The other day I found sushi mats on super-cheap sale, so I bought me one!
In the past, I've always made sushi with a napkin, not with a mat.  Ooo,
don't I sound like the sushi expert, saying "I've always made sushi this way
and not that way".  Actually I've made sushi maybe 4 times in my entire life.
But it was fun and nutritious and delicious and pretty and it makes a good
lunchbox food, so I intend to make more in the future.

At the moment I've got a question: How do you clean a sushi mat?  Especially
before the first time you use it.  Thanks!

This item is intended for the discussion of making sushi.

20 responses total.

Brief soak in warm water.  Swoosh gently, and let air dry.  I have a sushi
mat that I've used more than 25 years, and I've never had any problems.  The
trick is not to let the sticky or juicy ingredients out of the nori. 
When it does escape, I use a tooth brush to scrub the food off, soon after
it happens.  Some times I dry it in the oven, at about 200 F, just to
discourage baddies.  
If you are careful, the nori will be between the rice and the mat at all
times.  Toasted nori doesn't make much impact on the bamboo.  

Thanks Catriona!

What I really need is instructions for making rolled sushi, and some
recipes targeted at a yuppie American type who doesn't need to feel that
she's doing it the authentically Japanese way. (I will promise not to
put tempeh in them though.) I'm aware one could get a Japanese book and
then make up one's own variations, but I'd like a little more assurance
than that since I've never tried it. Any recommendations?

Here's what I've been doing.  This is based on the recipe Nori Maki Sushi in
the cookbook "Laurel's Kitchen".  I'm vegetarian and so is the cookbook, so
this recipe is for no-fish sushi.  You could probably use fish or other meat
as a sushi filling too.


Sushi
=====
1 1/4 cups "sushi rice" if you can find it, or short-grain white or brown rice
2 cups water
4 sheets dried nori (look for this in an Asian grocery store) (mainstream
      stores also sometimes carry it, but usually at high prices)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-4 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons honey

Filling ingredients (choose several, but not all of these) grated or julienned
raw carrot or jicama, cooked chopped spinach, toasted sesame seeds, strips
of vegetables (scallion, bell pepper, celery, lightly steamed asparagus,
carrot, green bean), an omlette cut into thin ribbons, avocado, chopped
watercress, mushrooms, thinly-sliced fried tofu, etc.

Soy sauce
Wasabi (this is the super-hot pale green horseradish -- you can buy powdered
    wasabi at an Asian grocery store)
Pickled ginger (also at an Asian grocery store)

Put the rice and water in a pot.  Heat to boiling and simmer for 20 minutes
for white rice or 45 for brown.

While the rice is cooking, prepare the vegetables for the filling.

Dissolve salt in rice vinegar.  Add honey.  When the rice is cooked, stir
this mixture into the rice.

Let the rice cool to room temperature.

Put one piece of nori on a cloth napkin or sushi mat.  If the nori were a
piece of paper it would be in "landscape mode", that is, a long side should
be closest to you, with short sides to the left and right.   Moisten your
fingers with water and spread 1/4 of the rice on the mat, covering it evenly
except for an inch or two at the top, which you'll use to seal the roll.
The rice should be not quite 1/2 inch thick.  Across the middle, parallel to
the top, make a groove in the rice, and place the filling materials there,
forming a thin line from one end to the other.  For example, use a strip of
omlette, a line of chopped watercress, and strips of red bell pepper.  (The
cookbook notes here that you should aim for beauty and harmony.)

Now use the napkin or sushi mat to roll the sushi up and away from you
toward the top, pressing the whole thing together tightly and pushing the
filling ingredients into place if necessary.  Dampen the remaining "flap" of
nori and seal the roll by pressing the flap along the length of the roll.
Place the roll on a cutting board and slice it with a very sharp knife into
one-inch segments.  It's useful to moisten the knife after every few cuts.
Arrange cut-side-up and serve.


ps.  It's fine to use tempeh in these!

1) Sushi rice is easy to find at the Food Coop.  Comes in bulk so you can buy
as much or as little as you need.

2)If anyone wants to get together for a sushi demo, we can do one at my house.
Sushi was an after-school snack for me.  the corner grocery sold it for 10
cents a slice, just like candy.
I've been making sushi since I was a teen-ager, learned it from my mom who
learned it from the next-door neighbor--"the lady from Osaka".  

Thanks! I'm just going to have to dive in and try it. Do you know what
constitutes a "California roll"? I know there are other combinations of
ingredients that have names (though I'm not sure what group or groups form
the consensus about these names). I'd like to know more about those (the
better to impress my friends etc).

Re 5: Ya, I buy my sushi rice at the co-op.  I wasn't sure if Carol is located
in the Ann Arbor area, so I didn't know if it was OK to send her there.

Reviving yet another old item...

Julie and I are looking into making our own sushi.

Odd question: where might I find those little wooden plates for sushi,
or a bento box?

(haven't done a Google search just yet)

Japanese grocery may have them - you'll want to find such a grocery anyway,
to get decent prices on the ingredients.

Do you have a place called World Market? (owned by CostCo I believe). I
think I've seen them there. I avoid sushi as the suicide stuff it is
(for me anyhow ;) ).

ingredients... did okay at our local WinCo (chain based out of Boise,
we're at store #2).

No, we do not have a World Market.

I don't think we have any sort of Japanese grocery-- all Asian stores
here are Vietnamese, I think.  I'd have to go to Seattle/Seattle area.

Where I live is not as cultured as A2.

btw, Julie made sushi for me yesterday as I turned 31.

Happy belated birthday.  :)

I don't think we have any Vietnamese grocery stores - we must not be cultured
at all.

Thanks, Anne.

I was being half-sarcastic, Sindi-- I think it's just our area.  The
Asian  folk here I think are mostly Vietnamese, Laotian.  Not many
Japanese that I know of.

Our Laotian store closed.  We have a Korean store, and several Chinese, one
of which also caters to the Japanese auto plant workers.

We also have a few Asian Groceries that have foods from most Asian cuisenes.
There is a big new one that just opened on Washtenaw in the old Toyota
dealership spot.

Ah, see, I think you folks have a bit more selection that we've got over
here.  But perhaps I just need to look a bit more.

I've been making sushi a lot lately, although none with the raw meat.  Mostly
just sauteed tempeh, carrots, asparagus and red pepper.  Very yummy!

Sounds good.  I haven't had much homemade stuff lately as I haven't yet
learned how to do it myself.  I don't think Julie likes to do it much
anymore because it's very time-consuming.

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