Categories
Maki Recipes

Pacific Ocean Roll

pacific ocean roll

Ingredients
  • 6 sheets nori
  • 3 cups sumeshi
  • 6 oz smoked salmon
  • 1 small avocado
  • 6 slices bacon, cooked
Cooking Directions
  1. Cook sushi rice.
  2. Cut the avocado in half, discarding the pit.
  3. Use a large spoon to scoop the avocado out of the hard skin, being careful to keep the avocado half as whole as possible.
  4. Slice the avocado into slices.
  5. Cook the bacon to your preferred crispiness.
  6. Roll the sushi inside-out, using some smoked salmon, a few slices of avocado, and a strip of bacon as your fillings.
  7. Enjoy!
Categories
Maki Recipes

Spicy Tuna Roll

Inspired by Inside-Out Spicy Tuna Roll with Special Sauce.

Ingredients
  • 6 circular rice paper sheets
  • 2 cups sumeshi
  • 1 small avocado
  • 1/2 lb sashimi-grade tuna
  • 1/3 c mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp Sriracha sauce
  • 1 tsp hot chile oil
  • 1/2 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 tbsp chopped green onions
  • 3 tbsp toasted black sesame seeds
Cooking Directions
  1. Cook sushi rice.
  2. Cut the avocado in half, discarding the pit.
  3. Use a large spoon to scoop the avocado out of the hard skin, being careful to keep the avocado half as whole as possible.
  4. Slice the avocado into slices.
  5. Chop the tuna into 1/2-inch pieces
  6. Mix the tuna, mayonnaise, Sriracha sauce, hot chile oil, sesame oil, green onions, and sesame seeds.
  7. Wet the spring roll wrapper with warm water, making sure to cover every last spot on both sides of the wrapper.
  8. Lay the wrapper flat on your workspace.
  9. Put about 1/3 cup spicy tuna in the middle of the wrapper, leaving about 2 inches uncovered on either end.
  10. Scoop about 1/3 cup sumeshi onto the avocado, patting it into an oblong shape with either end pointing towards the sides of the wrapper.
  11. Top with a slice or two of avocado.
  12. Fold both sides of the wrapper in, over the fillings.
  13. Fold the bottom of the wrapper tightly up over the fillings.
  14. Roll the sushi away from you, until you reach the top of the wrapper, and seal it shut. (The wrapper should be sticky enough to stick to itself. If not, dampen the end with a little water.)
  15. Using a sharp knife, slice into 4 pieces.
  16. Enjoy!

Categories
Maki Recipes

South Wedge Roll

Ingredients
  • 6 sheets nori
  • 3 cups sumeshi
  • 6 oz smoked salmon
  • 1 small cucumber
  • 6 slices bacon, cooked
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1 tsp wasabi
  • 1 tbsp black sesame seeds
Cooking Directions
  1. Cook sushi rice.
  2. Slice the cucumber in half lengthwise.
  3. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds of the cucumber.
  4. Slice the cucumber into long, thin sticks.
  5. Mix the wasabi and mayonnaise.
  6. Roll the sushi inside-out, using some smoked salmon, a stick of cucumber, and a slice of bacon as your fillings.
  7. Drizzle with the wasabi mayonnaise, and sprinkle with black sesame seeds.
  8. Enjoy!

Categories
Maki Recipes

Red Dragon Roll



Supposedly today, June 18, is the “1st International Sushi Day”. I say supposedly, because November 1, 2006 (coincidentally the day we launched Sushi Day) was also the “1st” International Sushi Day. And it really wouldn’t surprise me if there have been others. Seems to me everyone claiming that today is International Sushi Day is referring to a group on facebook… so it seems to be a pretty arbitrary declaration of this new “international holiday”. But who am I to complain? Goodness knows I welcome multiple International Sushi Days every year… I’m down with celebrating sushi as often as possible. 😀

So in honor of this “1st” International Sushi Day, of course I have to bring you all a sushi recipe. Because though I know most of you will celebrate by going out for sushi (anyone want to help me convince Son to take me out for sushi tonight? ;)), I’m sure there are at least a few of you who might want to try making sushi at home. So for you, the Red Dragon Roll – my favorite combination of tuna and avocado, with the added coolness of the cucumber to counteract the burning spice of the Sriracha sauce, and the crunchy combination of nutty sesame seeds, salty tobiko, and added umami from the fried onions on top.

Have a wonderful 2nd 1st International Sushi Day!



