Sweet Oven Lovin': Making Sushi...Sort Of

Making Sushi...Sort Of

This past weekend I took a stab at making sushi (sort of sushi, I only used veggie stuffings, but they worked). I had a lot of fun but my goodness was it time consuming and exhausting. My sushi rice turned out perfectly shiny and sticky, which was a surprise really. My placemat worked like a gem in place of the bamboo sushi roller thingy. My form...well it could use some work! So let's get started shall we. Here's what I was working with - a beautiful small grain rice (I did not use sushi rice, but it worked without a hitch) and the perfect 'half-sheet' wrappers I found at Walmart.

The whole process for preparing the rice was the most complex process I've ever had to under-go...for rice. There's rinsing (then rinse, rinse and rinse again), draining, soaking, cooking, turning out, dressing, fanning, tossing and mainting moisture...for rice. Yes the rice turned out shining and sweet and perfectly tender - well it darn well better after all that.

It takes an awful lot just to get 'clean' rice for the sushi <> not done yet. After rinsing until the water turns clear you drain the rice and let it set for a bit. Then get it in the medium pot (that has a tight-fitting lid) with the water - for best results use equal portions of rice to water, I used 1 cup of each. Now let it soak for 30 minutes, it needs its beauty rest. While that's hanging out you have to go on and make the sushi rice 'dressing'.

Rice Vinegar Dressing
(for each cup of rice use 1 cup of water, 2 Tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tsp sugar and ½ tsp salt)

Combine rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small sauce pan
Heat over low
Stir until the mixture goes clear and the sugar and salt have dissolved
Set aside at room temperature until the rice is cooked
Now that that's done and chilling (at room temp) go on and get the rice started...what? You thought we were already started? That's what I thought but now's the time to roll up your sleeves Muffin. Bring the rice, which should have already been soaking in the pot, to a boil. Turn the heat to the lowest setting, cover and cook 12-15 minutes (I only needed 12 min for the 1 cup/1 cup I was working with). DO NOT TAKE THE LID OFF FOR A LITTLE SNEAKY-PEEKY. Take the pot off the heat and let it sit for another 15 minutes with the lid on - this is when the rice steams and finishes cooking through. Ok, now it's cooked - moving on.

Turning out the rice
You need a wooden spatula or spoon and a large shallow flat-bottomed non-metallic (plastic, glass or wood) bowl. Do not use metallic objects since the vinegar will react with it and produce sour and bitter sushi rice.

Use the spatula to gently loosen the rice and invert the rice pot over the bowl, causing the cooked rice to fall into the bowl in one central heap. Do this gently so as not to cause the rice grains to become damaged.

Dressing the rice
Slowly pour the cooled vinegar mixture over the spatula onto the hot rice.

Using the spatula gently spread the rice into a thin, even layer using a 45° cutting action to break up any lumps and to separate the rice. Don't stir or mash rice.

After the rice is spread out, start turning it over gently, in small portions, using a cutting action, allowing steam to escape, for about a minute.

Fanning & tossing the rice
Continue turning over the rice, but now start fanning - using a piece of stiff cardboard (I found this step rediculous, but that's why I'm no pro) the rice vigorously as you do so. Continue to gently slice, lift and turn the rice occasionally, for 10 minutes. Cooling the rice using a mini fan supposedly gives good flavor, texture and a gloss to the rice. The vinegar dressing will be absorbed by the hot rice. I wound up using a small desk fan for this job, turns out I am not capable for fanning with one hand and tossing with another (this reminded me of that childhood amusement of trying to pat your head and rub your belly at the same time ...yes I'm that simple).

Stop fanning when there's no more visible steam, and all the vinegar dressing has been adsorbed and the rice is shiny (mine was perfectly shiny when it finished cooking...but I felt obligated to continue on as the sushi masters had instructed).

Your sushi rice is ready to be used. FINALLY, whoop whoop! And that means you're about half-way through. I won't be walking you through each step of the sushi rolls I had to make...because I'm certain I did them entirely wrong, and I'd feel bad making you cringe at my step by step mis-steps. So instead I will grace you with my semi-cute looking rolls of vegetarian sushi (no raw...or cooked fish for me tonight, thanks anyway).

My "dragon roll" (my favorite tasting)- please don't be offended!!

And my "sprial roll" (my favorite visually) didn't quite make it far enough to become a spiral. Since I couldn't even convince my husband to eat sushi in my wildest dreams I halved everything in this challenge...halving a spiral makes NOT a half-spiral. Instead it makes this...