Sushi!

I made a list of cooking/food goals for the summer - things I would try to make homemade (all about self-sufficiency within reason/sanity!).  One was making sushi.

Actually, the idea came to me from a sartorial blog who shared that she liked to make sushi when having friends/guests over - for the Wow factor, relatively low cost, and low effort to make large quantities.

I bought some special supplies/ingredients from my local Asian grocery:  wasabi, bamboo mat, nori/seaweed wraps, canned eel, 'sushi vinegar' (rice vinegar + sugar?).  And sub-ed the white sticky rice for brown sticky rice (shhh!).

Eel rolls (my partner's favorite...modified with imitation crabmeat here):

Panko-crusted and -fried California rolls (slightly warm and crispy - afterwards, I made all my sushi rolls this way!):

Pre-rolling (cucumber, avocado, imitation crabmeat, cream cheese, canned eel, black sesame seeds, green onions):

 

All in all, a proud food moment for me...Very exciting!