Ingredients
  • 6 sheets nori
  • 3 cups sumeshi
  • 6 oz sashimi-grade tuna
  • 1 small avocado
  • 1/2 small cucumber
  • 1 tbsp Sriracha sauce
  • 1/4 cup tobiko
  • 1/4 cup fried onions
  • 1 tbsp black sesame seeds
Cooking Directions
  1. Cook sushi rice.
  2. Slice the tuna into 1 cm square sticks.
  3. Cut the avocado in half, discarding the pit.
  4. Use a large spoon to scoop the avocado out of the hard skin, being careful to keep the avocado half as whole as possible.
  5. Slice the avocado into slices.
  6. Slice the cucumber into long, thin sticks.
  7. Roll the sushi inside-out, using some tuna, avocado, cucumber, and a thin line of Sriracha sauce as your fillings.
  8. Sprinkle the tobiko, fried onions, and black sesame seeds on top.
  9. Enjoy!

Serving Size: 1 roll Red Dragon Roll

  • Calories: 249
  • Fat: 9g, 14% DV
  • Saturated Fat: 1g, 7% DV
  • Cholesterol: 31mg, 10% DV
  • Sodium: 613mg, 26% DV
  • Total Carbohydrates: 32g, 11% DV
  • Dietary Fiber: 2g, 7% DV
  • Sugars: 18g
  • Protein: 11g, 21% DV
  • Vitamin A: 20%
  • Vitamin C: 12%
  • Calcium: 6%
  • Iron: 11%
  • Magnesium: 11%
  • Potassium: 9%

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. These values are only estimates based on the individual ingredients, and not meant to replace the advice of a medical professional.

Categories
Maki Recipes

Katana Roll



I am not a gamer. While I do enjoy the occasional video game (I enjoyed the 10-day free trial of WoW a few years ago, and I had a blast playing Halo 3 with Son), I spend very little time reading or looking at anything about video games, and even less time actually playing. (Except for Wii Fit. Believe it or not, it’s actually a pretty great game if you want to get in shape… assuming you actually use it on a regular basis.)

Son, on the other hand, is a gamer. If he’s not working or watching/playing basketball he’s playing, reading about, or watching clips about video games. WoW, Halo, NBA 2K9… the man sure does love his video games.

So when we found out that we could get passes for E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) this year… Son was incredibly excited. Me… not so much. I was worried that I wouldn’t enjoy walking around looking at a bunch of video games I’ll probably never play, and I feared I’d feel incredibly out of place there.

Of course, my worries were completely silly. I had a blast. Although many of the games meant very little to me (like I said, not a gamer), there were some I recognized – God of War 2, Assassin’s Creed 2, some of the Wii games, and the demo of DJ Hero (like Guitar Hero, but for DJs) seemed pretty cool. Of course, if you want a real review of how E3 was and what was there, you’re going to have to look elsewhere. Most of the time I didn’t really know what I was looking at and didn’t play a single demo, though I did enjoy watching Son and his friend Dave play some of the games.

One of the games that Son played was called Mini Ninjas. It was a cute little game… sort of what you might get if you mixed Ninja Gaiden with Raving Rabbids. (See? I do know what I’m talking about. Sort of.) They have it for PS3, XBox360, and the Wii… it comes out in September. We might end up buying it – Son seemed to enjoy it. But that got me thinking about this Katana Roll, if only because of the name. (What? Swords are über cool in my world.)

So this roll, the Katana Roll. Seaweed salad, imitation crab, and mayonnaise, rolled up with sumeshi in a rice paper spring roll wrapper then topped with fried onions. It’s a playful roll, slightly sweet from the imitation crab, crunchy from the seaweed salad, salty from the fried onions on top. Light, summery, delicious.

Note: I do not have a recipe for seaweed salad, though I’m definitely looking. I buy my seaweed salad from my local Japanese market – most Japanese and many Asian markets will carry some variation of it. When I do find a good recipe for seaweed salad, I will post it here for you without hesitation, promise!

Ingredients
  • 6 circular Vietnamese rice paper sheets
  • 1.5 cups sumeshi
  • 12 3″ sticks imitation crab
  • 1 cup seaweed salad
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1/4 cup fried onions
Cooking Directions
  1. Cook sushi rice.
  2. Wet the spring roll wrapper with warm water, making sure to cover every last spot on both sides of the wrapper.
  3. Lay the wrapper flat on your workspace.
  4. Lay two sticks of imitation crab and about a tsp of mayonnaise in the middle of the wrapper, leaving about 2 inches uncovered on either end.
  5. Scoop about 1/3 cup sumeshi onto the fillings, patting it into an oblong shape with either end pointing towards the sides of the wrapper.
  6. Top the rice with about 1/6 cup of seaweed salad.
  7. Fold both sides of the wrapper in, over the fillings.
  8. Fold the bottom of the wrapper tightly up over the fillings.
  9. Roll the sushi away from you, until you reach the top of the wrapper, and seal it shut. (The wrapper should be sticky enough to stick to itself. If not, dampen the end with a little water.)
  10. Using a sharp knife, slice into 4 pieces.
  11. Sprinkle with fried onions.
  12. Enjoy!

