I Scream, Kids Scream, We All Scream for SUSHI!

Be it kids or adults, our taste buds crave for this very simple yet delicious food anytime – sushi! For beginners, the taste and smell of sushi makes you repel it. However, after a few tries, believe me, you start developing the taste and gradually want more and more of it.

That is how it was with my kids. Initially, they would pick at it and make faces as if it was some alien I had given them to eat. However, now I am at least preparing sushi once every two weeks.

My cravings for sushi or any Japanese food started since I was eight years old. Since I used to live in Japan, I loved making and eating Japanese food every day. However, the biggest challenge I had was being a vegetarian – that too strict no eggs, poultry, seafood etc. So, a lot of times, my mom would learn vegetarian version of Japanese food and prepare it for us.

Sushi may look complicated but believe me it is a really easy food to prepare, looks delicious and best of all your kids will enjoy it the most. I feel it is also an art because you can get very creative with your presentation.

So here is my secret recipe for sushi.

Ingredients:

• 1 -1.5 cups Japanese rice
• Sushi seaweed wrappers
• Soy wrappers (Alternative for those who are vegan or do not like seaweed)
• Veggies – Cucumber (peeled), Avocado, Jalapeno, Asparagus, Red/ Yellow/ Green Bell Peppers (thin slices and slightly saute so its not too raw)
• 1 bowl Soy sauce
• Rice (Sushi) Vinegar
• Pickled Ginger (if you wish)
• 1 spoon Wasabi (if you wish)
• 1 Bamboo mat (to roll sushi)
• Sesame seeds for sprinkling

Now do not get scared looking at the list. The recipe is pretty easy.

Method:

1. First you take 1-1.5 cup of rice and wash it thoroughly. (Japanese sushi rice are sticky and small grains.) The proportion of rice to water is 1-1.5 cup rice to 2 cup water. You can cook your rice in rice cooker for best results. If you do not have rice cooker, you can use a normal pot. Combine the water and rice in a pan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is tender and water has been absorbed. Remove the rice, stir in 4 spoons of rice vinegar to the rice. Taste and see if you need more vinegar.

2.  Meanwhile, you can cut your vegetables. If you have a lot of raw vegetables, you can slightly saute them so that kids can devour them down. Make sure you cut very thin slices. The thinner they are, it will be easier to roll the sushi.

3. Take a bowl with cold water in it.

4. Now that you have all your ingredients ready, lay the bamboo mat on the table. Take out the seaweed (soy wrapper) and put it on the mat. There is usually a rough and smooth side to the seaweed. Make sure the smooth side is facing down and rough side is up.

5. Wet your hands and fingers in the bowl of water. Take some rice and spread it evenly on the seaweed. Do not put a lot of rice because then your sushi will come out very fat and if you put very less rice, you will taste more seaweed.

6. Sprinkle some sesame seeds on the rice. (Optional)

7. Then place all the veggies in one line on only one side. Start rolling the sushi away from you with your hands, tucking in the vegetables as you go.

As you roll, remove the mat from under the roll and place it on top. Make sure to press the roll into a compact rectangular log, using the mat.

8. Ta-da! Your sushi is ready. Use a sharp wet knife to slice the rolls into 5 or 6 slices.

9. Take some soy a sauce, wasabi and ginger in a plate, place your sushi and enjoy them!

Tips:

1.  If you are out of sushi vinegar, just take normal vinegar add a pinch of salt and half spoon sugar and mix it. You can add this mixture to your rice.

2.  If your knife is blunt, take half a lemon, rub on to the blunt side which will make it sharp again.

3. If you want to just make sushi from rice, then you can use plastic wrap. Place it on top of the bamboo mat, put rice on the plastic wrap and follow the steps for sushi.

4. Discover all this products at any Japanese or Asian stores or best is amazon.com.

Originally, sushi originated from China in second A.D. and then it spread to Japan.  It was a way to preserve food. They would put fish in the rice to allow it to ferment and to keep the fish edible for some time. Once, the fish was fermented, the rice was thrown away. Eventually, people started eating the fish and rice together, creating a simple version of our sushi.

Sushi is a form of your own creation. There is no right or wrong versions of sushi – it all comes down to your taste and how you want your sushi to be. Some people prefer to make a fruit sushi by using mango, kiwi, strawberry or peaches. Therefore, its time to get creative with your sushi.