Monday, September 5, 2011

Sushi makes my skirt fly up


I follow Pioneer Woman. Her phrasing amuses me.  One I've never really gotten on board with, however, is "makes my skirt fly up," which she says about something when she REALLY likes it.

Well, sushi makes my skirt fly up.

No, I'm not adopting the phrase.  I literally was walking into the grocery store where I can buy sashimi grade fish when my skirt went WOOSH! right up.  Thank goodness I was wearing a slip.  My mother emphasized the need for a slip for years, and it was only when I got to my late teens/early 20s that I would put it on routinely.  Thanks mom.

Also, having your skirt fly up is not nearly so mortifying as it was in my "youth."  I did not die on the spot, I did not hear any mocking laughter.

I did, however, hold my skirt down all the way into the store and then all the way to the car.  This North Texas wind....

This is where I start writing about this sushi.  Even if I had been a 6-year-old mortified girl, the skirt incident would have been worth the sushi!  This weekend is Tom's and my "we started dating 3 years ago" anniversary, and on that weekend, we went out for sushi.  Being more energetic and endeavorous this year, I decided to make sushi.  The delightful thing is that you only have to make the rice and slice up stuff for the rest.  We are still mastering the roll assembly, but the rice recipe was awesome and the fish was delectable.  Add in some crisp cucumber, crunchy jicama and creamy avocado for veggies and sriracha and wasabi mayo for dipping or mixing sauces, and we were in business! The rice recipe follows.

And, since I am on a cost kick, I rang it up.  We ate 2 double stuffed rolls apiece and 3 regular rolls apiece, 2 nigiri apiece.  At the cheaper local joint, that would have been $52 (granted, we ate more because we had to finish the fish), but for making this at home, it came out to a whopping $9.18.  Honestly, if we'd gone out, we would have probably eaten less sushi but selected a fancier roll to go with our old stand bys, and I can at least say that in the past, cost has traditionally ranged from 38-60.  Even if we go with the low end, that's still a $30 savings.

Also, we ate collectively 2 cups rice and 1/2 lb salmon, 1/2 cucumber, 1/2 avocado and 1/4 lb jicama.  That comes to 320 calories for the rice, 161 calories for the salmon, 90 for veggies (oh, avocado) per person.... Altogether, not a bad meal!

The rice recipe came from here, but we halved it to suit the size of our dining party.  We still had about 2/3 c left over.

1 c calrose rice
1.5 c water
1" piece konbu (kelp; if I know you, I have plenty to spare or can direct you to where to find it in the area)
1.5 T rice vinegar
1.5 T sugar
1/2 tsp salt.

Rinse rice until the water runs clear.  It takes a bit; the rice is pretty starchy. Drain it well.  Add rice, water and konbu to quart sized pot and let soak for 30 minutes.  Bring rice to a boil, cover, and bring down to a simmer for 15 minutes.  Turn off and let sit 5 minutes.  While rice cooks, mix remaining ingredients.  After rice has sat its 5 minutes, scoop it into a large bowl and pour the vinegar/sugar mix over the top.  Stir until it's incorporated, but don't overmix and break up the rice.  Let sit until it is cool enough to handle (about 1 hour).

There are some more photos below because I was REALLY excited.



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