Tbsp Mirin
2 Tbsp brown sugar
Dash of rice vinegar
1. Boil everything (except eel) for 1 minute, turn temperature down and simmer until thickened.
2. Allow to cool before adding to roll.
3. Slice eel into thin strips, apply coating of sauce, roll as desired.
Oshinko & Japanese Mayo (Pickled Daikon)
Long, thickly cut slices of oshinko
Japanese Mayo to taste
Garlic Scallop Roll
1. Sauté roughly chopped scallops with minced garlic and butter until fully cooked.
2. Apply to rice and add thin lines of Japanese Mayo, roll as desired.
Spicy Crab Roll
1. Mix fresh or canned crab flesh with Shiracha Chili sauce to taste and Japanese Mayo.
2. Add thin slices of avocado to roll and roll as desired.
Plum Roll
1. Apply thin strip of Japanese Plum sauce (not the same as American) to rice, add thinly julienned (deseeded) strips of cucumber and roll as desired.
Spicy Shrimp Roll
1. Mix shrimp, wasabi paste and Japanese Mayo to taste, apply to rice and roll as desired.
Smoked Salmon Roll
1. Thin strips of lox are accompanied by thin slices of avocado and Japanese Mayo. Roll as desired.
Raw Scallop Roll
1. Mix raw scallops with with tobiko (flying fish roe) and Japanese Mayo.
2. Apply to rice and roll as desired.
Rolling Sushi:
To roll sushi, the use of a Makisudare or Makisu(or sushi mat) is essential. To begin, place a sheet of Nori (dried seaweed) on the mat, apply a thin layer of seasoned, cooled rice (leaving a one inch bare space on the side furthest from yourself) and then add your desired fillings.
To make a traditional roll, simply roll tightly away from you and when you reach the bare patch, apply a small amount of water and finish rolling to seal.
Serve sushi by itself or along other sides, such as the Spicy Grilled Tuna or Sunomono Salad from the rest of this series. Just remember, what might have taken you all day or at least most of the afternoon, will most likely, disappear within 10 minutes.
For the second part of my three part series on Sushi or, if you prefer, Japanese food, I give you my all time favourite dish: Spicy Grilled Tuna. Now on this I have to give my sister ultimate credit, for she managed to figure out the seasoning and dipping sauces just by ordering this dish a million times in her favourite Japanese Restaurant and tasting it over and over. It is spot on and absolutely delicious. The dipping sauce is more of list of ingredients than a recipe though, as everyone will make it differently. Start with a base of Japanese mayo, add enough shiracha chili sauce to make it spicy enough for your taste and then add the vinegar to thin it out a bit. You can’t go wrong with this dish, it’s just mouthwateringly good. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it when it was finally ready. It was gone in about 30 seconds. What? I savoured it.
A note on tuna though, if you’ll lend me your ears for a minute. Tuna is an abudantly overfished species the world over. Some large bluefin tuna can catch up to $100,000.00 at the world’s largest fish market, Tsukiji, located in Tokyo, Japan, where it will be destined for sushi and sashimi. In North America, there is little bluefin available, and it is not sustainable at all. Here in Canada, Seachoice (a seafood sustainability reference) reccomends the following tuna for consumption:
- Albacore Tuna (AKA: Tombo, canned white tuna and Shiro Maguro), buy Canadian Pacific, US Pacific or Hawaiian Troll or Pole caught only.
- Yellowfin Tuna (AKA: Ahi, Maguro, Toro), buy International Atlantic Troll or Pole caught only
Avoid Bluefin entirely, as it is extremely overfished. Also, I just wanted to make a note about the Tako as well. Octopus caught in Hawaii is the best choice, as most octopus fished internationally is caught by snaring with hooks. Poor regulation leaves researchers with little knowledge of whether or not octopus are being overfished. Be careful of the seafood you buy and be aware of where it comes from.
The tuna in these pictures is yellowfin, a product of Thailand. I can’t say it is sustainable, but I can say I didn’t buy it. I try to educate my family as much as possible on the sustainability issues facing our oceans, but one can only do so much. Also, my sister lives in the desert and is addicted to sushi, she buys what she can get.
For more information, visit the following websites:
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/seafoodwatch.aspx
http://www.seachoice.org/
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspx
Spicy Grilled Tuna Steaks
For Spice Rub (makes enough for 6 small tuna steaks):
1 Tbsp Cumin
1 Tbsp Dry mustard powder
1 Tbsp paprika
3 Tbsp Prepared Hot & Spicy Taco Seasoning mix
1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Dry tuna steaks and apply dry spice mix to both sides, coating well.
3. Sear on very hot, dry, non-stick pan for about 20 seconds per side for rare.
4. Remove from pan, slice on diagonal and serve along side spicy dipping sauce.
Spicy Dipping Sauce:
Japanese Mayo
Shiracha Chili Sauce
Seasoned rice vinegar, preferrably “Marukan” brand
1. Mix ingredients to taste.
2. Should be a very creamy sauce that is as spicy as you like it, vinegar is minimal and is more for consistency.
3. Allow to rest and serve along side Spicy Grilled Tuna Steaks.
Don’t forget to come back in the next few days for the last edition, sushi rolls!
