Eat. . . Sushi, Kiwi style!

We love sushi in our family. . . so much so that several years ago I painted a ceramic plate with the words and symbols for "Love Sushi" in Japanese. Later I found out I had the symbols a bit wrong, but hopefully it's the thought that counts and I didn't write anything rude by mistake!

Jamie has loved sushi since he was a toddler, less than 18 months old and I gave him a small piece to try. He's never looked back. When we lived in Blenheim when he was aged 2 and 3 we occasionally used to go to the local Japanese restaurant for a treat and he loved to have a "Children's Bento box" including sushi, tempura prawns and some other treats. We still buy sushi from time-to-time, but now usually make our own. The way the Wifie and I make sushi is definitely not authentic, but it's the way we like it! We usually make homemade sushi at least once every couple of weeks and I made some a few days ago (which is when I took these photos). This is how we do it:

First rinse 2 cups of  sushi rice in a sieve, until the water runs clear or until you get bored of waiting! Then boil 3 cups of water in a pan and add the rice. Boil fast for 3-5 mins then put lid on pan and take off  the heat. Leave the lid on and don't remove the lid for at least half an hour. Once the rice has cooked, make the seasoning mix. Add 1 tsp sugar and 2 tsps salt to 2 tblsps white vinegar. Stir to dissolve, possibly with the help of a little warming in the microwave. Stir this through the warm rice. Taste rice and see if it is tasty enough for you. Adjust seasoning to taste. We used to use the proper rice wine and rice vinegar usually recommended, but eventually swapped to this cheap version - tastes pretty similar.

Allow rice to fully cool.




Get a piece of nori seaweed and lay it on your sushi rolling mat. Not sure if it makes much difference whether it is shiny or dull side up!

Spread the rice over the nori with a spoon dipped in water, leaving a margin at the top of the sheet with no rice.

Place fillings in a row across the rice. We use a variety of things including strips of egg omelette, long slices of carrot, cucumber, avocado, capsicum/sweet pepper, asparagus, French green beans depending what is in season. Yes, sushi can be vegetarian! We sometimes add smoked salmon or tinned fish such as tuna or pink salmon. The sushi filling above is for Sonny Jim by special request - tinned tuna, carrot and avocado, with egg omelette about to be added. . .

Brush some water onto the riceless portion of nori, to act as "glue". Then roll up the sushi in the rolling mat, starting from the front edge. Once you have rolled the first bit to encompass the filling give it a little squeeze, then proceed to roll up the rest.   

Give the roll a squeeze all the way along, to make sure it will stay together when it is unrolled.

Repeat the sushi making process until you run out of rice. . .

Using a sharp knife dipped in water, cut each sushi roll into individual pieces. We usually cut them between 1 and 2 cm thick. Serve with pickled ginger, soy sauce and wasabi to taste. . .