Well, as the title of this post suggests, I indulged in some Japanese inspired cuisine this weekend that involved steaming hot bowls of miso, heaps of rice and a fair share of uncooked seafood. Sure, sushi... big deal, right? There must be a gazillion sushi joints within the Seattle city limits, and everyone and their dog's younger brother eats at them all the time. Ah, but we, my friends and I, did not descend upon any of these fine establishments. No, we broke out the rice cooker, the nori sheets, the wasabi powder, and the soy sauce, and we, being the DIYers that we are, steamed and stirred and sliced and rolled those suckers up all on our own. It was magical.
Can you tell that I've never made sushi before?
I have to thank my lovely friends Mark and Laura for hosting this little soiree. Their home across from the arboretum is the perfect place to hold a spring dinner. The serenity of the forest around us added immensely to our meal.
Laura was the ring leader in our flying, fishy circus, what with her amazing chef skills and awe-inspiring kitchen gadgetry. I swear, the woman has everything one could ever want in the way of cookware plus a million things one didn't know they wanted but now don't want to live without. Copper pots suspended above; baking pans in every size and shape; spatulas, knives, spoons and whisks perched in jars at the ready; Kitchen Aid mixer; cabinets stacked to the brim with funky dishes, glasses and mugs ... it's the promised land, I tell you what.
Here's a visual glimpse into our little sushi adventure:
The table setting and our view
These sake containers (I don't know what else to call them) andcups actually chirp as you pour from them or slurp with your mouth
over the little spout of the cups.
What an adorable way to get boozed up.
This big wooden bowl is used to make the sushi rice. First the rice goes in...
Then the rice vinegar/sugar mixture gets stirred into the rice...
While the rice is fanned and cooled to room temperature.
Fan and rice (This part of the process was completelyunknown to me. Anyone else ever fanned their rice?)
Preparing the salmon. We had yellow-tail tuna, too.
We made nigiri-sushi which you saw at the beginningof the post. Here's another shot. Isn't it beautiful?
And we rolled some maki-sushi, as well.
In the end it all looked like this... and it was delicious.
One of my favorite restaurant experiences brought closer to home. Thank you Mark and Laura for such a wonderful evening!
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