i dream of sushi

If there is one food that I find myself craving quite often, it’s gotta be sushi. I just love how cute and little they are! But for the longest time I had been too intimidated to even try to make them myself… until about a week ago when I found the nori sheets and sushi rice at the local farmer’s market. It was as if a beam of white light lead me to them… and I knew what I had to do!

As soon as I got home that day I searched “how to make sushi” on youtube. I watched about six different videos (at least twice) until I was confident enough to go for it. The only part that still had me feeling a little apprehensive was perfecting the sushi rice. I don’t know what it is about rice, but I always manage to screw it up unless I’m using a rice cooker. When it comes time to making it on the stovetop, my rice either comes out undercooked or too mushy.

Anyway, I had read somewhere online to prepare the rice two hours in advance. That way the rice would have enough time to cool down to room temperature. First I made my rice vinegar mixture. Then I took a deep breath, and followed the directions on the packaging verbatim. After it was cooked I laid it out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, with a damp towel over it. An hour later my rice was ready! It was shiny and sticky and just right. Phew!

Once the hard part was done I was rolling my California rolls in no time! I refrigerated my leftover sushi rice and prepared the rest for lunch earlier today. My boyfriend and I both agreed that they tasted even better the second time. Maybe refrigerating it gave the rice more time to absorb the rice vinegar? Maybe it was the fact that the rice was chilled? Maybe we were hungrier? Not sure what it was, but the leftovers were super yummy.

If you haven’t tried making your own sushi at home yet, give it a try! It’s easier than you think!