This post marks the beginning of what will be a three part series on Japanese food. First we will see Sunomono Salad, then Spicy Grilled Tuna Steaks, and finally rolls. Where did this sudden burst of exotic flavour come from? My sister. An avid sushi restaurant junkie for years, my sister soon learned her favourite flavours and soon devised ways of making them at home. Soon after discovering her abnormal love for the Eastern flavours, she ended up moving to Baffin Island. If you don’t know where this is, I don’t blame you. I will give you a hint though, Arctic Circle. It is located in one of Canada’s newest Provinces, Nunavut. Nunavut means “our land” in Inuktitut, the native language of the people in the Northern part of Canada. I’ll tell you another thing about Nunavut, it’s freakin’ cold, and there’s nothing there. Believe me, I visited…in October.
Let’s just say it became a little difficult to acquire the means to make sushi while in such an unforgiving land. I ended up sending “care packages” to her, which consisted mostly of rice vinegars, organic foods and rice. Food’s not cheap when it has to be shipped on cargo vessels when the ice melts.
In any case, my sister survived and has now moved to the desert, another place where it is difficult to acquire seafood. But being on the mainland of Canada, things can be had for whatever price you are willing to pay. And so the sushi obsession continues. I’m not complaining though, I get to eat like a Queen, and I don’t have to cook anything.
Come back during the rest of the week to see the reaminder of this meal!
Tako Sunomomo Salad
*Amounts will vary depending on servings needed
For noodles:
1. Boil 1 litre of water. Add “Mizkan” brand rice noodles or Japanese vermicelli.
2. Cook until just softened. Immediately remove and cool with cold, running water.
3. Store in water in refrigerator until needed.
For dressing:
1/2 cup “Mitsukan” sushi seasoning vinegar
5 Tbsp white sugar
1/4 cup + 3 Tbsp white vinegar
3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp water
1. In small saucepan, mix all ingredients over medium heat until completely dissolved.
2. Remove to refrigerator to cool.
3. Dressing is best if allowed to rest in refrigerator overnight, but can be made the morning of.
For accoutrements:
3-4″ chunk of Tako (octopus), Sliced thinly
3″ chunk of cucumber, sliced thinly in halves
1/3 cup rehydrated Wakame seaweed
To assemble:
1. Drain noodles by expressing the water out by hand.
2. Add to small bowls (filled about 1/2 to 3/4)
3. Top with slices of cucumber, wakame seaweed and octopus.
4. Fill bowls 3/4 of the way with dressing and serve.
The perfect roast chicken. I’m sure you see that a lot, but what really makes a roast chicken “the perfect” variety? Crispy skin? Moist, succulent flesh? Flavourful, juices to make delicious gravies? I guess it’s really all relative. Some people will say crispy skin, which I agree is something of a delicacy, in which case I don’t eat it very often. I prefer to save my chicken skin eating for wings, oh so delicious and reserved for those special occasions. In my personal, humble opinion, the best roasted chickens are flavourful and moist in every bite. I hate to see dry white meat because the desire for crispy skin outweighed the desire for moistness of the flesh. Now I’m not saying you can’t have both, but I will say this. Chicken skin is bad for you! Bad, bad, bad…you shouldn’t be eating so much of it anyway.
Oh, who am I kidding, I love the skin. I’ll just say this then: I didn’t call this the “best” roasted chicken, because I find it slightly cliché. It is though, one of the best roasted chickens out there. Save for not much edible skin, being that it stays moist, this chicken is divine in every other part. Every piece is dripping in juices and tastes of amazing herbs and garlic.
I’m guessing this would translate well, even for turkey, although you need to up the cooking time. Trust me, you need to make this chicken. Little effort is rewarded in so much juicy, flavourful goodness. We saved the bones and skin for making stock the next day for chicken noodle soup. Just add all the bones, flesh and desired herbs into a large piece of cheese cloth. Tie at the top, and simmer in water or low sodium chicken broth for added flavour for a few hours. Then use it as the base for any kind of soups. Want not, waste not!
Oregano Roasted Chicken
1 large roasting chicken
1/2 lemon
2 cloves of garlic, halved
1-2 Tbsp dried oregano
1/2 Tbsp garlic powder
1/2 salt
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
enough olive oil to dampen herb rub
1. Slash chicken all over body, right down to the bone.
2. Place lemon and garlic cloves into cavity of chicken (add fresh herbs into cavity as well if desired).
3. Mix all other ingredients together in small bowl.
4. Rub all over chicken, making sure the mixture goes inside all the slashes.
5. Take two long pieves of tin foil and line a baking pan. One sheet going across lengthwise and one piece crossing it widthwise, like an “x”.
6. Place chicken in foil lined baking pan and fold foil loosely around, making sure it is sealed but just loosely.
7. Bake in a 400°F oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours (this may seem excessive, but it guarantees a devinely moist bird).
8. Carefully pour liquid from foil and set aside. (Alternately you could make a gravy with it at this point as well).
9. Remove chicken from oven and let stand for at least 10 minutes before carving, this will allow juices to reabsorb into the meat.
10. This chicken is delicious served with a rice pilaf, in which case the juices are poured directly over the rice and served.
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