The OC Sushi

I've tried to make sushi a small handful of times (4 to be exact, so I suppose a handful for one without thumbs) and I've yet to really get the hang of it. Preparing sushi is an entirely different method of food preparation than what I like to do. It involves actually caring how things are cut to give them uniform shapes, being gentle and patient and there's no oil or butter, so I'm pretty much at a loss.

As you probably recall from my episode with Ahi Tuna, I do not believe that there is such thing as sushi grade fish in my tiny city in Northern Alberta, outside of a sushi bar. So, California Rolls it is. I was a bit worried that Shannon would have a reaction to the imitation crab again, but things seemed to go over well (that is, no trips to the hospital). I have not been historically fond of sushi, but as I acquire a taste for rice vinegar, it's starting to grow on me. I don't think that there was enough vinegar in this recipe to really impart much flavor on the rice, so feel free to adjust it accordingly.

I wish I could offer some tips or suggestions on how to make the whole process easier, but I can't. The instructions I read made little sense until I actually figured out what I was doing. Hindsight is twenty-twenty after that and the whole "tuck and roll" thing seemed to work out a bit better. With only 4 rolls it's hard to really get much experience with the whole process. This was my first time making the inside out rolls. Aside from involving some saran wrap to flip them over, it's basically the same method on a different side. I think I prefer the inside in way of doing things because then I can just pick them up with my hands without getting rice all over my fingers. Chopsticks only work so well, especially when my rolls end up indelibly huge.