Cooking Journal #17

Rolled Sushi

If you are interested in sushi at all, you probably have one of those sushi making kit. The truth is, you don't really need it. But if you have it, I'll show you how to do it real quick.

You need nori sheet. That's seaweed. I bought the cheap kind, which is not what you want. You want the nice flat kind with smooth surface on one side. Mine, as you can see, is bumpy all over.

Lay down the nori sheet on bamboo mat, shiny side down. Put rice and meat on top. I use spicy hot dog cut length-wise. If you want, you can add some veggies like cut carrots or celery sticks. You can use condiment. I like to use sriracha on mine. No need to use wasabi on it unless you crave authenticity.

Roll the sushi using bamboo mat. The most important point is to press evenly along the spine. Firm enough to press the rice, but not so hard as to compress them solid. By the way, use two hands while doing it. My other hand was holding the camera.

Also, I should tell you that the bamboo mat is optional. One time, I was doing it, and I realized that I forgot to put the mat under the sheet. So what I did was pick up the paper towel and roll the sheet with it. Works just fine, although not as easy as with the mat.

Wet the end of the sheet so that it sticks together when rolled over.

And that's what you should have. One rolled sushi.

Cut into six equal length. Notice that I'm using a proper kitchen knife for this. Buck knife is not good enough for this. To be honest, even this sharp kitchen knife is less than ideal. The sharper the knife, the better! Use the sharpest knife you have, and use it only for cutting sushi rolls!

That's the result, and I can tell you that spicy hot-dog makes a good substitute for avocado used in California Rolls. Serve on plate with pickled ginger. I have yet to find a good substitute for pickled ginger. So that and the nori seaweed are the two must have ingredient for a good rolled sushi.