Sushi

427.  Sushi is such a delight.  It is savory flavors coming together on your pallet exploding with surprising nuances. Salty, smooth, cold, crunchy, textures popping with spicy, tangy, toasted, yummy experiences.  Some would say "fishy" too but, that depends on the seafood that you use.  Of course, raw fish is involved but the health factor far outweighs the off-putting thought of "raw fish".  Once I tried sushi,  I always walk away satisfied.

We have our favorite rolls and favorite restaurants that serve sushi, but, I decided to make sushi at home.  I purchased a sushi kit, which you can find them at William Sonoma online here.  And, it comes with instructions that are so easy to follow.

I purchased fresh water salmon and sliced it paper thin, toasted sesame seeds, sliced an avocado, julienned cucumber, sautéed shrimp and cut it into chunks, cream cheese pieces, mango sliced thin, coated onion slices with egg and flour and fried them in hot oil till crispy.  I also found black caviar and made sticky rice.

And then we started the process.  It took a couple tries accomplishing the rolling and tucking skill, but, we each gave it a go.

We also made spicy mayo and pickled ginger, my recipe here.  And who could forget wasabi!!  

What a pleasant surprise and we ate sushi for hours.  Some rolls were with seaweed outside and others with seaweed inside and rice on the outside which was tricky.

I also made nigiri with the extra salmon, shmear of wasabi and rice.  More reasons to say yum!

What a great experience and delightful dinner!  So, no, it was not expert quality but it satisfied.  I will leave that to the masters!

If you web search "Sushi" you will be amazed how many recipes, hints, tutorials and videos you will find. My favorite go-to is on PBS and my rice turns out perfect every time.  PBS Sushi Watch Here

"I've been making sushi for 38 years, and I'm still learning.  You have to consider the size and color of the ingredients, how much salt and vinegar to use and how the seasons affect the fattiness of the fish."

~ Masaharu Morimoto

Sushi Bowl

412.  My daughter shared a wonderful twist on sushi.  She took a variety of the components, that can be endless, and created a "Sushi Bowl".  Yes! And the experience was all there, crunchy, spicy, soft, pickled, brain-freezing, delightful, fishy, salty, peanuty.  If you devour sushi, you know all the feels and flavors. 

 Sometimes, when I am at a sushi bar, the special rolls can be so large, I cannot fit them in my mouth in one bite.  It can be a very embarrassing moment when the item you are placing in your mouth is considerably larger than your actual mouth as you carefully hold this delicacy with two thin pieces of bamboo.  And to deconstruct a roll is so wrong!  You must taste the whole piece to experience the flavor bomb the sushi chef has constructed.   So, having all the flavors I love piled high to take smaller bites of enjoyment.  It was a delight!

Take a brief moment and search "Sushi Bowl" image in your browser and you will be surprised how many

 exist.  Here is my recipe:

This meal was so spectacular and gave me all the feels of sushi.  If you are adventurous and want to take a shot at creating your own sushi bowl, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

I also had made my own pickled ginger.  It was either sold out or not available in the markets visited.

Here is my recipe for pickled ginger: Pickled Ginger Recipe

I am excited for you to try this recipe.  It will make you happy, I promise!

"Sushi is something very exclusive.  It is not like a McDonald's, a hot dog or a french fry,  It is very high-class cooking in Japan."

~ Nobu Matsuhisa

Pickled Ginger

411.  If you have eaten Sushi you know how important and amazing the pickled ginger is to your experience.  Recently, I was wanting to make sushi bowls at home, which are basically deconstructed sushi in a bowl over rice.  My search for jarred pickled ginger was fruitless.  It was either sold-out or not available.  So my thought process was to make my own.  I mean, how hard could this be?

I purchased fresh ginger root and found several simple recipes that were very similar.  

Pickled Ginger

fresh ginger root

optional: hot red pepper scored with long cuts, do not remove stem or seeds

1/2 cup rice vinegar

star anise

2 Tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup water

Peel and slice the ginger root very thin with a mandolin.  Place red pepper (I used red pepper flakes), and ginger in a heat proof glass jar and drop the star anise on top of the ginger.  In a small saucepan place vinegar, water and sugar.  Bring to a boil.  Place a metal spoon in the jar and pour the hot liquid over the ingredients filling the jar. Place the lid on and refrigerate for 24 hours.  Will keep for 3 weeks.

Peeling Ginger 

So my process started with the ginger and this is the easiest way to remove the skin.  A peeler can cut away the yummy ginger but the spoon only scrapes over and away from the ginger flesh.

Making Pickled Ginger 

Now, this is very easy and so practical and the flavor was fresh and complimented our sushi bowls perfectly.

You may have been eating sushi for some time? Well, what you might not know about sushi etiquette could just surprise you. Like many things Japanese, it is all in the details. A Japanese sushi chef gave these tips.  We all have been doing several things wrong for years! So here is a quick cheatsheet on the Dos and Don’ts of proper sushi etiquette.

Dos
- Actually, it is traditional to eat sushi with the hands, not with chopsticks (with the exception of sashimi and some rolls). But it’s OK if you prefer to use chopsticks. Either are fine.
- Turn the sushi roll over and dip the fish (not the rice) into the soy sauce.
- Put the whole portion into your mouth, fish side down toward the tongue.
- Use the fatter back end of the chopsticks when taking food from a shared plate.
- When not using your chopsticks, they should be rested across your plate or on the chopstick rest, parallel to the sushi bar.
- Signal you are finished by resting your chopsticks across your sushi saucer.

