Gomoku Sushi
By Eric Newman

Ingredients:

* 2 1/2 cups short-grain sticky rice

* 2 1/2 cups water

* 2 1/2 inch long konbu

Vinegar dressing

* 4 2/3 tablespoons rice vinegar or can be substituted using lemons

* 2 tablespoons sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

Ingredients for mixing

* 7 dried shiitake mushrooms, softened

* 1/3 ounce kampyo, rubbed and boiled

* 2/3 cup dashi, including water used for soaking mushrooms

* 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

* 1/2 tablespoon mirin

* 1 tablespoon soy sauce

* 3 ounces lotus root

* 2 tablespoons dashi

* 2 tablespoons sugar

* 3 tablespoons rice vinegar

* 1 tablespoon sake

* sea salt

* 2 ounces carrot

* 1/4 cup dashi

* 1 teaspoon mirin

* 3 large eggs

* 1 teaspoon potato or corn starch

* 1 teaspoon sugar

* 1 tablespoon mirin

* 1 1/2 ounces snow peas

* 2 tablespoons white sesame seeds

* 3 1/2 ounces crab meat (canned)

* red pickled ginger

* 1 sheet toasted nori

Prep Time: 45 min
Cooking Time: 20 min

Instructions:
1 Make sushi rice flavored with vinegar or lemons.

2 To prepare ingredients: Shiitake mushrooms and kampyo: cut off stems of mushrooms and cut caps into thin strips. In a saucepan make 2/3 cup dashi, add mushrooms and kampyo and boil with a lid placed right on the ingredients for 3-4 minutes. Add sugar and mirin and boil for another 5 minutes, then add soy sauce. When kampyo is well flavored, remove from saucepan. Continue to cook mushrooms until broth is all gone. Cut kampyo into 1/2 inch long thin strips.

Lotus root (renkon): Cut into 4 pieces lengthwise. Cut each piece into thin slices crosswise and soak in water. Cook indashi broth with sugar, vinegar, sake and a pinch of salt until all liquid is gone.

Carrots: cut into 1 inch long thin strips. Cook in dashi broth with mirin and a pinch of salt until all liquid is gone.

Eggs: To whisked egg add potato or corn starch mixed with an equal volume of water, sugar, mirin and a pinch of salt. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, spreading it out in skillet. Remoye excess oil. Turn heat to low and spoon in a small amount pf egg mixture, spreading it out to cover the surface of skillet thinly, and fry. When the under side is done, turn over and fry lightly. Repeat and make 4-5 thin sheets of fried egg. Cut sheets into thin strips.

Snow peas: string and boil lightly till tender-crisp. Cut diagonally into thin strips.

White sesame: roast and crush coarsely with knife.

Crab: remove from can and flake.

Red pickled ginger and toasted nori : cut into thin strips.

3 Add all prepared ingredients except red pickled ginger, nori, one-half of the egg strips and the snow peas to sushi rice and mix quickly in a chopping motion with wooden spatula.

4 Place the sushi rice mixture in a large serving dish and on top nicely arrange the remaining egg, snow peas, red pickled ginger and nori.

Eric Newman is an author for Teanobi.com. All articles may be used and reprinted as long as they have an active link at the bottom pointing to http://www.teanobi.com with the anchored text: green tea

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The Art of Making Sushi
By David Urmann

Making sushi is also considered an art. Here are several types of sushi.

Maki Sushi is comprised of fish or seafood wrapped in a roll of nori or seaweed. It has two variations, Hosamaki and Futomaki. Hosomaki is a thin type of maki that has only one kind of filling. It can be seafood, fish or one type of vegetable. Futomaki is a fat type of maki that has 2 or more kinds of fillings.

Nigiri Sushi is more popular. It is shaped with the use of hands. It comprises slices of seafood, tamago, raw fish or various other toppings. Then, wasabi is placed in-between slices as well as a thumb-sized chunk of vinegared rice or shari. In Japanese customs, you present these to couples as a sign of harmony and peace.

Uramaki is similar to maki, however, rice is placed on top of the nori instead of inside. It consists of more than 2 fillings. Sometimes, it is topped with a thin slice of avocado or fish. This is most popular in Western Sushi Bars.

Making Sushi

Maki
Feel your nori sheet. One side is smooth and the other side is rough. Nori should lie on your rolling mat with the rough side facing upwards.

Wet your hands and get about a handful of rice and roll it to a ball. Wet your hands so that rice won’t stick to your palms. Dry your hands when it’s time to work with the nori. Have a dry towel and bowl of water handy beside your working place.

Carefully place and spread equally the rice ball on your nori sheet. Make sure that your layer of rice almost covers the entire sheet, excluding about 2cm from the upper margins. This should be left uncovered to properly close your sushi roll.

Then, place one slice of fish by the nori’s edge. Add about 1 up to 3 “pre-cut” vegetables slices such as cucumber, carrot, asparagus, green onion and the like. Along your rolling mat’s closer edge, close your nori. Make it like a rectangular-shaped hill while tightening it from the upper part.

Move forward by rolling it continuously in rectangular-shaped hill steps. Make sure every move or roll you make is tight until the end portion. Always exert pressure on all 3 sides of your roll, especially along stops. It allows tight rolling.

Cut your roll into small sushi units with a sharp, wet knife.

Nigir Sushi
Wet your hands and get about 20 grams of vinegared rice or shari. Shape it into long and ovalic forms. Use the rice as base with the fish on top. The bottom should be flat and the top rounded.

Follow the measurements carefully. If you plan to make fish nigiri sushi, get a slice of fish. It should be 1cm thick and about 5cm x 3cm rectangular-sized. If it is a bit smaller, you should try slicing it at about 45 degrees. It maximizes fish surface. Then, take some pea-sized portions of wasabi. Smear this in the midst of your fish slices. Wasabi actually helps your fish slices become glued into your shari.

Place the slice of fish, facing down, along with the wasabi. Lay this gently on top of your rice. Then, firmly press on it so that it will stick to the rice. Using your other hand to hold your nigiri sushi’s sides, use the other to press it from the upper portion.

Uramaki
Your mat should be the “one side round and one side flat” type. Wrap it with a stretch of nylon. You can start with the round side but also ending with it. Create at least 2 up to 3 “full” rounds of such wrapping. Afterwards, roll your mat in order to squeeze out all the air locked inside. You can also use a toothpick to poke it to let the air out.

Get one piece of nori sheet. Break this down in the middle. If it does not easily break, it is either not a good brand or it is already old. Put your nori sheet on top of your rolling mat. This should be around 5cm from its edge. The rough side of your nori sheet should face upward.

Wet your hands. Create a ball of rice with one handful. Put the ball of rice inside your nori. Spread it evenly, gently pressing downwards. It should be about 1cm high,with equal layers of rice. You can add more rice as long as it is even, if necessary. Flip your nori over. The rice should face your mat.

Place one slice of fish along your nori’s edge. Add about 1 up to 3 “pre-cut” slices of vegetables. Close the filling, making a rectangular-shaped hill with nori. Make sure to tighten it along the upper portion.

Move forward by rolling it continuously in rectangular-shaped hill steps. Make sure every move or roll you make is tight until its end portion. Always exert pressure on all 3 sides of the roll, especially along stops, for tight rolling.

Cut your roll into small sushi units with a sharp, wet knife.

For more information on Making Sushi and Sushi Plates please visit our website.

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