Sushi Night!

   So last night was so fun!  Sarah and I went to Autumn and Brad's to spend the evening, and Autumn and I made Sushi!  I love Sushi, although I do not have the opportunity to eat it very often and I certainly have never made Sushi before.

   I watched the master Sushi maker (Autumn) go as she pulled out her roasted seaweed and began to spread the moist rice on top of the seaweed.  "Now you want to make sure you mash the rice down and make it as thin as possible," she said as she was nearly finished pressing the rice, "and be sure to leave a couple inches of seaweed without rice because when you roll it all up you spread some water on it and the seaweed sticks to itself.  It's magic!"  (mostly paraphrased)  After she spread the rice, it was now time to put in the shrimp and the avocado.  She carefully rolled up the Sushi, spread water on the seaweed so it would stick to itself, and cut it to perfect size.  "You're wasting some on the ends!  Oh, that's a great one don't throw it away!"  yelled Brad.  "This one is too small.  If I had my own Sushi restaurant I would throw this away because it isn't perfectly the same size as the others," as she scooped up the unfortunately tiny piece of Sushi and dropped it in the trash.  Brad threw a side-long look at me and I saw the sigh in his face.  I gave him a nod of understanding.

So, now it was my turn, only this time I would be trying to imitate the master...as if anyone could imitate Autumn's incredible cooking!!  As Autumn started slicing the fresh Sashimi (raw fish, "Sushi grade"!) I began to spread the rice, it was much harder than it looked as the rice was very sticky!  I dipped my fingers in the bowl of water and grabbed another bit of rice with my right hand as I wiped the sweat off my brow with my left hand, this is tough work!  I finally spread all the rice and now it was time to add the Sashimi and the avocado, then roll it up.  As I began to cut the Sushi I looked up to see a distressed look on Autumn's face, the first cut was a bit rough, I admit, but I didn't give up.  I pressed on.  "Now cut back and forth with a little pressure and let the knife do all the work," Autumn said as the next cut went perfectly.  I did it...I had made Sushi!  I felt like I was on top of the world!  The next cuts went perfectly and most were the same size. (I decided that if I threw away the one's that were different sizes we wouldn't have much Sushi to eat...haha.)  When we were finished making the Sushi, we realized Brad and Sarah had snuck into the living room to avoid the smell.  "Get back in here!!" yelled Autumn, "you have to stay in here with us!!"  They reluctantly obliged.

Man, that was good Sushi.  I'm excited I now know how to make it!  "And it's exciting that you can get all the ingredients at Safeway!  And it's all so cheap!" exclaimed Autumn as she masterfully picked up a piece of Sushi with her chopsticks and dipped it in her soy sauce/wasabi concoction.  Brad and Sarah gave her a disgusted look as they continued to dip their pretzels in molten chocolate.  So, if you ever need to make Sushi and don't know how, I will freely give out my...I mean...Autumn's number and she can walk you through it!

Grace and Peace,
Aaron