sushi, at home
March 23, 2013 § 5 Comments
We love to go out for sushi. We actually enjoy a nice sushi meal at least four times a month. Lately we have been talking about trying to prepare sushi at home. I am not talking about sushi rolls. I am talking about nigiri. A raw piece of fish on top of an oblong brick of sticky white rice.
Yesterday I decided I would go to Uwajimaya, Seattle’s asian supermarket and pick up some sushi grade salmon. What I learned, you don’t just purchase fresh salmon for raw consumption. The salmon must be frozen first for a period of time to sufficiently kill any potential parasites. They had a plentiful supply of sushi grade fish available. I bought Atlantic salmon and “tako”, which is octopus. The octopus had been already steamed and sliced.
While I was at Uwajimaya, I decided to gather the ingredients to make a Pho style soup. I looked up a recipe for vegetarian pho broth. My favorite “go to” food blog, thekitchn had a very simple recipe I knew I could prepare. I collected the few ingredients I needed and I was off and running. I also picked up dessert. I found some delicious tiny bite size cream puffs, filled with fresh dairy cream and vanilla!
Well, I am sure we will still go out for sushi, on occasion. However, I have to say, as a family, we had a blast preparing this meal together.
nigiri sushi
- 3/4 lb. thinly sliced, sushi-grade salmon
- 1/4 lb. thinly sliced, steamed octopus
- 1/2 cup pickled ginger
- 1 tablespoon prepared wasabi
sushi rice
- 3 cups short grain rice
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
sushi rice
Wash the rice under running water for 1-2 minutes until the water runs clear, washing the starch out. Place rice in a 2 quart pan. Add 4 cups water and bring to a boil over high heat. Boil 1 minute on medium heat. Stir once, cover pan and turn heat down to low. I have read you should only use a wooden spoon to stir your rice. A metal spoon will damage the rice. Simmer for 20 minutes.
While rice is cooking, in a small pot combine vinegar, sugar and salt. Heat, over medium until all solids become liquid.
When the rice is done, transfer to a bowl. Stir in your seasoned rice vinegar and allow to come to room temperature.
assemble
Using wet hands, we formed little oblong bricks of rice, placed a little spot of wasabi, then topped with a slice of fish. Serve with little dishes of soy sauce for dipping.
Next…
pho noodle soup
broth
- 1 large onion, peeled and halved
- 2 inch piece fresh ginger root, peeled and halved lengthwise
- 3 inch cinnamon stick
- 1 star anise
- 2 cloves
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 4 cups unsalted vegetable stock
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
toppings
- handful of watercress, torn into small pieces
- a few sprigs of thai basil
- one cup of bean sprouts
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
- 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
- 1/2 pound dry flat rice noodles
- (I realized I accidentally bought wheat soba noodles, used them anyway, it was still perfect)
- sriracha sauce (a thai-style hot sauce, typically made from sun-ripened chili peppers, vinegar, garlic, sugar and salt)
Since we were going to prepare sushi too, I prepared the broth a few hours before. I kept it on the stovetop, covered, and for the reason that it is vegetarian, without heat.
broth
Char the onion and ginger under a broiler until slightly blackened, about 5-7 minutes on each side. Rinse well with water.
In a large pot, dry roast cinnamon, star anise, cloves, and coriander over medium-low heat, stirring to prevent burning. When spices are aromatic, add vegetable stock, soy sauce, charred onion and ginger.
Bring broth to a boil, reduce heat, simmer, covered, for 30 minutes. Strain and keep aside until ready to serve.
toppings
While the broth is simmering, prepare and bring your toppings to the table.
noodles
Since I accidentally bought the soba wheat noodles, I boiled the noodle in the broth for a few minutes before serving. Otherwise, if you have rice noodles, place noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot water. Let stand for 20-30 minutes or until tender but still chewy. Drain.
to serve
Divide noodles between bowls, ladle about 2 cups of broth in each bowl. Serve, allowing diners to garnish their own bowls.
Oh, did I mention Sake?
Serves 4
buon appetite
COTTAGE GROVE HOUSE 
i love sushi! Unfortunately, I cannot get sushi grade fish here in Ohio.
HI! Thank you for visiting! All the way from Ohio! :) We love sushi too and usually go out for it. (just last night as a matter of fact) It was fun to prepare at home and I learned in order for Salmon to be considered “sushi grade” all is required is a good freeze to kill any parasites …etc… I don’t know…I’m a little nervous about trying, I still buy the sushi grade from our local Asian Supermarket.
:-) Yeah I would be scared to try it too!! I got food poisoning one summer from clams and it was the worst! :-( Not anxious to repeat that experience.
I get sushi to go about once a week … so good!!
You left a LIKE on our blog (and I love the name of your blog) so I thought I stop by and see what was going on. Lovely blog – we share similar attitudes toward food and eating. Jody and I, in a fit of insanity, cooked the food at our wedding reception ourselves, including futomaki appetizers. I’m jealous about your access to a variety of sushi-grade seafood. Your blog looks great. As an aside, are you using a Lensbaby in some of your photos? Thanks. Ken
Hi Ken. Thank you for your kind comment. Not only is cooking for your own wedding reception a huge undertaking but futomaki is quite time consuming! Great story. I’m actually using a very inexpensive point and click camera and the iPhoto program for all of my photos. Glad you stopped by and I look forward to reading your blog!