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Snacking in the Kitchen

~ Culinary Adventures In & Out of the Kitchen. Recipes, Reviews, Culinary Musings.

Category Archives: Sushi

How to Roll Sushi at Home: Spicy Tuna Roll and Inverted Salmon Roll

23 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by snackingkitchen in Cooking, Fish, Recipe, Sushi

≈ 3 Comments

“Do you like sushi?” I asked my Fish professor Corky Clark at the Culinary Institute of America.  “If by sushi you mean vinegar-flavored cooked rice, then no, I don’t like it,” said Chef Clark.  I remember his answer from over four years ago, as if he said it to me yesterday.

Well, regardless of your definition of sushi, I love it.  I prefer creative sushi rolls, with large chunks of fresh, silky fish, tobiko, fatty avocado, and exotic sauces.  I am a big fan of the Rainbow roll – a California roll draped with tuna, salmon and yellow tail (I ask to leave the shrimp off).  But I discovered my all-time favorite roll while living in Dallas – the Volacano roll: a California roll topped with scallops that have been coated in spicy mayonnaise and broiled.  My friend Nicole, who tried the roll in my company during her first sushi experience ever, said, “It’s like an orgasm in my mouth.”  Need I say more?

Seattle clearly doesn’t have a shortage of sushi restaurants.  There are plenty of places, some better than others, scattered all around the city.  This weekend, however, we decided to roll some sushi ourselves.  A quick trip to Uwajimaya to pick up fresh fish (salmon and tuna) and a stop at HMart for rice, seaweed, and a few other staples, and we were ready to roll.
Spicy Tuna Roll and Inverted Salmon Roll


Ingredients


1 cup Sushi rice

nori sheets

toasted sesame seeds

cream cheese

wasabi mayonnaise

Sriracha

tuna, fresh, sliced

salmon, fresh, sliced

cucumber, sliced into thin strips

avocado, sliced

soy sauce

wasabi paste

Chenin blanc

Sake

plastic wrap

bamboo mat

Directions

1.  Prepare rice according to the directions.  Be sure to cool your rice completely before rolling sushi.

2.  Set all ingredients in front of you along with a bowl of water – you will dip your hands into water when pressing and spreading the rice along the nori sheet.

3.  Lay nori on top of a plastic-wrap-covered bamboo sheet.  

4.  For the Inverted Salmon Roll: Spread rice over the nori, leaving just about an inch uncovered and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

5.  Flip the nori sheet on the other side – this will create the inverted sushi roll.  Spread wasabi mayonnaise over nori and arrange tuna, avocado, and cucumbers in line at the bottom of the nori.

6.  Roll the nori, applying even pressure along the length of the roll.  Lightly moisten the edge of the nori with water – it will act as glue to hold the roll together.

7.  For the Spicy Tuna Roll: Spread rice over nori and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Spread cream cheese and top with Sriracha, salmon, cucumbers, and avocado.  Roll as explained in step 6 above.

8.  Set your rolls in the refrigerator until you are ready to slice them.

9.  Slice and arrange on a plate.  Serve with soy sauce, wasabi, pickled ginger, sake (I prefer sake served warm) and/or a glass of crisp white wine (we had Chenin Blanc).

Why so sad, Mr. Artist?  You’ll just have to wait a few more minutes while I finish taking photos of the sushi, and then we can eat!

Delicious!

Teaching points:
~ Taste your rice.  Make sure it’s perfectly seasoned (use seasoned rice vinegar, rice wine, sugar, and salt).
~ Don’t overstuff your sushi rolls.
~ Keep plenty of wet towels around – the sushi-making tends to get quite messy
~ Get your fish only from trusted, reputable sources – if you don’t have one, or don’t want to pay the price for fresh fish, buy smoked salmon or crab instead.
~ Don’t forget a bowl of green tea ice cream for dessert and be sure to sprinkle it with toasted sesame seeds.

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Sushi @ I Love Wasabi

02 Friday Apr 2010

Posted by snackingkitchen in Restaurant Review, Seattle, Sushi

≈ Leave a comment

My triplet Anna invited me to one of her favorite sushi places in Seattle: I Love Wasabi.  Who was I to say “no”?  I do love wasabi (it it not guacamole! beware).  And I love, love, sushi.  Plus, after my last seriously sad and disappointing sushi experience, I needed some quality rolls.

I started off with some tea and seaweed salad – two types of seaweed on one plate AND a decorative slice of carrot – creative 🙂  I definitely liked the crunchy, thin seaweed better – and that’s the traditional variety that is usually served in restaurants.  Nice hint of sesame oil.

Here is a selection of some of the rolls we ordered.  (We did have a few other people join us – in case you are thinking that we ate this all by ourselves, which actually wouldn’t be such a stretch, at least not for me).  I generally choose a rainbow roll, which is your basic California roll topped with slices of fresh fish – salmon, tuna, and yellowtail.  The I Love Wasabi had a pretty decent Rainbow roll, though I do wish that the crab (imitation perhaps?) inside the California roll had more flavor.  Other rolls included spicy tuna, California, and the Special Double Salmon roll which was my favorite, and unfortunately I can not remember its true name. 
 
I Love Wasabi, I shall be back.

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Misery comes in threes – Sushi @ Matsu in Lynwood, WA

09 Tuesday Mar 2010

Posted by snackingkitchen in Restaurant Review, Seattle, Sushi

≈ Leave a comment

People say good or bad things come in 3s.  Perhaps there’s some truth to it.  The third less than stellar dining out this week was at Matsu Sushi in Lynwood, WA.

A friend and I were meeting up for dinner in Lynwood and were both craving sushi.  Sushi is one of my top favorite culinary creations.  When asked what would be my last meal, I usually say sushi.  That’s how much I love it.

 
Prior to stepping foot at Matsu Sushi, I did my research.  Reviewers from yelp, google and citysearch gave the restaurant raving reviews.  Have these people had sushi before?  Oh boy!  Were we in for a surprise.
We got the menus.  First thing Alla said was: “I judge the quality of a sushi restaurant by its seaweed salad.”  “Great,” I thought.  “Let’s order a seaweed salad and see how this place rates.”  The fact that Matsu didn’t have seaweed salad on the menu perhaps should’ve been our clue.
What else was not on the menu?  Any resemblance to a creative sushi roll.  When asked if the sushi chef could perhaps create a rainbow roll (pieces of sashimi placed on top of the California roll), the waitress gave us a firm “no.”  Already then.  Perhaps I should’ve ordered the California roll and a few sashimi and assembled the roll myself.
The edamame arrived icy cold.  Icy, not even room temperature.  When asked to have the soybeans warmed, the waitress obliged, but not before letting us know that cold was the way the restaurant served it.  Ahm… noted.
 

We ended up ordering California roll, Tuna roll, and a Chicken Teriyaki dinner.  The Cali roll was decent enough.  The Tuna roll for some reason had “chunks” of wasabi inside that made me almost cry on several occasions.  And the Chicken Teriyaki?  Well, it might as well been called stewed chopped chicken with brown sauce.

Lynwood people, do you have a good sushi recommendation?

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