Sushi lessons

What a culinary experience Keiko's farm has provided so far! Not that I'm surprised, since it was my belly that brought me here. :)

Somehow, after near-nightly dinner photos, we neglected to take shots of the sushi we had two days ago! argh!! but it was scrumtous, I assure you. Since I'm vegetarian, Keiko asked me what I put in sushi, so I told her. Avacado, cucumber, carrot (carrot??? she made a shocked face), tofu (tofu???), spinach, green onion, nuts (what!?!)...I really threw her for a loop, but give her credit, man, she let me do what I wanted and she was the first to try it! Pretty good, she said. She asked where I learned to make sushi with a hint of respect in her voice. I shrugged...the back of nori packages? Some from browsing sushi books in bookstores, some from the internet, some from paying attention to sushi chefs and restaurant menus. It was fun sharing sushi knowledge with a Japanese person! And I guess she used to be a sushi chef (is there anything this woman hasn't done???), so she gave me some tips on rolling and slicing.

I usually press my sushi rice firmly onto the nori paper with the rice spatula. Keiko suggested just softly sprinkling it on with damp finger-tips (to avoid excessive sticking). Add your choice of filler ingredients and then roll it up and press it into a square, instead of the circle I'm used to. Let the squares sit seam-side down for few minutes. As it sits, moisture from the rice goes into the nori and it contracts into a circle! cool to see. Then the rice is compressed naturally and each roll becomes a lot faster to make. The slicing I didn't get very good at. It's a sortof gentle upward stroke towards you on the top far side of the roll to cut the nori just a little, then a strong decisive stroke down through the whole roll, like Mr. Miagi teaching Daniel-san how to hammer nails. Wipe the knife (preferably a square-ish near butcher-knife sized blade) on a damp cloth between cuts to prevent sticking. I like my gentler sawing method with a knife dipped in water between strokes better, still...hard to break from what you're used to sometimes.