Foodie Thoughts

"I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol." -- Steven Wright.

Sushi - Crunchafornia Roll

I tried something new last night and came up with The Crunchafornia Roll... A twist on the standard California Roll. I proved the concept last night and will have photos and a video up soon. I made it two ways - the first was to make your standard California Roll then dust it in corn starch then dunk it into a tempura batter then fry the whole thing. The second way I did it was just to take the crab sticks and tempura them and put them into the normal California roll. Both ways were good. I'm going to be doing them again and have some people over to see which version wins the taste test...

Happy Cooking & Eating!

~Nikko

Sushi Rice

I've made sushi with long grain rice - it is possible, but I would suggest finding a short grain rice to use. I get mine at the Asian market and I think it's well worth it. I use Nishiki sushi rice - it works for me...

Making sushi rice is a process. There are directions on the bag, but if you follow mine you'll end up with perfect rice every time.

Just so you know 1.5 cups of sushi rice will turn into a bit over 6 cups of rice when it's cooked.

Rice:

1.5 Cups Sushi rice
2 Cups Water

Vinegar Solution:

2 Tbsp + 2 tsp Rice Vinegar
1 Tbsp + 1 1/2 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt

Take 1.5 cups of rice and put it in a fine mesh strainer. Run the rice under water until the water runs clear. You can do this in your pot as well. Put the rice in the pot and fill half way with water. Run your fingers through the rice and the water will become a milky color. Drain off the milky water and replace with fresh water. Keep doing this until the water is clear again. Once you get the rice washed drain it as well as you can, then let the rice sit undisturbed for 20 minutes. It's amazing how white it will become. Add the rice to a pot and put in the water. Cover and bring to a boil. Once you are on the boil reduce the heat to low and let cook for 20 minutes.

Once your 20 minutes is up you need to cool the rice down quickly. If you don't have one of those fancy wooden tubs - a large plate will work just fine. Carefully spread out the rice and start fanning it with a hand fan or I used a magazine... Fan the rice for a few minutes then sprinkle on the vinegar solution. Cut the vinegar into the rice - do not stir the rice slide your spoon or spatula through the rice to mix. You want the rice pieces to stay separated not a huge mushy mass... Continue to fan the rice while you are cutting through it. Turn the rice over and continue to fan. After about 5 minutes the rice should be ready to use. You can store the rice under a moist towel until you are ready to use. I like to put mine in a plastic bowl and cover it with a damp towel... You will need to moisten your hands before working with the rice. It's really sticky!

Sushi On!

~Nikko

Foodie Thoughts

Spices make the difference between food and cuisine. ~ Me

SUSHI - I'm a fan...

Last night's dinner. Spicy Tuna roll (and hand roll), California Roll, Shrimp Tempura. Thee will be posts coming soon showing you how to make each of these (and other) sushi rolls soon...

~Nikko

Dynamite Sushi Sauce

The best Dynamite Sauce I've ever had comes from a sushi house named Sushi Awaji in Plano Texas (suburb of Dallas). As far as I'm concerned Dallas has the the best sushi I've ever had and considering I live a stones throw from the Ocean (now) and Dallas is a land locked city - that kinda makes me mad... They have a dish called the Crawfish Volcano that will put a smile on your face. I've probably ordered a few hundred of them from Awaji and every one of them was amazing. I always compare every Dynamite Sauce to theirs - and most fail... I could never get their recipe out of them but after trying and trying this one comes really close.



All of these items can be found in any Asian market... If you can't find (or don't want to use) the Kewpie, Kraft or Hellman's will work - canola or lite mayo's won't...

1/2 cup Kewpie Mayo
2 Tbsp Sriracha
Sesame oil, just a few drops will do

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. That was hard wasn't it...

There are many uses for this sauce, but my main use is on top of a California roll in what I call a Shrimp Volcano Roll. I mix the sauce with diced cooked shrimp and broil it on a sheet of tin foil for a few minutes. Then I spoon it on top of the roll. It's good, it's very good - But that's another video...

Sushi on!

~Nikko

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