My Japanese husband gives you a big thumbs up! Looks lots better than my first try!:D It really is an art in Japan and it takes many years of apprenticeship before one is considered a "master!" you should feel very proud of yourself!:)
Some hints...
Make sure you use only Japanese short grained rice; preferably the brands labled "sushi" rice...getting it just the right degree of "stickiness" is the hardest part and just takes practice. You'll learn from rolling, whether it's too wet or too dry. Using an electric rice cooker helps a lot!
Are you using seasoned rice vinegar to season? Most supermakets carry one or two brands; Marukan is a good one. We use about 1 TBSP. of seasoned vinegar for each cup of COOKED rice
After the rice is cooked, put it into a dampened wooden bowl if you have one, like a salad bowl.
Pour the vinegar over the rice and using a wooden spoon or a spatula, make diagnonal "cuts" across the rice, gathering rice to one side.
Once again, make the diagonal cuts across the rice. Find something you can fan the rice with and turn the rice several times. This helps the vinegar to be absorbed. Cover the rice with a damp cloth and cool to body temp.
Some things that are absolute no, no's are...
Never refrigerate sushi. It really ruins the taste and texture of the rice. If you don't eat it all at one sitting, keep it covered at room temp. but not for more than a few/several hours, especially if it contains fish!
Most Americans use WAY to much wasabi; it really ruins the delicate taste of the sushi.
If you're eating nigiri sushi (not rolled sushi, which is called maki, but the type where the fish or whatever, sits on top of the hand molded rice) dip the piece into the soy sauce/wasabi fish or top side down. Dunking the rice side into the soy sauce abosrbs too much soy sauce!
Are you serious Richard??? SPAM???:eek: lol! Actually, most people think sushi means "raw fish." Sushi simply means "seasoned rice," so technically, anything goes!:rolleyes: Sashimi is the term for individual pieces of raw piece eaten without rice:)
Of course, to each his own!:)
