What’s Cooking: Sushi

As most of you know from my previous posts, I love a cooking challenge. I don’t think there is anything in the world that challenges an American cook like sushi. It requires precision, timing, and an artistic touch. While it is very simple, it takes more than a cookbook to learn how to make. Chris is in love with this stuff. He could eat eat 5 days our of the week if he could. I on the other had have never loved it for several reasons:

• It NEVER filled me up.
• The balance of texture and flavor never worked for my taste.
• The servings did not match up to the pricing.

I just never “got it.” Chris isn’t the only person I knew who was obsessed with this cuisine. My friend and bridesmaid, Bernadette, cannot hear the word sushi without drooling. After being out several times with both of them, I thought,

“I must be missing something. Why do they love it so much?”

As the rolls and Sashimi adorned the table, I would always think about the process for making such delicate fares. This cuisine was such a far cry from the down home cooking I was used to. Sushi chefs also would capture my attention as they stood behind the raw bar with their perfect stance. Almost like soldiers deep on the sushi front, they would get an order from the captain, yell out something I couldn’t understand, and begin with machine-like movements producing little plates of colorful entrees. They were so clean, fast, and precise. I was messy, slow, and offbeat. I liked to march to the beat of my own drummer and not be bogged down by rules or neatness! No, I definitely was not a sushi chef by nature.

This all changed one day when Chris took me to arguably the best and most popular sushi restaurant in Manhattan. We ordered several pieces of sushi and enjoyed our dinner for the most part. That was until the bill came. It was well over $150! It was a hard slap of reality.

“How could such small pieces of food cost so much?”

His sushi habit was getting out of control. I decided from that point on, I would find a way to make sushi. Even if it were just for Chris’ benefit, the effort would be worth it. So I plopped down in front of the computer and spend hours gathering information to learn the way of the sushi master. It was amazing to read about its history and culture. Sushi was more than just food; it was truly a disciplined art.

While I have since refined my sushi making skills, it is nearly impossible to write a recipe for it. Since it is heavily reliant on technique, a visual demonstration, such as a “how-to” video, works best. It is more than mixing ingredients. One must learn how to create rather than cook. It takes time to refine your hand movements, but once you do sushi will become a breeze to make.

Some benefits of making your own sushi:

• It costs you a lot less than you would spend in restaurants.
• You can be sure that your ingredients are super fresh.
• You can manipulate flavors and textures to create your own recipes.
• People will always be SHOCKED and IMPRESSED when they find out you make your own sushi!

CONCLUSION:
I hope to post a video cooking session soon to the blog, but until then enjoy drooling over these pics! By the way…I absolutely love sushi now. Making it at home gave me an opportunity to meet a desire of my husband and demonstrate my love for him. It also created in me an appetite for it. Not only that, but the freshness of the taste achieved in my kitchen has been far superior to that at any restaurant.  In fact, it’s so tasty  that Chris refuses to go to another sushi restaurant for life! I feel so proud every time he celebrates my work. It’s like making the winning touchdown!

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