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ROLLED
SUSHI (Maki-zishi)
Yield:
10 Rolls, each cut into 6 to 7 pieces.
Note:
Our good friend Yasuko, who grew up in China and Japan, taught Mrs. Evil how to
make this Sushi. This is her family recipe.
Special
Equipment:
Ingredients:
(Yasuko's preferred brands are indicated.)
1
Carrot (or 2, if medium sized)
5
dried Shitaki Mushrooms (or a 1 oz. pkg. Well Pac brand Dried Forest Mushrooms)
1
oz. pkg. Dried gourd, sliced (Wang or Kampyo brand)
¼
cup sugar
¼
cup Soy Sauce (Kikkoman Mild, Low Sodium preferred)
2
eggs
½
to 1 ½ tsp. pickled ginger (small reddish strips) added to each of the 10 Sushi
Rolls.
RICE:
3
cups uncooked rice (Kokuho Rose brand – No-Talc Extra Fancy New Variety Rice
½
cup rice vinegar (Marukan Brand, Light and Mild Genuine Brewed Rice Vinegar)
3
to 4 Tbsp. sugar
2
to 3 teasp. salt
When
cooked, this amount of rice is sufficient for 10 Nori covered Sushi rolls.
1
pkg. (0.71 oz.) of 10 sheets Asukusa Nori (Dried Seaweed), Hime brand.
Dipping
Sauce for Sushi:
Provide
¼ to ½ cup of above brand Soy Sauce.
and/or
Prepare
powdered Wasabi Horseradish: Hime brand with above brand Soy Sauce in the
following proportions
¼
tsp. powdered Wasabi mixed with ¼ tsp. water. Stir until the mixture has a
resiliency like that of the human earlobe. Invert the container. If the mixture
does not run, it is the proper consistency. Mix this with approximately 2 tsp.
Soy Sauce. Use these proportions to prepare the desired amount of sauce. You
will use perhaps an eighth teaspoons or so of sauce on each bite-size piece of
Sushi, or to taste.
Preparation:
1. Cut the 1 or 2 carrots into ¼ in. strips. Soak the 5 Shitake
mushrooms (not stems) in hot water until soft. Remove from the water and slice
into ¼ in. thick pieces. Soak the dried Gourd as per the mushrooms then remove
from the water.
2. Sauté carrot, drained mushrooms and gourd in combined ¼ cup
sugar and ¼ cup soy sauce. Simmer until carrots are just tender. Cool. Squeeze
moisture from mushrooms. Drain the other vegetables. Set aside.
3. Beat 2 eggs well and make a thin layer in a large crepe pan
with enough oil to prevent eggs from sticking. When eggs are cooked , cool them
and cut into ¼ in. strips. Set aside.
4. Squeeze the moisture out of the pickled ginger. The ginger is fairly hot. A little goes a long way. Use to taste – perhaps ½ to 1 ½ tsp. per roll. Set aside.
5. The Rice: Soak rice 20 to 30 minutes. You can hear it pop. When it stops popping, drain. It is now ready to cook. Cover the 3 cups of rice with 3 cups of water or, as per Yasuko"s method, by adding enought water to cover the rice so that the water is 1 1/2 of your finger knuckles deep over the surface of the rice. DO NOT ADD SALT. Cook the rice as usual. You may add a little water to the rice if it is necessary to finish cooking.
6.
Vinegar
Seasoning: While the rice is
cooking, dissolve the 3 to 4 Tbsp. of sugar and the 2 to 3 tsp. of salt in the
½ cup of vinegar. It is permissible to heat the mixture to facilitate the
dissolving process, but it must not be allowed to boil.
When
the rice is finished cooking, remove it from the heat and let it sit covered for
about 10 minutes to steam. Remove lid and mix the vinegar marinade into the
rice. Set aside.
The
Nori: The two sides of Nori are not the
same. The shiny side is the front side. Nori must be heated very slightly
on the SHINY side only, to make it firm and to keep its flavor. Holding the edge
of a sheet of Nori with the tips of your fingers, or using tongs on the edge,
quickly but gently draw the sheet across the surface of a very low gas flame or
low heat of an electric burner. This is done several times. The Nori may be a
little wavy as a result. DON’T OVERCOOK OR OVERHEAT. Heat only slightly.
Assembling
the Rolled Sushi:
1. Spread the Nori
on the |
____________________
|
rolling mat. (When handling | |oooooooooooooooooooo| |
the
rice, keep your fingers
| |oooooooooooooooooooo|
|
wet while working to prevent | |oooooooooooooooooooo| |<-Rolling
the
rice from sticking to Nori->|oooooooooooooooooooo|
|
your fingers.) Spread sushi | |oooooooooooooooooooo| |
rice
on top of the Nori. | |ooooooooooooooooooo<|--|----Rice
2.
Spread the rice evenly, | |XoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoXoX<|--|----Filling
leaving a strip of Nori | ____________________ |
about 3/8 inch wide |__________________________|
uncovered on the side away
from
you.
Roll from the near to opposite edge.
3.
Lay the vegetables in the center of the rice layer parallel to the edge of the
mat nearest you. The row of vegetable will extend from one side to the other.
Lay the strips of egg and the pieces of ginger on the row of vegetables in the
same fashion. Lightly wet the far edge of the Nori with water to help seal or
stick the far edge to the rolled sushi.
4. Beginning with the side nearest you, roll the ingredients,
rolling mat and all together throughout the first “roll.” (The rolling mat
does not get rolled up with the rice mixture – the edge nearest you moves
toward the edge opposite you, moving along above the surface of the rice, the
sushi roll following along behind.)
5.
The rolling motion is brisk and should be followed by light packing pressure to
adjust the shape of the roll.
6. Remove the rolling mat and trim the ends of the sushi roll to
square them off.
Completed
sushi is best served at room temperature. Vegetable sushi may be wrapped in
plastic wrap and kept up to 4 hours before serving for best flavor. The leftover
sushi can be re-refrigerated overnight and eaten the next day. Seafood or other
ingredients that normally require refrigeration should be kept chilled and
brought out in time to serve at room temperature for serving.
Guests
can be provided with Japanese sauce dishes (small individual size) to dip their
sushi into. If served as an appetizer, guests can spoon a little sauce atop the
cut-ends of the bite size pieces of sushi. See DIPPING SAUCE ingredients above.
* * * * * *
Alternative
fillings:
Prepare
as above using the rice and roll as usual, but substitute the various
alternatives listed below.
Thinly sliced chicken and cooked center lengths of asparagus, cut into thin
lengthwise slices, same length as chicken. Marinate in French Dressing. Add
light coating of mayonnaise/prepared mustard mixture.
Avocado and cooked crab or a little caviar.
Shrimp; cocktail sausages; Smoked oysters; Use your imagination.
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