Sushi Baby

I ate a lot of sushi growing up. Hawaii has a ton of Asian influence and sushi rolls are the snack of choice at most gas-station-marts, 711s, or mom & pop grocery stores. The three groceries in the little tropical town I grew up in were Ohashi's, Fukashima's and Hanzawa's (all three are still kicking--I hope). Hey, do they even have "general stores" on the mainland? After our beach trips, my friends and I would scrounge up loose change in our cars and pool together money for Maki Sushi (around 40 cents each--dyed daikon radish, egg, raw carrot, and canned tunafish flavored with soy sauce) and Sushi Cones ( 65 cents--sweet rice with grated carrot in a fried tofu wrapper) . Ahh, teenagers... I never had "real" restaurant sushi until my college years in Portland, Oregon. And that was also affordable (gotta love Oregon for that) and delicious.

We've been on an even stricter budget lately, paying off med bills/student loans and getting by on A's student stipend. While I figure out a way to make us some money, I've gotten even more creative in the kitchen. Our menu focuses mainly on bulk-bin items and fruits and veggies (plus our garden provides gloriously). Along with our pre-made frozen bulk-bin-beans, eggs and tofu are our main protein. So, the other night I was putting together an uninspired dinner of tofu/veggie stirfry and rice, I saw some packages of nori seaweed wrappers leftover from a sushi party we once had. The mood of our dinner quickly changed from boring rice bowls to a festive sushi party for two. Once you learn how to work one of those little sushi mats and have the ingredients to season the rice on hand (sugar, salt, rice vinegar) making sushi is simple and has lots of room for error. It doesn't even require fish or seafood. The other night I had to inform someone of the difference between sushi and sashimi (raw fish). But yeah, sushi often does have sashimi in it. Not the gas station kind though. ;-)

Trivia I recall from my two years of studying Japanese in high school:

1. Sushi chefs are supposed to be men. (Oops!)
2. You should always refuse a gift twice before accepting it (unrelated and probably totally incorrect!)
3. Sushi should always be cut by dividing it in half. Start cutting the long roll in the middle, then half, again, then again. Otherwise, you will be cursed.

Oh, and I discovered a bread knife works wonderfully for the cutting part.

In the sushi pictured above I put in several grilled asparagus spears, some sauteed tofu, a fried egg cut up into strips, avocado, and raw carrot. You could add cabbage, smoked salmon, even cream cheese. Before our Recession Proof Diet, I bought barbecued eel in a tin foil package at the Asian market for a fancier creation.

Orderly, colorful sushi is certainly a lot prettier than a sloppy bowl of rice goulash. And it is far more photogenic!

What do YOU like in your sushi?