Tuesday at the Table: Rolling Pin Sushi

I've been waiting for Tuesday at the Table to share a new technique I just came up with for making sushi at home!!

Our family LOVES sushi.  In fact I have even been known to BRIBE my kids with sushi!!  Unfortunately, our nearest sushi restaurant is almost an hour away.  When we lived in Michigan a few years ago, the closest place was even farther away.  Living in rural America, I've had to learn how to make the foods I crave and can rarely get in a small town.  Like Cajun food, Mexican food (when we lived in Northern Michigan), and Greek food, I've learned to make sushi myself.

The hardest part is finding the ingredients, but even our local Safeway has started carrying nori, wasabi, and even pickled ginger.  I have to get my sushi rice in larger cities, and buy it in bulk.  It's not actually raw fish that I use either, but luckily in the PNW we can get really good smoked salmon.

Making sushi isn't that hard, but one of the most challenging aspects is getting the very sticky sushi rice spread out on the sheets of nori.  Wet clean hands work the best, but I never can seem to get it thin enough. 

We discovered the Aloha Sushi bar in Walla Walla about a year ago, and have been indulging ourselves there from time to time.  It's the kind of place that prepares it right in front of you, giving me a first time look at how "real" sushi chefs make it.  I noticed that they use plastic wrap quite a bit, so last week when I made sushi, I got out the plastic wrap, which helped a lot, but even better, I had a rolling pin nearby, and a "eureka" moment hit me.  I will never make sushi any other way from now on.  Using the plastic on top of the rice, then rolling it thin with the rolling pin made things SO easy, clean and beautiful!

After that base is ready, it's only a matter of putting your favorite food in a line along the bottom, and rolling it up, moistening the top of the nori to stick it all together.  Slice, and enjoy!