How to Make Delicious Sushi

I went to the local Japanese restaurant over the weekend to satisfy my sushi cravings. I am always amazed by the sushi chef’s ability to combine artistry with flavor, and am rarely disappointed with the dish. I sat at the bar with my wonderful girlfriend, Marie, because we always find it more interesting to interact with fellow customers and the sushi chef. While waiting for my sushi dish to arrive, I noticed a book about Japanese cuisine placed conveniently right next to me. My appetite was further enhanced by the delicious looking pictures within this book, but what also caught my attention was the life expectancy of Japanese men and women versus those of us from USA. If I remember correctly, Japanese have an average life expectancy of 83 versus 78 for us in the USA.

For this reason, and many others, I would like to show you how to add a delicious and healthy dish to your cooking arsenal.

You will need:

Short Grain Rice (the shorter, the stickier)
Rice Wine Vinegar
Sugar / Salt
Packaged Sushi Seaweed
Pickled Sushi Ginger
Wasabi
Cucumbers
Avocados
Mayonnaise
Raw Fresh Tuna and Salmon
Sushi Mat / cling wrap

1. Take 2 cups of rice and add 2 cups of cold water and bring to a boil

2. Once boiling, place cover over rice and bring to lowest heat setting and wait 15 minutes

3. Remove from heat and let it rest, covered, for 10 minutes

4. Mix 2 tablespoons of sugar, rice wine vinegar and 1 tablespoon of salt in a container and microwave it for 40 seconds

5. Once rice has rested for 10 minutes, mix in the sugar/vinegar/salt mixture and allow to cool

6. Meanwhile, prep your fish, avocado and cucumbers. Cut them into long thin pieces

7. Wrap your sushi mat in cling film and place a sheet of seaweed on top

8. Place a thin layer of rice on top of the seaweed, but make sure the rice covers the seaweed sheet 3/4 of the way up (I put too much rice in the picture below)

9. Place one slice of cucumber, fish, avocado and some mayonnaise at the bottom of your sushi mat

10. Roll the sushi up until you get something that looks like this, and slice into 6-7 pieces

11. Place on a plate along with your pickled ginger and wasabi, and of course some soy sauce! You can decorate your sushi rolls with some sesame seeds. Enjoy!

12. If you have fish and rice leftover, you can make these delicious morsels as you can see below!