Sushi!!

I was very excited to give sushi a shot (hence my title's exclamation points), and my three-year old was excited too. We've read Rosemary Wells "Yoko" often enough that sushi was accessible to her. And after enjoying sushi at the home of friends I thought it was accessible to me too.

I still think that. I just think I need practice too.

The Nori wraps I bought sat in my galley cupboard for at least a month before I decided, what the heck! I took the "plunge into cooking vow" AND I have a blog where I can write about it. What more am I waiting for?

At the store, I stayed basic and bought cucumber, avocado, carrots and smoked salmon (a dodge around the raw fish sourcing issue). At home, I realized I only had brown rice, but forged ahead. I even minced up Kale into wee, wee little bits, pan fried it, and stirred it into the cooked rice (three year-olds eat kale when it is tiny. And yes, yes I know about Kale Chips but don't have an oven yet. Soon!).

Next,I sliced the cucumber, carrots, and avocado into slender strips and did the same with the smoked salmon. These items can all be arranged prettily on a cutting board or plate/bowl. Voila! Everything looked lovely, and the galley was still pretty darn clean.

Now, this next part I was less sure about. I had watched my friend gently heat the Nori wraps, one at a time, over a burner on her range. The wrap was held in tongs six-ish inches above the heat, then flipped to heat the other side. Hers were perfect. I kept missing the window. My wraps were either too cold or too hot. On either side, they didn't stick to themselves well and one even broke. My husband ventured the thought that perhaps sticky rice is moister, and thus lends some increased water/flexibility to the wraps... hmmmm.

But we made sushi! We spread the rice/kale mix on the wraps, then placed the veggies and salmon on the rice, and rolled them up. We dipped in soy sauce--I need to buy wasabi.

PROS: Tasted yummy, very healthy, super easy clean-up.
CONS: Brown rice doesn't hold together, kept falling out.
STATUS: Will research proper Nori heating technique and buy the right rice.

Here is a picture of the "yummy but not real pretty" sushi.