Konnichiwa Dinette Set-son! This is a very delayed entry, but I had to document my sushi attempt at one point. My friend Adam-son just got back from Japan and brought me back authentic sushi mats. So of course, I had to find an excuse to use them so we were off to LA Fish Company in Downtown, Los Angeles to check out the goods. After we bought some tuna and yellow tail filets, we stopped by Little Tokyo to get some other ingredients. Below is a breakdown of our Japanese culinary adventure:
Tempura Vegetables
We chopped up some mushrooms, zucchini and sweet potatoes in half-inch sticks and dipped them in the tempura batter. I accidentally made the batter too thin, so it's a good idea to add the wet water in the dry ingredients gradually. I heated up a pot of vegetable oil, dipping a drop of the batter in the oil to see if it was hot enough. Once it sizzled, I added the vegetables in small batches. After 2-3 minutes of frying, I placed the tempura on a paper towel. I like mine more crispy, so I dipped the vegetables again in the batter and fried them a second time.
Sushi/Sashimi/ Hand Rolls
First, i started the sushi rice. I added rice vinegar, sugar and a little salt to a small saucepan on medium heat. Once the sugar is dissolved, I took it off the heat to cool to add to the finished sushi rice. When the sushi rice is cooled, I added the vinegar mixture gradually until the rice incorporates the vinegar but is not too wet.
Unfortunately, I don't have a great chef's knife, which made slicing the fish extremely difficult and aesthetically displeasing. But we tried to make do, using my chopping knife to slice the fillets, cutting against the grain. The left over ends of the fish were used for our spicy tuna hand rolls. For the spicy tuna, all we did was chop up the tuna and added mayonaise and siracha to it.
After the prep work was finished, we started setting up our work station. We wrapped the sushi mats in cellophane, placed a bowl of water, the sushi rice, fish, and chopped vegetables on the table. To start our rolls, we used placed the seaweed on the mat, shiny side down. I dipped my fingers in the water bowl and grabbed a handful of rice. I covered the seaweed with a thin layer of rice, leaving some exposure on the far end. Next, I placed the fish and veggies in a row. I took the front edge of my mat and rolled it over the fish and veggies, pressing as I rolled. Once at the edge, I dipped my fingers with water to help seal the seaweed. Here's the finished product. Tanoshimu!
Sorry, no picture of my awesome handroll.
