Recipe for :

This is one of the recipes from Mrs Susie. If you want to find out more about her have a look at her biography page which she has written. Mrs Susie specialises in Oriental cooking. An important first step in Oriental cooking (which I think is important) is at the end of each recipe.

To find out the basic requirements for making Sushi have a look at 'A few things you need to make Sushi' under Tips,etc.

"In the old days, tekka were gambling dens where gangsters played traditional card games. When they got take-out sushi, the rice stuck to their fingers and made it easy to mark cards and cheat! So they suggested wrapping nori seaweed around the sushi rice so they could eat it without sticky fingers. This was a bit bland, so they added tuna".

Ingredients

5 nori sheets
2 cups (10 oz/315 g) Sushi Rice
Pinch wasabi paste
10 strips tuna, 1/4 x 1/2 x 3 inches (6 mm x 12 mm x 7.5 cm)

Method

• Take one nori sheet. Cut in half lengthwise, then cut 3/4 inch (2 cm) from bottom of each sheet. You should have 2 sheets, each about 4 x 6 1/2 inches (10 x 16.5 cm). (Scraps can be used for nori belts.) Repeat to cut remaining nori sheets.
• Place a nori sheet lengthwise on a bamboo rolling mat, shiny-side down.
• Position nori sheet about 1 inch (2.5 cm) from edge of mat closest to you, and leave some space on each side of nori sheet.
• Wet your hands and take a golf ball – sized handful of sushi rice. Gently squeeze rice into an oblong ball and put on center left of nori sheet. Then use your fingers to squeeze rice into a log along center of nori.
• Spread rice evenly over nori, working from left to right, leaving a 3/4-inch (2-cm) strip of nori on far side uncovered.
• Build a low ridge of rice in front of this nori strip. This will keep the filling in place.
• Take a dab of wasabi on your finger and wipe from left to right across center of rice (if you hold your finger at an angle to start and flatten it out at end, wasabi will spread evenly).
• Place tuna strips along center of rice, over wasabi.
• Place fingers flat over tuna strips to hold them in place, then use your thumbs to lift up edge of bamboo rolling mat closest to you.
• Roll rolling mat away from you, pressing tuna in to keep roll firm. Lift rolling mat over slowly until it covers rice and near side and far sides of rice join at ridge, but you still have a 3/4 inch (2-cm) strip of nori rice-free.
• Covering roll (but not rice-free strip of nori), hold rolling mat in position and press all around to make the roll firm. Use your index fingers on top and fingers and thumbs on side to press roll together gently.
• Lift up top of rolling mat and turn roll over a little more so that strip of nori on far side joins other edge of nori to seal roll. Use your fingers to make sure roll is properly closed.
• Roll entire roll once more, exerting gentle pressure.
• Slice roll in half, then cut both rolls twice to give 6 equal-sized pieces. Repeat with remaining nori and rice.

Enjoy!
Mrs Susie

"I have studied oriental cooking quite a bit and the one thing that makes it different from other styles of cooking is: it is 90% preparation and 10% cooking. It is very important to have everything in the recipe already prepared for cooking before you start cooking.

I take a plate and cut up my ingredients as called for in the recipe and place them on different parts of the plate. Only then do I think about cooking. I will put my oil in the pan and, as the things are called for in the recipe, I will sweep them into whatever pan I am cooking with, cook for as long as called for, then add the next ingredient.

Oriental cooking happens so fast. To stop and cut up the garlic (for example) if I had the ginger cooking in the pan would result in burnt ginger before the garlic is finished.

When I am cooking a ten or fifteen course dinner you should see my kitchen. I have plates all over and all my sauces mixed in bowls and everything is ready to cook before I start cooking. This is the right way to do it and necessary to have a well-timed dinner.

Another thing, get yourself a good cleaver that will not rust. You will be surprised how much you will use this for all your cooking, not just oriental cooking. Do yourself a favor and get a good one. I think I paid $20 for mine but again that was 20 years ago".