Don’ts
- Never rub your chopsticks together after snapping them apart! Apparently this is the height of rudeness.
- Never mix wasabi in with the soy sauce. Sushi should be prepared with the proper amount of wasabi directly on this fish. If, however, you would like more, simply apply it directly to the fish.
- Never rest your chopsticks with just the tips on your plate. And never, ever leave your chopsticks sitting in a bowl with the ends jutting out.
- Do not put the ginger on your sushi and eat it together. Ginger is meant to be consumed between bites to cleanse the palate.
- If eating in a sushi bar, never hand money to the chef. It is considered to be the height of rude.

So never unknowingly offend your sushi chef or fellow diners again. Become a sushi sensai with these sushi etiquette tips.

Stir Fried Rice

370.  A great Chinese recipe I have used time and time again is Stir Fried Rice.  The ingredients are endless but you must always use rice and eggs as the base.  The basic recipe is straight forward and you can use your imagination or just simple ingredients you have available in your fridge.

I make my rice early on in the day and let it sit to completely cool.  

To save recipe select and drag to desktop and print or select and print from smart device.

You can pair your fried rice with another dish or eat is as your one-pot main dish in bowls with chopsticks.  Serve hot with extra soy sauce, chopped scallion and shredded ginger.

"If you are planning for a year, sow rice.  If you are planning for a decade, plant trees.  If you are planning for a lifetime, educate people."  ~Chinese Proverb

Egg Rolls

369.  Chinese Food was on the menu last night but not from a local restaurant.  I decided to make homemade, Egg Rolls to be exact.  When I have a craving for certain foods, it is a great challenge to create it yourself.  I made the filling an hour in advance and then let it cool to room temp then enlisted my dinner guests putting the rolls together.  It is not that challenging just following simple steps.  

The filling was Vegetable and Pork and a dipping sauce for the side.  Here is my recipe:

To save recipe select and drag to desk top and print or select and print from smart device.

美味的食物

"When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills." 

 ~ Chinese Proverb

GingerBread Cheesecake Bites

248. I saw this recipe while on Pinterest one day and it looked delicious...so I bookmarked it for my Christmas baking.

I organized all my recipes and began to read the recipe on "Created By Diana" Blog for Gingerbread Cheesecake Bites. My dissapointment came when I read the ingredients: 1 30oz package Pillsbury Gingerbread Cookie Dough. Awe! really??? I can do better than that!

So, I went to work developing a gingerbread cookie dough that would be more like a crust and less of a ginger snap. And here is what I came up with:

GingerBread Cheesecake Bites

1 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup powder sugar

1 tsp molasses

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp clove

1/4 tsp salt

2 1/4 cup flour

4 oz cream cheese

2 cups powder sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix butter and powder sugar together and cream for 3 minutes. Add the molasses, spices and flour. Mix till dough comes together and forms ball.

Roll into 2 teaspoon size balls and place into a paper lined mini muffin pan. Make an indentation with a cookie press dipped in flour.

Mix the next ingredients together, cream cheese, powder sugar and vanilla, till smooth. Place in a piping bag. Pipe 1 teaspoon filling into each of the cookie cups. Bake at 350 degrees for 9 minutes. Cream cheese filling will begin to rise. Then remove to a rack to cool. Store refrigerated in a sealed container.

The cookie dough is so delicious, it would make yummy gingerbread ball cookies too!

"Had I but a penny in the world, thou shouldst have it for gingerbread."

~William Shakespeare

Gingerbread

21.  Homemade gingerbread is so delicious.  Some gingerbread cookies are light and crispy and snap when you bite into them.  Others are chewy and soft in the center with crusty edges.  The recipe I have been using for years is from an old Hallmark flyer from 1982 called "Expressions".   It was filled with Hallmark products and gave ideas for..."Creative Living!" The advertisement was for Hallmark cookie cutters and partyware.  In the center of the flyer was a gingerbread cookie recipe of Fun-To-Shape Gingerbread Men.  This has been my most favorite recipe.  You can either roll the dough for cutout cookies or make hand shaped cookies.   (You can not use this recipe for gingerbread houses, the dough is too soft.) This year I rolled the dough to make gingerbread men and snowflakes.

Gingerbread Cookies

(Hallmark Expressions 1982)

3/4 cup shortening, or butter for softer cookies

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup light molasses

1 egg

2 cups flour

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp ground ginger

raisins

red hot candies

Cream shortening or butter and sugar together.  Add molasses and egg; beat well.  Sift together dry ingredients and add to mixture.  Mix dough thoroughly.  Chill dough 15 minutes.

Shape gingerbread men on cookie sheet as you  would modeling clay;  Use raisins and red hot candies for eyes, mouth and buttons.  Or, roll out on a floured surface and use cookie cutters. Transfer to cookie sheet.  

Bake 350º for 10 minutes.  

Cool gingerbread men slightly and remove to rack.  Decorate with icing after cookies have cooled.

For gingersnaps, roll dough into 1-inch balls and dip in sugar.  Place 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.  Bake as directed above.

Decorate cookies by piping icing through a decorating bag.  

"Glory to God in highest heaven,

Who unto man His Son hath given;

While angels sing with tender mirth,

A glad new year to all the earth."

~Martin Luther