What do you think about when you hear the word "sushi"? Japanese? Raw fish? Exotic? Gross? ? I'm not sure what it is about sushi that either makes people become intimidated or shiver in disgust. I suppose most of it is because it's a different cuisine and because it's usually associated with raw fish. While using raw fish is traditionally in the sushi rolls, you certainly don't have to put it in there. These days, esp. if you don't live in a metropolis, finding sushi grade fish is extremely hard, if not impossible.

In the 1960's, southern California was the "hot spot" for Japanese chefs to "make it bit" in the USA. A Japanese sushi chef, by the name of Ichiro Ma****a, created what we now know as the California roll. He substituted the fish (raw or cooked) and eggs for avocado, crab meat and cucumber. He also made it "inside out", because he found that the American people didn't like seeing and chewing the nori (sea weed) on the outside of the roll. Many places today, including the ever popular Chinese buffets, have California rolls on their menu.

Since we like to experiment with different kinds of foods and we like to expose our children the many, many different cuisines that our world has to offer, we made sushi rolls (it is sometimes difficult to find things here, since we live in a backwoods, romote place, but we strive to expose our childen to the many different, wonderful foods our Lord has made us and the different cultures you find with the food). Since this was our first attempt at making them, we decided not to make the California roll (with the rice on the outside) and we made the traditional sushi roll ( with the nori on the outside). We, of course, didn't use raw or cooked fish, but used four different ingredients for the middle: acocado, egg, prosciutto and pickled ginger.

Sushi Rolls
* makes  4 logs

Sushi rice
2 c sushi rice
2 c water
1/2 c rice wine vinegar
1/4 c sugar
2  1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
1. Combine rice and water and bring to a boil. Once a boil is achieved, turn the stove off and let the rice absorb all of the water. Heat the vinegar, salt and the sugar in a sauce pan until the sugar and salt is completly dissolved. Once the rice is cooked and still warm, mix the vinegar solution into the rice. 

1 package nori (sea weed) sheets
whatever fillings you want in your rolls
(we used avocado, eggs, prosciutto, and pickled ginger)
* wasabi or hot sauce
1 sushi mat (we used a bamboo placemat from the grocery store)
* A very pungent green Japanese condiment made from the root of the herb Eutrema wasabi

Directions:
1. Cut your fillings into small pieces or small strips (depending on what you are using). Get all of your ingredients and sauces together, for you will want them within reach while making your rolls. (for the eggs, we scrambled them with water and cooked them as a sheet in the pan, as you would an omlet. Once they were cooked, we folded them and cut them into strips)



2. Place the nori at the bottom of your sushi mat (or whatever wooden mat your are using). The nori are rectangles and sushi rolls are traditionally rolled with the small sides at the top and bottom. Put 1 cup of rice on your nori sheet and pat the rice to the edges of your sheet (having your hands wet will help to keep the rice from sticking horribly to you). Leave about 1 inch of your nori sheet  without rice at the top.

3. Place your fillings in a narrow line about 1 1/2 inches from the bottom (it works best if you put your sauce on first, then your ingredients. We didn't do that at the begining and the wasabi would stick to our hands when we tried rolling them up).

 

Take the bottom of your mat and roll carefully upward. Once the nori sheet from the bottom is touching the rice and is completly surrounding the filling, stop and sqeeze gently to make sure your fillings are in the middle of the roll. But don't sqeeze to hard, for the rice and fillings will start to come out of the sides. Finish rolling your sushi roll upwards. Once it is all rolled, sqeeze gently until the roll is a uniform size the entire length.  
4. Place your rolls on a pan and wrap with plastic wrap. Put into the fridge for about 30 minutes. Cut each log into 6 - 8 pieces with a serated knife. Arrange nicely on a platter and enjoy!

Jennifer Dewing has experience in the restaurant business. She turned in her chef's hat and donned the many hats of a stay-at-home mother 8 years ago. She is now the mother to 5 children, 7 years and under. She home schools her eldest two children. Her husband is a professional chef and in their house, food is a big part of their family. Come visit her at The Days' Dewings.

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