Sushi Rolls

My sister, her husband and my brother served missions in Japan for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  My husband's brother and his wife, another brother, and a nephew also served LDS missions in Japan.  Needless to say they all returned home with a love of Japanese food, and in turn shared it with our families!  My sister is a pro at making Sushi Rolls!  She taught me and my boys how to make them and I wanted to share what we learned!  One main rule for beginners:  Use rice vinegar for everything, not distilled vinegar!  Also, I use La Choy Lite soy sauce.

First of all, sushi rolls can be made using whatever ingredients you'd like.  I'll share with you some common ingredients and the recipes for them.  You can use a lot of different combinations!  My sister said you can also make sushi rolls with tuna fish mixed with mayo, or chicken with teriyaki sauce, etc.  Have fun experimenting!


Common ingredients that can go inside sushi rolls:

Cucumber slices
Cream cheese
Avocado
Crab
Carrots - see recipe below
Shitake Mushrooms - see recipe below
Egg Omelet - see recipe belows
Shrimp - see recipe below or prepare however you'd like





Carrots

2/5 cup or 110 ml chicken broth
1 carrot, sliced long and skinny
1 teaspoon sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon Mirin (sweet cooking sauce)

Simmer until tender.




Shitake Mushrooms

4 Hydrated mushrooms
2/5 cup or 110 ml chicken broth
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon Mirin
1 tablespoon soy sauce (gf)

Cook on low to medium heat for about 10 minutes until most of the liquid is evaporated.  Cool and slice.





Egg omelet for sushi

2 eggs
1 tablespoon half-and-half or dashi stock
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon Japanese soy sauce (gf)
pinch of salt (optional - some soy sauces are very salty)
1 tsp vegetable oil

Whisk the eggs, half-and-half or stock, sugar, soy sauce and salt together in a bowl. Place a nonstick saute pan over medium-high heat. Pour 1/2 teaspoon of the vegetable oil into the pan and coat evenly using a paper towel; discard excess oil. Once the oil is hot, pour half the egg mixture into the pan in a thin layer and cook until almost dry, about 2 minutes, then flip with a flat-bottomed spatula and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and set on a plate to cool. Repeat with the remaining egg mixture.  Cool and slice.


Shrimp

6 shrimps

water and salt

3 tbsp stock

1 tbsp vinegar

1 tsp sugar

pinch salt

Mix the stock, vinegar, sugar and salt to make seasoning liquid.  Devein the shrimps.  Put just enough salt and water in a pot to cover the shrimps. Add the shrimps to the pan and simmer while stirring until all the liquid is gone.  When cool, shell the shrimps.  Soak in the seasoning liquid and set aside.

Vinegar Rice

Konbu

2 cups rice (Japanese size for rice-cooker)
1 2/3 US cups water
4 inch konbu kelp
1/5 US cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Vinegar-added water  (about 1 tablespoon in a medium bowl of water)

Soak the konbu kelp in the water for about one hour to make stock.  Wash the rice 30 minutes prior to cooking and drain.


Put the vinegar, sugar, and salt into a small pot and heat slightly until dissolved.  This completes the vinegar dressing.  Set aside.





Place the rice and stock into a rice cooker and cook.  When cooking is finished, keep the cooker covered and let it stand for about 10 minutes until the grains are settled.  Once the rice is cooked, take the konbu out and throw it away.



Transfer rice to a wooden sushi bowl moistened with the vinegar-added water.  Sprinkle the vinegar dressing all over the rice.  Using a flat wooden spoon (that you've dipped in the vinegar added water), toss the rice with one hand in horizontal, cutting strokes.  Use your other hand to fan the rice so it cools down.  The key is to mix it and make it shiny and glistening, instead of mashed rice.  Stir and fan until it stops steaming.  When tossing is complete, cover the rice with a clean cloth moistened with vinegar-added water.

•  Use only a sideways cutting motion when mixing the vinegar dressing with the rice. Otherwise, the rice will become mushy.
•  Wooden sushi bowls eliminate the excess moisture of cooked rice, and keep the grains firm.
•  Use an electric fan if any at home, and set the current of air to low and let it swing in order to let the rice exposed to the breeze while mixing the rice. It will facilitate cooling off the rice and result in making tasty and glossy vinegared rice.


Preparing the sushi rolls:

Wrap the bamboo mat with plastic wrap.  It keeps it clean so you can do multiple rolls.

Put a sheet of seaweed on the bamboo mat.  Put a layer of rice on top of that, leaving the edges open so it seals when you roll it.  Put your vegetables and fish on the center of the rice.  Make sure you don't put too much on, or you won't be able to roll it closed.  During this process you can dip your fingers in the vinegar added water to keep the rice from sticking to them when making the sushi rolls.

Using your bamboo mat, roll the sushi into a cylinder, matching the rice to the rice.  Make sure the seaweed overlaps to seal the roll.  You can damped one edge of the seaweed to help it stick together.

Keep sushi rolls in refrigerator wrapped in plastic wrap until just before serving.  Slice.