Serving Size: 1 roll Katana Roll

  • Calories: 144
  • Fat: 5g, 8% DV
  • Saturated Fat: 1g, 3% DV
  • Cholesterol: 5mg, 2% DV
  • Sodium: 436mg, 18% DV
  • Total Carbohydrates: 16g, 5% DV
  • Dietary Fiber: 1g, 5% DV
  • Sugars: 9g
  • Protein: 2g, 3% DV
  • Vitamin A: 0%
  • Vitamin C: 0%
  • Calcium: 0%
  • Iron: 0%
  • Magnesium: 2%
  • Potassium: 1%

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. These values are only estimates based on the individual ingredients, and not meant to replace the advice of a medical professional.

Categories
Maki Recipes

Fisherman’s Roll

My family was never much of an outdoorsy type of family. Never once did we go camping, although we did often go hiking on a local trail. I did get some camping experience with my girl scout troop, but I would still consider myself far more of an indoors, city girl than someone who embraces the wild outdoors.

So I’m always in awe of those who are outdoorsy. Those who go rock climbing, or camping in the wilderness, or whitewater rafting, or even just fishing on a serene lake. Heck, I’ve only fished once in my life – on the bank of a man-made lake in Arizona, for catfish. We didn’t catch a thing.

So for all you hardcore outdoorsy people out there, this roll’s for you. This roll is fantastic – it’s surprisingly amazing how well smoked salmon and honey mustard complement each other, and the cucumber is a nice cool addition to the roll as well. Smoked salmon and honey mustard may be my favorite new combination (not just for sushi… I’ve put it in spring rolls and sandwiches as well).

And for now… I’ll live vicariously through my friend Friar’s fishing adventures.

fishermans roll

Ingredients
  • 6 sheets nori
  • 3 cups sumeshi
  • 6 oz smoked salmon
  • 1/2 small cucumber
  • 1/2 cup honey mustard
Cooking Directions
  1. Cook sushi rice.
  2. Slice the cucumber in half lengthwise, and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds.
  3. Slice the cucumber into long, thin strips.
  4. Roll the sushi inside-out, using some smoked salmon, a strip of cucumber, and some honey mustard as your fillings.
Categories
Maki Recipes

Lemon Drop Roll



Some people are just a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. Even when they’re going through pain or hard times, they always seem so bright and happy – the kind of person who makes everyone’s day better. My friend Wendi Kelly is one such person. As with quite a few of my other good friends, I met her through the Escaping Reality RPG. And the great thing about this woman is that every time I interact with her, whether on ER, or through facebook, or other means of communication, she never fails to make me smile and brighten up even my worst days. 🙂



Because today is Wendi’s birthday, I just had to dedicate this roll to her. It’s so bright and sunny, just like she is. Happy birthday, Wendi!



Ingredients
  • 6 sheets nori
  • 3 cups sumeshi
  • 1 cup imitation crab
  • 1 small cucumber
  • 1 small avocado
  • 6 oz smoked salmon
  • the juice of 1 lemon
Cooking Directions
  1. Cook sushi rice.
  2. Slice the cucumber into long, thin sticks.
  3. Cut the avocado in half, discarding the pit.
  4. Use a large spoon to scoop the avocado out of the hard skin, being careful to keep the avocado half as whole as possible.
  5. Slice the avocado into slices.
  6. Roll the sushi inside-out, using imitation crab, cucumber, and avocado as your fillings.
  7. Wrap with smoked salmon, squeeze the lemon juice over the roll.
  8. Enjoy!

Serving Size: 1 roll Lemon Drop Roll

  • Calories: 240
  • Fat: 7g, 11% DV
  • Saturated Fat: 1g, 5% DV
  • Cholesterol: 23mg, 8% DV
  • Sodium: 1035mg, 43% DV
  • Total Carbohydrates: 34g, 11% DV
  • Dietary Fiber: 1g, 5% DV
  • Sugars: 19g
  • Protein: 10g, 21% DV
  • Vitamin A: 7%
  • Vitamin C: 15%
  • Calcium: 1%
  • Iron: 4%
  • Magnesium: 6%
  • Potassium: 6%

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. These values are only estimates based on the individual ingredients, and not meant to replace the advice of a medical professional.

