Sushi Rolls

The finished product

I love sushi with every fiber of my being.  Often times I find myself craving it so badly that I manage to stoop so low as to purchase the scary little plastic containers from Kroger that smell of five day old tuna salad.

I always regret that.

Lewisburg has one sushi restaurant and J REFUSES to eat there with me.  He is convinced that you cannot trust the freshness of seafood from any inland state.  He tends to be right on that specific matter.

I decided to make my own sushi rolls last night.  I'm allergic to shellfish so I made myself a snow crab roll (using imitation crab meat, avocado and cucumber), and I made J one with shrimp tempura.

I tend to stay away from using raw fish mainly because I'm too chicken to risk giving my hubs and me food poisoning.  I have heard you can buy fresh fish from the sushi restaurants, but I imagine that would cost an arm and a leg. 

Things you'll need

For the sushi roll itself

Pacific Sushi Nori (seaweed wrap)

Sushi rice

Sugar

Rice Vinegar

Salt

* To make the sushi rice I used this recipe, Mom's Sushi Rice.  Make sure you let the rice cool before you start making the rolls.

For Tempura Shrimp

1/2 pound of uncooked shrimp (peeled)

1 cup Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

2 eggs (beaten)

Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste
Vegetable oil

* Heat oil over medium high heat in a skillet.  Beat eggs in a small bowl.   Mix the panko, salt, pepper and red pepper together in another small bowl.  Dip shrimp in egg first then panko, and set on a plate until you are ready to fry.  Fry shrimp in vegetable oil for 3-5 minutes turning over half way through.  I also cut wedges of squash and zucchini to batter and fry for tempura veggies.  :)

For Snowcrab
12 oz. of Imitation crab (shredded)

1/2 cup of mayonnaise  

about 1 1/2 tablespoons of Sriracha sauce...depending on how spicy you like it.  I would start off slow, and add more to your liking.
1 tablespoon Rice Vinegar

*Mix all of the ingredients together, and let the mixture sit for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator before serving.

I know this isn't a great picture, but it's the only one I had.

 

Extras
Avocado
Cucumber shavings
Sesame seeds

To assemble

Lay seaweed paper over a sheet of clear wrap or bamboo mat.

*I didn't have a bamboo mat to roll the sushi with, but it wasn't hard to just use the clear wrap.  You can also use a heavy dish cloth under the clear wrap if you feel you need something to keep it stable.  If you do have a bamboo mat, wrap it in clear wrap before making your sushi rolls.  :)

Wet your hands, and press the cooled sushi rice on the seaweed paper.

Sprinkle some sesame seeds over the rice.  If you like the rice on the outside of the roll you can flip the paper and rice over at this point.  If you like the seaweed paper on the outside, then just place everything you want to stuff in the roll near the bottom of the little seaweed rectangle like so.... 

Next, begin rolling the sushi roll upwards.  You want to make sure you bring the bottom end a little past the ingredients on the inside and the pull it in tight.  Make sure you are squeezing the roll pretty tight while you are rolling.  You don't want it falling apart when you slice it into smaller pieces.  :)

Roll the clear wrap back down, and then finish rolling the sushi roll to the top.  When you finish, give it a few extra squeezes and then slice into smaller pieces.

Serve with soy sauce and wasabi!  :)  You can find Eel sauce at a lot of Asian markets, but we do not have one here in Lburg.  I'm going to search for a recipe soon.  If I find one I will let you know!

Enjoy!

-Cap