Last night we had dinner with friends. What fun! The conversation was terrific, the jokes flew (as always), the food and wine was more that satisfying.  This is what I found in my coffee spoon at the end of the night:

DSCN2264 A star.  A sure sign of a great evening.

It was a late night so we went for a later walk this morning.  It wasn’t a fast walk for 4 miles because there was ice on the roads but we did enjoy the scenery of the first snow fall that actually stayed on the ground this wintery season.

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After a great breakfast and some quick grocery shopping, I set to making Soy / Sushi Rolls. Not technically sushi because I didn’t use nori sheets nor did I use fish (only fish sauce).  But then again, I guess you can put anything in a nori roll with sushi rice, right?!

Have you ever tried to make Sushi?   Ever tried rolling the nori around that sushi rice and other filling?  It’s a real challenge getting that nori tight around that filling.  You have to use the Maki-su mat (bamboo mat) to roll the sushi. 

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This is how you do it in a nut shell:   Cut the sheet of nori (seaweed) in half and place it on the bamboo mat.  Top with a layer of sushi rice about 3/8” thick. Leave one long edge of the seaweed uncovered.  Add a small amount of filling or flavoring evenly along the top center of the rice.  Use your fingers to hold the filling in place and begin rolling the mat from edge nearest you. Roll as tight as you can but don’t roll the mat into the sushi!  The moisture in the rice will bind the seaweed close. 

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So what happened to me?  Was it that I forgot to leave a one long edge uncovered? 

I’ve rolled sushi before using nori.  It wasn’t real tight but it was good and I’d say a “B+” for being inexperienced.  

I saw these in the grocery store and thought “Cool!  I’ll use these for my sushi wrappers instead of the nori”.  You see the nori is sold in packs that leave me with so much left over then we don’t use it.  These soy wrappers would work out great….. I thought.

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Make the rice:

  • 1 cup short grain white rice
  • 1 cup water
  • 3 TBS rice vinegar
  • 1/8 cup soy sauce
  • 1/8 cup fish sauce
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 6 oz your choice of filling (I used buffalo style chicken tenders for Ted)
  • 8 Soy Wrappers (or nori sheets –recommended)

Soak rice for 4 hours.  Drain and rinse.  Bring water to a boil, add rice, reduce to simmer, cover, simmer for 20 minutes.  Stir in vinegar. Set aside to cool.  Mix together the soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar and stir until sugar dissolves.  Add to rice. 

Using the soy wrappers (or nori) follow the directions above for rolling the sushi, and ….um….Good Luck!

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I had a horrible time with the soy wrappers.  They don’t stick like the nori.  The end result was a great flavor roll but very messy.  I couldn’t get the roll tight enough without suffering some tears in the soy sheets.  That doesn’t happen with nori. 

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Oh well, Ted enjoyed the flavor and scooped up the messy filling that fell from the roll with a fork.  All was not lost.  As for me, I used a Vegan Chicken substitute and thought the flavor was delish, in spite of the mess.

Next up, A Taste of Utica Pasta Fazoola!

Joanne

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