Sushi and Fried Spring Rolls

Tonight has been one of those nights of food experimentation... actually, that's only partially true. So yeah, earlier, I had been craving sushi and a long with that thought, fried spring rolls as well. Making the spring rolls is nothing new to me; I learned how to from a good friend in Misawa, Japan. They're really easy to make, just a little time consuming since you really can't make only a few (especially from scratch). I rolled about twenty-one; fried five to eat, and froze the rest for a later time.

The true experiment was making nigiri-sushi*; again, not hard to make, just time consuming. Since this was an impromptu menu I didn't make the time to go and get the appropriate material (e.g., using a long grain rice instead of a short grained, Japanese-rice). Using a long grain, I didn't wash it out completely so that a portion of the starch/gluten remained to assist the sweetened vinager-mixture in forming the rice balls. I kept it pretty simple, making only sake (salmon) nigiri-sushi.

Overall, I'm quite impressed with myself. The spring rolls are probably one my better batches; the sushi... good. Next time, with a little more thought and planning, I'll venture into some of my other favorite types of nigiri-sushi. One thing, however, I have noticed the soy sauces here are slightly saltier and bold in flavor; I prefer the mild, less-salty varieties from Japan.


*nigiri-sushi: the type of sushi where a piece of sashimi is laid atop a ball of rice. Other varities include: Makizushi, a cylindrical piece formed with the help of a bamboo mat, called a makisu . Makizushi is generally wrapped in nori (seawead) - there are about six common makizushi varities (rolls, cones, etc.).