Sushi, From Scratch

Happy Monday everyone!

This weekend was busy because I was in class all day Saturday and all day Sunday.  Then, on Saturday night we had a dinner/event to go to (more to come on that) so Sunday was the night to do a From Scratch meal.  Since some prep would need to be done while I was in class, Ryan did the menu selection and got started on the key ingredient for sushi...the rice.

For our wedding we were given this great sushi cookbook and we also got a sushi press.  Although there is an abundance of fresh fish here, it is tough to know if it is safe to eat raw or not since they do not eat sushi here.  I am sure it may be fine, and a local man who works in our commissary said as long as we buy the fish by noon, the fish was fresh caught the night before and will be fine to eat raw.  Well, with all the being said, we stuck to no raw fish this time around.

Here are the recipes:

We selected this, and then made some modifications based on available ingredients and person preference.

We lucked out because the commissary sells nori.

Ryan did a wonderful job on making the rice.

What is sushi rice without the rice vinegar?

Salmon would have been a great option and I thought about using lox, but we selected the fake crab (AKA surimi) instead.

Ryan cut up some ginger.

Cucumber is a must for the sushi.

Too bad the avocado was not ripe.  It was hard and bitter.

Of course some cream cheese too.  

I made nice strips of all of the ingredients.

Here is the mat for rolling.

Sushi seaweed paper time!

The rice was placed on the sushi mat, which was covered with plastic wrap to avoid sticking.

Spreading the seaweed everywhere on the paper.  

And then we realized that we were supposed to use a half sheet for each roll.  No worries, we used kitchen shears and cut the paper and rice in half.

Here is the press.

The rice side was put to the outside of the roll and then the ingredients were placed inside.

With the press, the sushi winds up a little on the square side, but then it can be rolled out with the mat after it is pressed tight to lock in the ingredients.

Here is Ryan rolling the sushi after the press.

The finishing touch...

Plating up the sushi.  

Oh, and I couldn't forget the edamame.  It is so necessary to eat edamame when enjoying some sushi.  I am sorry to say that it had to be frozen or there would have been no edamame at all.  This is not a common food to find on the island.

Dinner is served!

We used sea salt just like at a restaurant, but some had way too much salt and others had none.  Oh well!

Sushi anyone?

Doesn't it look great inside?  I am really impressed with how easy this was.  Ryan did most of the work with this and I think he did an awesome job making it look just like if it was ordered at a restaurant.

QUESTIONS?  Do you like sushi?  What is your favorite kind?  Have you ever made sushi?

I want to give a big fat shout out to my dear friend Mer and her husband Matt who always have done awesome work in the kitchen, but they are now taking nice pictures and posting about it too from their own From Scratch Weekends meals.  I love you guys!