Yet another Sushi

[Claire]

My neighbor is throwing a sushi party in a couple of weeks. I haven't made sushi in years, and we don't get to a sushi bar but once every couple of years. SO ... anyone have any hints? We were sort of thinking of making sushi ourselves, so I've already bought a mat, some wasabi and nori. I think our hosts are making yakitori and a cucumber salad. I'm definitely looking for some plum wine for our (sweets loving) hostess. But mostly I'd like anyone who recently have made sushi to write in with those silly dumb things you forget when you haven't done something in a long time. Also if anyone can think of a great side dish or desert for me to bring along. I think that hubby, her hubby and I will be in charge of rolling. If I get to dubuque, I will buy a mold for the kind of sushi where you just lay the .... whatever ... on top of a cube of rice. But mostly I'm looking for hints to make the rice come out better, or those little hints that make things go smoothly. I want to encourage this kind of thing, and my hostess is often very nervous about entertaining, so I want to do all I can to make things go as smoothly as possible for her.

 

[luvs]

as for dessert, maybe a local sushi bar would sell you some red bean ice cream? now, this is coming from the one who hates sweet food so much- the sushi chefs gave us a dessert of red bean ice cream wrapped in a thin sheet of some sort of mildly sweet i-don't-know-what, almost like a velvety rice dough and it was really delicious. i'm not sure what they were called. maybe even if a sushi chef would sell you some of those? sorry i can't give you the name of the dessert... :?

 

[mudbug]

Claire, sounds like you are rubbing off on the neighbors...........

 

[Claire]

Local Sushi Bar? Hahahahahah...... The local sushi bar is a two hour drive away! Remember shave ice with beans? And green tea ice cream? Oh, dear, my Hawaii years are showing!! No, not gonna happen!!!

And, yes, I am rubbing off on the neighbors. Actually this particular neighbor has always had a love of all things Japanese (think he had an exchange student friend as a kid who was Japanese) and is pretty adventurous food-wise himself. But his wife doesn't eat at all if she can help it, and is very nervous and uncomfortable as a hostess. I really want to help her make this party fun without "taking over" or stealing her thunder.

 

[Lugaru]

One of my favorite side dishes for Sushi which I dont know if its japanese but many sushi places in my home town carried it (Mexico) is this:

Cucomber slices
Rice wine vinagre
Cooked glass noodles (transparent rice noodles)
Chunks of artifical crab (those fleshy pices of crab flavored processed fish).
A little sugar and a touch of salt.

Basically you mix these to make a very refreshing and tart salad.

For dessert I suggest taking a page from thai or philipino cooking by mixing rice with coconut milk and sugar. Once this cools down put sliced mango on top with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

Also I've recently used this rice mix to make small nigiri sushi's with toppings such as mango and thinly sliced orange instead of fish.

 

[buckytom]

as for dessert, maybe a local sushi bar would sell you some red bean ice cream? now, this is coming from the one who hates sweet food so much- the sushi chefs gave us a dessert of red bean ice cream wrapped in a thin sheet of some sort of mildly sweet i-don't-know-what, almost like a velvety rice dough and it was really delicious. i'm not sure what they were called. maybe even if a sushi chef would sell you some of those? sorry i can't give you the name of the dessert... :?

it is called mochi ice cream. when dw was pregnant, that was one of the things she craved, along with chocolate soy milk. our fav mochi is vanilla and strawberry. i also like the red bean and green tea ice cream mochi's.

 

[kitchenelf]

I really don't think you'll need a mold. Remember to wrap your mat with plastic wrap. Keep a bowl of water handy to dip your fingers and palms in so the rice won't stick when forming the ball to place on the nori. Mise en place - very essential when making sushi in my opinion. Too bad everyone can't bring their own mat and roll their own - that is the fun of making sushi. When I make sushi here's what I have on hand:

salmon (that has been frozen for at least 24 hours and then thawed)
sashimi grade tuna
smoked eel
cream cheese
masago
chives
cilantro
cucumber sticks
carrot sticks VERY thin
avocado
strawberries
nori
white sesame seeds
black sesame seeds
spicy sauce (mayo, chili/garlic paste or Sciracha (sp?) sauce, ground sesame seed, masago)
low salt soy sauce
wasabi

OOPS - and of course the sushi rice - cool in any non-metalic bowl.

I know you didn't ask for a list but I thought while I was writing I would just list what I use.

I love a nori roll with cream cheese and strawberries. EVEN dipped in soy sauce! I love to add cilantro to the salmon rolls

Save some kind of squeeze bottle, or go to a beauty supply store and get a plastic perm bottle - snip the end a bit - and use that for the spicy sauce.

 

[Claire]

Oh, my dear. I just found this line ... was trying to figure out where to post the results of the sushi party. Suffice it to say it was a HUGE success. Look above (below) for details. We used all the hints provided, and I suspect we'll do this again some day. Thanks for all the help!!!!