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Temari Sushi with Smoked Salmon

Ingredients

(Makes about 20 temari sushi. Recipe is for three types: smoked salmon with avocado; smoked salmon with cucumber & lemon; smoked salmon with cream cheese & capers) 

• Sushi rice using 2 rice cooker cups of short grain rice and additional seasonings 
• 20 slices of smoked salmon
• 1/2 avocado
• 3 inches of English cucumber
• 10-15 capers
• 1 slice of lemon
• 2 tablespoons of cream cheese

* You need plastic wrap to make temari sushi.

Directions

1. Follow the directions by food blogger Marc Matsumoto, who writes for the No Recipes and PBS Fresh Tastes blogs, and make sushi rice. Good sushi rice is the key to tasty sushi.

2. Cut the cucumber into slices approximately 2 mm. thick, then cut each slice in half vertically. Cut the avocado into slices approximately 5 mm. thick.

3. Cut the plastic wrap 7-8 inches long and place it on the counter. Place a slice of avocado on the plastic wrap, then cover it with a piece of smoked salmon and add 2 tablespoons of sushi rice on top.

4. Put the plastic wrap with ingredients on your palm.

5. Pull the edges of the plastic wrap to the center to wrap the whole thing.

6. Twist the plastic wrap at the bottom of the sushi ball.

7. Squeeze it to make the sushi nice and round. (Don't squish it!)

8. Unwrap. Now you have one temari sushi with smoked salmon & avocado.

9. To make one with smoked salmon, cucumbers & lemon, repeat steps 3-8, this time using two slices of cucumbers and a slice of smoked salmon. Garnish with a small slice of lemon.

10. To make one with cream cheese & capers, repeat steps 3-8, this time using only smoked salmon. Garnish with a little bit of cream cheese and capers.

This recipe yields 6-7 pieces of each kind (avocado, cucumber, cream cheese & capers), but you may incorporate other ingredients and adjust the amount of ingredients accordingly. 

Tips

- Ingredients I often use include raw fish such as salmon and tuna, smoked salmon, cucumber, kaiware daikon radish, shiso leaves, alfalfa, scrambled eggs and more. Ikura, which is salmon roe, can make temari sushi look elegant.

- Be creative and design your own temari sushi using your choice of ingredients.

- A small bowl of water and wet towels come in handy while you are making temari sushi as some ingredients such as rice can stick to your hands.

- It's often easier to eat temari sushi with your fingers. You don't need chopsticks to eat them.

California Rolls - American-Style Sushi Rolls

Equipment Needed: 
Bamboo sushi-roll mat
Clean cutting board
Sushi knife or very sharp knife
Nori seaweed sheets
Rice Cooker (optional)
Wood spoon or plastic rice paddle for spreading rice
Plastic wrap

Rice Ingredients:
6 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons salt
3 cups uncooked Japanese medium-grain sushi rice*
4 cups water

Sushi Ingredients:
5 sheets of sushi nori (seaweed in big squares)**
1 large cucumber 
2 to 3 avocados
Fresh-squeezed lemon juice
Cooked crab meat or imitation crab sticks***
Wasabi (Japanese horseradish)
Soy Sauce 
Pickled Ginger

* Only use Japanese medium-grain sushi rice/ OR Australian Pearl Sushi Rice in sushi making. It is a medium-grained rice and gets sticky when it is cooked. Long-grained American rice will not work because it is drier and doesn't stick together. 

** Roasted-Seaweed (Nori) - Sheets of thin seaweed which is pressed and dried. As a general rule of thumb – good Nori is very dark green, almost black in color. 

*** Imitation crab sticks are the easiest to use. They can be found in Japanese or any Asian store food stores. 

Making Sushi Rice:

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Heat mixture just until the sugar dissolves (do not let it boil). Remove from heat and let cool until ready to use.

Start preparing the rice approximately 2 hours before you want to make the sushi rolls.

Wash rice, stirring with your hand, until water runs clear. Place rice in a saucepan with water; let soak 30 minutes.

Drain rice in colander and transfer to a heavy pot or Rice Cooker; add 4 cups water. NOTE: To improve the texture of the rice, after rinsing, let the rice drain 30 minutes in the refrigerator before cooking (put the strainer with the rice in a large bowl to catch the water).

Preparing Sushi Ingredients:

Wash, peel, and seed cucumber. Slice in half lengthwise, then cut into long, slender strips.

Cut the avocados in half lengthwise, then remove the pit; cut each section in half again (lengthwise), and carefully remove the peel. Cut the section in long slender strips. Sprinkle the sliced avocado with lemon juice to keep from discoloring.

Place the cucumber slices, avocado slice, and crab slices on a plate; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to use.
 

Making California Rolls:

(1) Lay the Bamboo sushi-roll mat on a cutting board with bamboo strips going horizontally from you.	(2) Place a sheet of plastic wrap on top of the bamboo mat (shiny side down). Place the Roasted-Seaweed (Nori) on top of the plastic wrap.
(3) Spread a thin layer, 3/4 to 1 cup, of Japanese medium-grain sushi rice over 3/4 of the nori leaving approximately one inch of uncovered nori at each end. It helps to wet your fingers with cold water when you are patting the rice onto the nori.	(4) Arrange strips of avocado and cucumber along the center of the rice; top with crab meat.
Making Inside-Out Rolls -  After spreading the rice on the nori, sprinkle with poppy or roasted sesame seeds. Cover with a sheet of plastic wrap on top. Lifting with the bottom plastic wrap, turn over the nori/rice sheet onto the bamboo rolling mat. Remove top plastic wrap and proceed as below.

Rolling California Rolls:

Placing your fingers on the ingredients, carefully bring the bottom end of the rolling mat and the plastic wrap up and over the ingredients (tucking the end of the nori to start a roll). Pull back the rolling mat and plastic wrap, as necessary, so it does not get rolled into the sushi. NOTE: Roll tightly with firm pressure.

Continue rolling the sushi and pulling back the rolling mat and plastic wrap, as necessary, until you have approximately 1 to 2 inches of the top of the nori showing. Rub a small amount of cold water on the edge of the nori and bring the nori around so that it completes the sushi roll.

Gently squeeze the rolling mat around the sushi roll until it is firm and forms an even roll (be carefully not to squeeze too hard, as you may crush the ingredients or squeezed them out).
 

Wrap the plastic wrap around the roll and set aside until ready to cut. Refrigerate or for longer storage. Repeat with remaining nori sheets to make additional rolls.

Cutting California Rolls:

Place rolls on a flat cutting board and remove plastic wrap.

Using a Sushi knife or a sharp knife, slice the sushi roll first down the middle. From there you can cut it into 6ths or 8ths, whichever you prefer (wet the knife between each cut to make it easier to cut and keep the rice from sticking to the knife).

 

Serving California Rolls:

Turn the cut California rolls on end and arrange on a serving platter or Sushi Plates.