Categories
Maki Recipes

Sassy Shrimp Roll



I am a very shy girl. In social situations I’m awkward, quiet, and generally über polite to a fault. Because of this, I have very few people that I can consider really great, close friends. But every once in a blue moon, I meet someone with whom I just *click*. Whether it be online or off, once in a while I just know that I’m going to become very good friends with this person.

Nicole Brunet is one such person. We had probably “seen” each other in passing on certain blogs before then, but we really met almost a year ago when we both joined a new RPG. (Incidentally, I’ve made quite a few great friends from there. Harry and James have gotten together a damned good group of players there. 😀 ) Since then we’ve not only become two of the biggest addicts on ER (I mean… addicts? Nah. We don’t have a problem, really.) and fantastic friends. You could call us kindred spirits, even. (No pun intended. 😉 )

And… today’s her birthday! Happy birthday, Nicole! So, me being me, of course I had to make her sushi. I chose the Sassy Shrimp Roll for her, because Lizzy Nicole is a bit of a sassy one at times (and we all love her for it!) 😉 And because this roll was really freaking good. Only the best for my friends. 🙂



Ingredients
  • 6 sheets nori
  • 3 cups sumeshi
  • 12 pieces tempura shrimp
  • 6 oz sashimi-grade tuna
  • 1 small cucumber
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp Sriracha sauce
Cooking Directions
  1. Cook sushi rice.
  2. Bake the tempura shrimp for 12 minutes at 350°F, or as instructed on the package.
  3. Remove the tails from the tempura shrimp.
  4. Slice the tuna into long strips, about 1 cm in diameter.
  5. Slice the cucumber into long, thin sticks.
  6. Mix the mayonnaise and Sriracha sauce.
  7. Roll the sushi inside-out, using 2 tempura shrimp, a strip of tuna, and a stick of cucumber as your fillings.
  8. Drizzle with spicy mayonnaise.
  9. Enjoy!

Serving Size: 1 roll Sassy Shimp Roll

  • Calories: 334
  • Fat: 11g, 17% DV
  • Saturated Fat: 1g, 5% DV
  • Cholesterol: 42mg, 14% DV
  • Sodium: 734mg, 31% DV
  • Total Carbohydrates: 42g, 14% DV
  • Dietary Fiber: 3g, 12% DV
  • Sugars: 17g
  • Protein: 15g, 29% DV
  • Vitamin A: 18%
  • Vitamin C: 5%
  • Calcium: 0%
  • Iron: 9%
  • Magnesium: 4%
  • Potassium: 3%

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. These values are only estimates based on the individual ingredients, and not meant to replace the advice of a medical professional.

Categories
Maki Recipes

Kyoto Roll

Sometimes I think we, as humans, overcomplicate things. We pack our schedules to the gills, we insist on cutting-edge technology for the most mundane tasks, and we are constantly going, going, going. Rarely do we stop and smell the roses, and appreciate the simpler things in life.

It’s amazing how some of the best things are actually the simplest of all. For example, this sushi. Goodness knows I’ve made some ridiculously complicated (though very tasty) rolls in the past couple of years that I’ve been blogging. But recently, I was reminded that sometimes, simpler is better.

Who knew that the simple, almost boring combination of tuna and avocado could be so… non-boring? Exciting, even. Heck, you can get rid of the wasabi mayonnaise, and even the sesame seeds… but you must try the avocado. And. Tuna. So simple, and yet so darned addictive… never would I have dreamed that such a simple combination can be so amazing.

Ingredients
  • 6 sheets nori
  • 3 cups sumeshi
  • 6 oz sashimi-grade tuna
  • 1 large avocado
  • 1/4 c mayonnaise
  • 1 tsp wasabi
  • 1/8 c black sesame seeds
Cooking Directions
  1. Cook sushi rice.
  2. Slice the tuna into 1 cm square sticks.
  3. Cut the avocado in half, discarding the pit.
  4. Use a large spoon to scoop the avocado out of the hard skin, being careful to keep the avocado half as whole as possible.
  5. Slice the avocado into slices.
  6. Mix the mayonnaise and wasabi.
  7. Roll the sushi inside-out, using some tuna and avocado as your fillings.
  8. Drizzle the sushi with wasabi mayonnaise, then sprinkle with black sesame seeds.
  9. Enjoy!