Chef Grace: July 2015

Sushi Salad

I got this idea from the time I wanted to make sushi, because sushi is my favorite food. My dad and I couldn't figure out how to roll the sushi even though we had the right thing to make a sushi roll. I gave up on making it that way, but still wanted sushi. Instead of rolling the seaweed, we crumbled it up and tore it to look like lettuce.

The main ingredients

For sushi, of course I had to use rice and seaweed, but for the inside I thought I'd do something where you could choose different combinations. Carrots, avocado and cucumber are vegetables I like and taste good in sushi. For the toppings, I got ginger, wasabi and two kinds of sesame seeds: black bamboo-smoked and plum.

Seafood for the sushi

One of my favorite foods was shrimp, so I decided to get mini-shrimp to put in sushi. I also like crab and salmon, so I got those too.

Making the rice

I looked at the directions on the rice package and followed the directions on how to make it.

Making the rice more flavorful.

Except...that I decided to add plum sesame seeds with the rice, because in some restaurants you see little sesame seeds.

Getting ready to cook the salmon.

Now I had to prepare for cooking the salmon. I put some sesame oil on the bottom of the pan to prevent it from sticking. I could've used vegetable oil, but sesame oil seemed to go better with sushi.

Sizzling salmon

I cooked the salmon with the skin-side down for a few minutes on medium-high heat.

Adding garlic

After a few minutes, I flipped it and added some garlic to give more flavor, then let it rest while I prepared the salad part.

Getting the Seaweed Ready

Now I started tearing the seaweed, because it comes in a big sheet and it's not easy to eat like that. It also looks more like a salad that way.

Starting to plate

I cut the cucumber, avocado and carrot into medium-sized pieces and added them to the plate with the salad. The carrots in a way called "alumette", or the "matchstick cut". We got special, long plates to have all of the ingredients on.

"Wasabi" and two kinds of ginger

The two kinds of ginger we had were fresh chopped ginger root that we chopped ourselves and pickled ginger from a jar. I personally don't like wasabi, well at least the fake kind, which is the only kind I've had. Did you know that most wasabi in America is fake, so if you've had a paste, it's not real!

Wasabi growing in a river

I don't know if I'd like the real wasabi; it's hard to get and expensive.

A unique idea for transforming rice

I didn't want the rice to just be in a pile; I wanted it to be in a shape. So, I looked for a cookie cutter and found a butterfly shaped one. I pressed the rice into it and pushed it out onto the plate.