Sushi Time!

So my mom left me many sushi supplies so I could make sushi, but I always wondered when I would have time to do it. But, putting some time aside resulted in a pretty good meal (with plenty of leftovers!). I already had seaweed, soy sauce, the rolling mat (a makisu), and rice vinegar, so I went out and bought fake crab, cucumbers, avocados, and sushi-grade salmon and tuna (from Loblaws).

Making the rice wasn't too hard, I followed the instructions from a website (which I can't find at the moment :( ). Basically you rinse the rice well, cook it with enough water, let it cool, and then add the su (which is the rice vinegar-sugar-salt mix). In fact, this site looks pretty legit (http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/01/perfect-sushi-rice/). I didn't really measure out the su...I just eyeballed it and tasted it, then added the other ingredients if they were lacking.

Anyways here's the photo collection of the experiment...it got better as more were made :P

O yea I also used brown rice, which I thought wouldn't work or taste good but it actually turned out okay! Extra fibre for the win :P

So this was messy...they weren't pressed hard enough in the makisu, and thus fell apart when cutting.

Much better sushi when you press hard while rolling!

Cooking Chinese, Ordering Sushi

This post is about the actual Chinese food I make at home. I've got an assortment of food I'd eat more often, food I'd make much less often, and food to order when you're just craving.

First off is a simple stir-fried bok choy, sliced beef and vermicelli in the bottom there (though you can't really see it). Super simple, serves my veggie/protein needs, and relatively tasty (just add soy sauce).

On this day, I went full out making Chinese food you'd find in a restaurant. Little did I know how much salt and oil and that requires! This is why I don't make restaurant-style Chinese food on a daily basis, it is TOTALLY different from what Chinese people actually eat at home. However, on this day I pan-fried some chicken thighs marinated in oyster sauce, stir-fried asparagus and olives, and used the leftover oil from frying the chicken to crisp up some noodles. It was SO salty, and VERY oily, and I actually didn't feel very good after (or during the meal for that matter...I had to drink tons of water). It will be quite a long time before I fry noodles again.

On another night, my roommate and I decided to order sushi! It's always pricey and this one came out to around $35 dollars if I remember correctly....but it gave me the excuse to pull out these Japanese dishes that I rarely use. It also came with shrimp sushi (that was put in a separate container...due to my allergies).

Mmmm....

PS...I LOVE the Korean sushi roll (that's the one in the front with the fake crab, egg, cucumber, radish, and beef).

Sometimes I get frozen dumplings (though not often anymore), and decide to be lazy one night so I them out of the freezer. You simply boil them until they float (and I also cut it open because I'm still a novice at telling when it's cooked through). I had some Chinese vegetables that I stir-fried to complete the dish. I believe this is Chinese broccoli (Gai Lan). What's important is that it's green.