SUSHI

I often crave sushi, so instead of spending tons on fancy restaurants I decided to give it a go myself. I chose a traditional Japanese salmon + avocado norimaki (rolled in seaweed) and added a little soft cheese to make it more smooth and creamy. Turns out it's not that difficult at all :) If you don't like salmon or avocado, there's plenty of other options to choose from, like sift shell crab meat, seafood sticks, prawns, sweet egg omlette, asparagus, cucumber, roasted peppers.... anything that floats your boat :) All the ingredients, including the bamboo mat, are available in all major supermarkets or in oriental shops. I hope you guys give it a try!

私はお寿司が好き! 

Salmon, avocado and Philly norimaki (Makes 3 rolls)

Ingredients:

250g sushi rice

1 tsp salt

2 tsp brown sugar

3 tbsp rice wine vinegar

3 nori sheets

90g smoked salmon

2 medium avocados

3 tbsp reduced fat soft cheese (I used extra light Philly)

3-4 tsp sesame seeds

Tools: bamboo mat, cling film

To serve: wasabi, pickled ginger + light soy sauce (use a dark one if you prefer)

Method:

Cook the rice according to the instructions on the packet. The rice has to be very sticky, so make sure you buy a good sushi rice! Leave the rice to cool down.

Season the rice: mix the sugar, salt and rice vinegar. When the sugar and salt have dissolved, pour it over cooled rice and mix through.

Prepare the mat: take a long piece of cling film (about 3 times the length of the mat). Lay the mat on top and fold the cling film over, so that the mat will be fully wrapped.

Put a nori sheet on the mat, shiny side down.

Evenly spread a thin layer of rice over the nori, leaving a 3-4 cm strip at the top. This is very important, as this will seal the roll.

Sprinkle a teaspoon of sesame seeds over rice.

Now: the ingredients. So, first: Philly.

And the rest just follows ;) Make sure you don't overload the roll, as it won't close. I used some fresh ground black pepper on the avocado too.

Time to roll. Hold the ingredients to make a tight roll, use the mat to tighten it. As you roll and the edge of the mat touches rice, lift the edge up and continue rolling (see bottom right pic below).

Wet the nori edge with a little bit of cold water (just enough to make it moist), roll forward and it's ready to be cut :)

Cut the roll in half with a large knife, then make 4-5 even pieces from each half (depending on how thick you like your pieces!). Before and during this process, keep wetting your knife with cold water - this will help to cut through our sticky rice. 

Repeat the process with the remaining ingredients. Serve cold and enjoy :)