Sushi- Feb 26

In order to make sushi night a possibility there was a considerable amount of effort put into the preparation. As usual with all things Thursday I spent lots of time on google.

Let us start with a shopping list (not in any special order)...
rice wine vinegar
sake
ginger
wasabe
soy sauce
cream cheese
cucumber
scallions
crab
avocado
shrimp
sesame seeds
masago
egg
flour
baking soda
vegetable oil
sugar
nori
olive oil

I cannot function without a good list. Or a notebook. Which is usually full of lists and recipes. Mostly recipes, but lots of lists. And side note - I LOVE the Asian market next to my house. Okay so enough rambling and onto the adventures of sushi.

To begin...

1. Prep. Prep. Prep. Before anyone came over that night I did as much prep work as possible. And I highly recommend taking the day off to complete this Thursday. I peeled and cut all of my vegetables and peeled the shrimp.
2. Prepare your rice. You're going to need it to cool before you can add the su (aka mixture added to rice to make it amazing). I highly suggest sushi rice. I'm sure regular would work but I've never tried it.
3. Immediately after you've started rice begin su mixture by combining rice wine vinegar, sugar and sake because you need it to come back to room temp. before you add it to rice.
4. Once you burn the rice in the bottom of the pot, come to conclusion that you should have listened to everyone and bought a rice cooker.
5. Uncork one chilled bottle of Luna di Luna Pino Grigio and start pouring. Be generous, you're really upset you just scalded your boyfriends pot.
6. Get confident. You can do this. You googled. For hours. You're an expert.
7. Okay, rice & su completed, mix together. Rice will be shiny and taste sweet tart-ish. Cover w/ warm, wet towel.

1. Heat oil for tempura.
2. Prepare tempura batter... 1 cup water, 1 large egg, 3/4 c. flour, 1/8 tsp baking soda. Mix wet, mix dry, yada yada yada. Mix together. It's lumpy. Deal with it. Keep cold. When oil reaches between 340 - 360 degrees begin frying.
3. Overheat oil, get deep into conversation, continue frying, smoke out apartment. Bad. Anger boyfriend and clear all of your guests out of apartment. Do not set off fire alarms.
4. Pour another glass of wine.
5. Lesson learned: Don't be dumb & cheap. Buy candy thermometer.
6. Problem solved.

Above is the ErinJackie Special. In order to create such a masterpiece of deliciousness you will need a bamboo rolling mat wrapped in plastic wrap. Then coat both bamboo mat and rice applying specialist's fingers in olive oil. Now we begin.

1. Place one sheet of nori on mat.
2. Put a decent sized handful of rice onto nori closest to you and work out from there. (When I say decent sized I'm referring to Jackie's tiny hands, so estimate from there. Guesswork never hurt anybody.)
3. Flip nori rice side down onto mat. Alright so this is a bit of an advanced roll but like I said. You've googled. You can do this.
4. Place in center of roll a decent amount of crab. Next to that place a couple of scallions. On top of that place cream cheese. Now push the shrimp tempura onto the cream cheese. This keeps everything in place. Add cucumber and avocado and you're ready to roll.
5. Roll the mat away from you onto the toppings, literally rolling as you go. At the beginning you are going to need to keep your fingers in the insides to stop them from going everywhere. This takes practice. Or googling to master. I skipped practice and went straight to google. Once you've gotten the first fold you will pull the mat back and then continue rolling with just your hands. (The rice should be on the outside...)
6. At this point you will sprinkle the outside with the desired amount of sesame seeds and masago. As you can see by the photos Jackie and I are fans of masago. Yum.

Okay so you've mastered the art of rolling the ErinJackie Special. Serve it to the people so that they can worship your amazing skills. Do a little dance. Oh dear, you've run out of wine. What to do...

Oh I know...send the men, who have not been drinking, to the market for more. Whew. Good call.

While the men are out, sit, enjoy the sushi of your labor, finish the last glass of wine, gossip with Jackie. This will inevitably lead to a discussion on yoga and the most difficult position in class as of late, which will lead to a demonstration in the living room floor.

When the men arrive, straighten quickly and act as if nothing happened. And when your boyfriend looks at the destruction you have caused in his kitchen here's what you are to do...

1. Look innocent.
2. Smile.
3. Deny everything. Yes, even the pot scalding and smoky oily room.
4. As politely if he'll uncork the new bottle.
5. Ask if he'd like another roll. (Because you're good, really good and they tasted amazing.)
6. Pour him his own glass of wine.
7. Offer a game of scrabble. Then lose. But not on purpose.
8. During scrabble have Jackie explain that this is just how Thursday's go.

Trying new things is what Thursday's are all about! Don't be shy!