Sushi

This is one of those things I just had to learn how to prepare and, now that I know, I don't really have to do it again. It's economical for parties and such, but I definitely ran out of steam before I ran out of ingredients. BTW: I didn't use raw fish for the same reason you will never see a recipe for steak tartar on this blog, because I don't know what I'm doing enough to prepare raw meat.

What you need:

seaweed (the kind they sell in the sushi section of the grocery store)

sushi rice (regular rice won't due, it doesn't stick together. Sushi rice can be found in the sushi section aswell, but it comes in such giant bags that unless you become a sushi chef, you will never use. Just memorize its funky Japanese name and buy a small bag in the rice isle. Crafty, eh?)

rice vinegar (VERY IMPORTANT this is what makes it taste like sushi)

sugar

salt

cucumber, red pepper, avacado and krab (everyone loves krab with a k). All of this should be thinly sliced lengthwise (your cucumber should be spears, not circles).

1. Cook some rice. It'll be all clumpy and stick-together-y. That's the idea.

2. Add vinegar, sugar and salt to the rice until it tastes like sushi. For every 3 tablespoons of vinegar, add about 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tsp of salt. Mix it well.

3. Lay a sheet of seaweed on a dry surface. I actually got one of those little bambo mats special for making sushi, but I can't imagine that's actually necessary.

4. Spread a thin layer of rice over the whole seaweed sheet (you should be able to see the sea weed underneath). Leave like a half-an-inch at the far end so the seaweed will stick to itself when you roll it.

5. Put some avacado, cucumber, krab, and red pepper (or some combination thereof) closest to you on top of the rice. You just want a thin strip of ingredients. Don't over stuff it (I'm talking to you now, Mom).

6. Wet the far edge of the seaweed a bit so it will stick to itself when you roll it.

7. Carefully roll the sushi into a log.

8. THIS IS THE HARD PART. Get a sharp knife and carefully slice the sushi into bite-sized circles. Do not squeeze it, and do not use a knife so dull that all it does is squish the sushi. Regardless of how careful you are, the end piece will become a casualty (eat it anyway, it still tastes good)

9. Repeat all the steps until you are bored of making sushi/run out of rice.