The art of making sushi.

One Saturday, a long time ago when I was a mere third grader, my mom brought home sushi for lunch. I don't know what kind of roll it was, or where she got it from. All I know is that it was raw fish...and I loved it. I loved every little part of it;from the slimy-goodness of the raw fish and all the way to the salty soy sauce that made my mouth water. I Loved it so much it's bordering on obsession.

From that day on, I was completely hooked on sushi. I could eat it anytime, anywhere. My whole family likes sushi, even though my mom has begun to dislike it on account of her getting sick from eating sushi once. (I still love it though! Even if she doesn't!) I've eaten at multiple sushi restaurants but my ultimate favorite is Miya sushi. It's phenomenal eating! And when they bring out the sushi it looks so pretty laying there on the sushi plate that I almost don't want to eat it..... But I do eat it....every last piece!

On one of our many excursions to the bookstore (I believe it was Borders) I discovered that you could actually make sushi yourself,at home. How cool is that?? It came in this little kit that included--

• Two sets of chopsticks.
  
• Two chop stick rests (I had no idea what they were at first. They're just little side dishes that you place your chop sticks on when you're not using them.)


• A book on how to make sushi.
  
• Two soy sauce dishes.


• A bamboo rolling mat.
  

Everything came in this cute green box, which we still have to keep our sushi making materials in when we're not using them. (I tend to be very organized when it comes to the kitchen.)

Once I purchased the kit, I got everything else I needed to make the sushi from the grocery store. I only wanted to make a California roll-which is just crab meat,cucumbers,and avocado- because for two reasons.

1) I don't want to try making anything involving raw fish because I'm scared that I'll do something wrong that could make me sick.

2) I still need to look at other recipes,which I haven't gotten around to doing yet. Hehe. (i.e. the book about sushi that came in the kit,which explains many sushi recipes.)

The first time I made sushi I felt so sick afterwards because I was very impatient and couldn't wait for the rice to cool down. I was just so eager to roll my sushi I couldn't stop myself.

I also did not use the necessary rice vinegar that you're supposed to put in the rice. But the second time I did, and I think it made a world of a difference on how the sushi tasted!

Recipe for rice vinegar. (For two cups of rice.)

Ingredients.

• 2 tsp. salt
  
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar


• 1/4 cup sugar.

Directions.

In a small sauce pan add in the rice vinegar,salt,and sugar. You need to mix it on a low heat until the sugar and salt dissolves. Be careful not to let it come to a boil or that will spoil the vinegar.

After you have mixed it, slowly pour it over the sushi rice, when the sushi rice is cooked, and mix it together, gently folding the rice over. Do this for about five minutes and then place the rice in the fridge until it's cold, maybe for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Making sushi is a great adventure for me and everyone should give it a try! Of course, you're not going to be perfect at first. Failure is gonna happen. But as the saying goes, practice makes perfect.