Colorado Style Sushi

Like many people these days, I love sushi. LOVE it. However, living in a landlocked state makes trusting sushi restaurants a bit strange. My friend Sammy and I always made sushi back home in Rhode Island using fresh fish from her dad's seafood store, making it even more difficult for me to reconcile the fish I see in markets here with the magical ingredients I know do exist.

However, I persevere for the things I love. Last night, for the second time since moving ot Colorado, I made sushi. Delicious, but very vegetarian sushi. In the end, it's really not terribly difficult to make very good, very satisfying sushi using whatever ingredients you have around. I used fried tofu, egg, cucumber, baby carrots, scallions, and sesame seeds in place of the usual tuna or salmon, eel, lobster, and avocado.

In addition to having a special dinner, yesterday was a particularly startling first day of May for me; it snowed! I realized that cold sushi rolls needed their standard warm, satsifying companion on a snowy May Day; miso soup. I set aside half the tofu, some scallions, seaweed, and took my miso I bought from the Asian market out of the fridge.

To be realistic, landlocked sushi dinners aren't as good as eating big slices of raw tuna and salmon, it's true. However, it does give you that little bit of satisfaction that you get when you prepare that dinner you've been craving forever. It does give you that feeling of home, of comfort, and of accomplishment for making sushi happen without an ocean anywhere in sight.

Vegetarian Sushi
4 cups dry sushi rice
5 cups water
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tbsp sugar
Nori (seaweed)
fried tofu, cut in strips
4 whipped eggs, cooked omelet style and sliced into carrot-stick like strips
sliced cucumber, carrot, scallions, avocado, etc. (substitute anything you'd like)
toasted sesame seeds
wasabi and/or wasabi mayonnaise
soy sauce
a small dish of water for cleaning hands

Cook the sushi rice like normal rice (let it come to a boil, then simmer until all water is absorbed. The rice will have a sticky consistency. Line a bowl with plastic wrap and put the rice in there. Stir the rice vinegar and sugar together and then add them to the rice and stir it in. Allow the rice to cool to room temperature. While rice is cooling, prepare the tofu and egg by frying in a pan with oil and a teaspoon or two of soy sauce. Slice the vegetables so they will be ready and toast the sesame seeds on a pan or in the oven, just until slightly browned and fragrant.
For detailed directions on how to rolls sushi, click here. You do not need a sushi mat, though if you have one they can be helpful. I just use my fingers and make very successful rolls that way. Essentially you want to spread the rice evenly across the nori in a thin layer, place your ingredients in a thin line, much like wrapping a burrito, and then roll carefully so as not to rip the nori

Miso Soup
4 cups water
4 tbsp miso
1/2 cup chopped soft tofu
3 tbsp chopped scallions
1/2 cup dried seaweed

Boil the water, then add the miso until dissolved. Turn the pot down to low. Add the seaweed and tofu. Once the seaweed is soft, add the scallions. Serve immediately.