Originally posted on September 10, 2005.

Here are the ingredients, cost, and recipe for making your own homemade sushi. We will be making California Rolls here. It’s easy, and much cheaper than what you would pay in trendy sushi bars.

The Basic California Roll Process:

1. Make the rice (a given, eh?)
2. Cover the bamboo mat in plastic wrap.
3. Cut a piece of Nori (seaweed/algae) in two..
4. Cut up some avocado, cucumber and cream cheese.
5. Place the ½ nori sheet at the end (toward you) of the mat.
6. Spread a small handful of sushi rice on the nori sheet, leaving a ¼ of an inch on either side..
7. Shake on some sesame seeds..
8. Flip the whole thing over (yes it’s sticky enough that it’s possible)
9. Place chopped avocado, cucumber and crab meat along the middle of the roll.
10. Roll gently with even pressure.
11. Cut roll in half..
12. Align the 2 halves and cut twice into 6 even pieces.

Now onto photos of the process! Let the fun begin..

We’ll need some crab meat, cream cheese, avocado, cucumber, and sesame seeds.

Note: Unless you live next to the coast (and have connections), crab meat is never “fresh” (as in raw).. Crab is usually cooked and flash frozen as soon as it was unloaded from the boat that caught it. If the ‘fresh’ crab legs you just bought were orange or red they were already cooked..

You can buy sheets of Nori (dried seaweed, or more accurately, dried algae) in most well stocked stores, even the local chain store down the street in most places.

Cut a sheet of the Nori in 2 pieces. A whole sheet is way more than we need for just 1 roll..

Here we have 2 pieces of Nori ready to make sushi rolls with..

I peeled the skin off the cucumber, and then scraped out the seeds and guts with a spoon. I cut the avocado around and removed the middle. I then cut the exterior skin off the avocado before cutting it into strips too..

Wet your hands a little and add on some of the sushi rice, leaving ¼ of an inch on each side. And I wouldn’t add any more rice than it takes to make the rice ¼ inch high. Any more than ¼ inch high and you probably won’t be able to complete the roll and close it..

Being a California Roll we pat the rice down and then sprinkle on some sesame seeds. Flip the roll over (as sticky as the rice is it’s easy) so we can add the other ingredients..

We then add on the strips of cucumber, avocado and some crab meat.. I also used some cream cheese too, good stuff.

I love cream cheese in sushi rolls! mMmm..

Roll with an even pressure along the roll..

If all went well place the roll on the board and cut in two..

Place the 2 chunks side by side and cut into 3 pieces, which should make 6 sushi pieces.

Add a dab of wasabi, some soy sauce, and we’re ready to chow down.. Woo?

Note: The small can you see near the coffee machine is the “wasabi”. You mix it 1 to 1 with some water to make the dough/paste you’re used to getting on your sushi platter at a sushi bar. And just like the stuff at your favorite sushi bar this stuff is just mostly horseradish, and contains almost no real wasabi root.

While mixing up the “wasabi” paste I made the mistake of trying to smell it to see if it was what I was used to.. And yes, it was. My eyes watered for at least 10 minutes after I got away from the stuff.. wOO!

Originally posted on September 10, 2005.

Here are the ingredients, cost, and recipe for making your own homemade sushi. We’ll be making Tuna Rolls here. It’s not too hard, and much cheaper than what you would pay in trendy sushi bars.

The Basic Tuna Roll Process:

1. Make the rice (a given, eh?)
2. Cut a piece of Nori (seaweed/algae) in two..
3. Place the ½ nori sheet at the end (toward you) of the mat.
4. Cut the raw sushi-grade tuna against the grain.
5. Spread a small handfull of sushi rice on the nori sheet, leaving a ½ of an inch on either side..
6. Add the thinly sliced raw tuna in the middle of the rice covered sheet of nori.
7. Roll gently with even pressure.
8. Cut roll in half..
9. Align the 2 halves and cut twice into 6 even pieces.

Now onto photos of the process! This is fun stuff.

The tuna roll is pretty simple. We need only a bamboo rolling mat, some sushi-grade raw tuna (ask your meat guy at the store), some sushi rice, and a knife to cut the rolls with.. I don’t own a sushi knife yet, so the trusty chef’s knife will have to do..

Note: Never buy sushi meat (of any kind) without first talking to the guy behind the counter, and try not to buy packaged stuff out of the case at your local HEB/Fry’s/Kroger/etc.. major chain store..

Sushi meat needs to be fresh, and of sushi quality. I asked my local fish monger at the Whole Foods down the street for tuna suitable for sushi, and he gave me some tuna suitable for the task. For this sushi dish we’ll be consuming some raw meat, so we want it to be not only safe but of the best quality we can get as well.. If it smells “fishy”, don’t buy it!

You can buy sheets of Nori (dried seaweed, or more accurately, dried algae) in most well stocked stores, even the local major chain store down the street in most places.

Cut a sheet of the Nori in 2 pieces. A whole sheet is way more than we need for just 1 roll..

Here we have 2 pieces of Nori ready to make sushi rolls with..

Next we lay out our bamboo mat with the flat side up..

Wet your hands a little and add on some of the sushi rice, leaving ¼ of an inch on each side. And I wouldn’t add any more rice that it takes to make the rice ¼ inch high. Any more than ¼ inch high and you probably won’t be able to complete the roll and close it..

Note: Place the rough side of the Nori up, and the shiny side down.

Slice off some chunks of the raw tuna against the grain..

Lay the sliced tuna in the middle, or a little toward you, on the sushi rice.

Gently roll with even pressure until the roll is formed..

Remove roll from bamboo mat, place on cutting board, and cut in two pieces..

Then lay each piece beside each other and cut into 3 sections..

Add a small dab of wasabi, some soy sauce, and some chop sticks, and it’s ready to eat!

Note: The small can you see near the coffee machine is the “wasabi”. You mix it 1 to 1 with some water to make the dough/paste you’re used to getting on your sushi platter at a sushi bar. And just like the stuff at your favorite sushi bar this stuff is just mostly horseradish, and contains almost no real wasabi root.

While mixing up the “wasabi” paste I made the mistake of trying to smell it to see if it was what I was used to.. And yes, it was. My eyes watered for at least 10 minutes after I got away from the stuff.. wOO!