Whereas most people think that sushi means "raw fish" it in all actuality implies "vinegared rice." Now my first attempt at sushi occurred about four years ago during my teaching internship at Stetson. My kindergartners were studying about Japan, so for a fun, edible craft we made sushi-- at least you could call it that if you are willing to accept that marshmallow cream is synonymous with vinegar!! Unfortunately, I don't have a picture here of the final results, but it did look something like this:
Gummy worms on the inside, Rice Krispie treats on the outside, all wrapped in Fruit Roll-ups, they were adorable as well as delicious (at least that's what my kids said!)
But moving on to yesterday... Before I started, I had visions of grandeur -- beautiful rolls, with a combination of colors, tastes and textures. My readers, would salivate at my creations and beg for samples. It would be beautiful, it would be perfect, and even the pickiest of eaters would be happy!!
Unlike the above rolls with raw fish, mine was to have teriyaki chicken. To mix flavors, colors, and textures, I would include cream cheese and even be brave enough to buy an avocado! Instead of using the usual seaweed paper (and the only Japanese food I still cannot eat without gagging) that melts in one's mouth like Listerine breath strips only to provide a not so pleasant fish-bowl breath freshener, I decided I would use black sesame seeds. How exotic, how delicious, how yummy!!!Phase one of the process found me without the usual rice vinegar and instead only apple cider.
Now ever since my accidental overdose, I'm not so keen of apple cider vinegar. The easy solution?? No vinegar!!! (Bye-bye true sushi!)
Phase two found me without sushi rice. Now, traditional Japanese rice is stickier than "normal" rice; however, sushi rice is even stickier (of course, Rice Krispie Treats are the stickiest of all, but that is a different recipe :-) But, I continued on, only to realize another important point. When making sushi its imperative to use very, very thin slices for the interior, otherwise it doesn't fit (or you can just stack everything on top to make nigirizushi.
However, I was still determined to make the rolled kind (makizushi) so with plenty of plastic wrap, I moved forward in the process!!! Unfortunately, I am not quite sure what went wrong -- was it the rice, the "overstuffed burrito" look, the lack of vinegar... Anyway, it didn't hold its shape too well!! I figured I would try cutting it into pinwheels, but that didn't work either! I had to come to the realization that I wasn't going to pass "beautiful Japanese-food presentation test". So, before everything looked like a miserable failure and complete flop, I took a picture -- not exactly what I was hoping to show my readers, but an accurate documentation nonetheless.
In all actuality, though, it tasted quite good (minus of course the avocados. It could have definitely done without the slimy green things). However, later that evening, I learned another important lesson...
You see, in Japan, one of the most dangerous foods to prepare is fugu (poisonous puffer fish). Now to be an expert fugu cutter, one must study the art of slicing and dicing for 2-3 years. Then both a written test and practical must be passed with the results of the practical being eaten by the preparer. You see, with one tiny mistake, fugu can kill a person (hence making it the only food the Japanese Emperor is forbidden to eat) so to be an expert fugu fillet-er one must be able to survive their own cooking (on an aside, according to Wikipedia only about 35% percent of people actually pass the test). Well all this to say, you have heard about the dangers of sushi?? The fear of eating raw fish?? Well, I would have never believed it, but teriyaki chicken, avocado, cream cheese sushi is dangerous too!!!! I had, to put it pleasantly, a very long date with the sink last night. I just knew it -- avocados are poisonous!!!
