Sushi

Sushi is one of my favorite Asian cuisine foods. My wife and I enjoy having sushi once every couple of months. There is a nice restaurant we like going to, we usually choose the "all you can eat buffet". I attemped making sushi myself only once in the past, but the other day I had the urge to make sushi and so I ran to the fish market for fresh salmon, took out my sushi recipes, put on my apron and voila..... Here's the outcome.....Enjoy!
I must warn you that making sushi is a bit complicated....but once you try it for a few times, you can become a pro! The ingredients costed approximately 20-25 euros and they are enough for a sushi platter for two people.
All the recipes and every other information regarding sushi, can be found in the recipe book Sushi, Made Easy (Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., New York)

All sushi has a base of specially prepared rice, and complemented with other ingredients. Sushi is made with white, short-grained, japanese rice mixed with a dressing made of rice vinegar, sugar and salt.

Ingredients for rice

• 460 g short grain rice
• 2 1/2 cups water

Vinegar mixture

• 75 ml rice vinegar
• 15 ml mirin (sweet wine , made from glutinous rice, used for cooking purposes, can be found in all major supermarkets that sell international food)
• 45 ml sugar
• 30 ml salt

Method

Wash the rice until the water runs clear. Drain for an hour, then place the rice in a pot with tight fitting lid and add the water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Lower the heat and steam for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Remove the lid and cover the pot with a kitchen towel. Let stand for 15 minutes. While the rice is cooking, combine the vinegar mixture ingredients in a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar dissolves, stirring constantly. Remove the mixture from the heat and cool. Spread the rice evenly over the base of a shallow, wooden bowl. Run a spatula through the rice to gently separate the grains and slowly add the vinegar mixture at the same time. The rice should not be too moist. Fan the rice until it reaches room temperature. Keep it in the wooden bowl, covered with a clean cloth, until ready to use.

Ingredients for sushi rolls (Maki)

Rolling sushi takes practice. It looks simple, but trust me is not. You need a bamboo rolling mat, which is made from skewer-type bamboo sticks woven together with string.

Hosomaki is a slender , rolled sushi, boasting one to three ingredients.

• 500 g vinegared rice (shari)
• 5 sheets seaweed (nori)
• rice vinegar
• wasabi

Ingredients for fillings

• tuna or salmon ( must be really fresh, for aesthetics and hygiene reasons)
• fresh onions
• lettuce
• avocado
• omelette (2 eggs, dash of salt, 10ml water, 15ml sugar, 5ml soy sauce, 25ml sake, oil for cooking)
  
• cucumber
• carrot
• roe

Method

Place a sheet of nori onto the mat. The rolling mat must be dry and placed on a dry chopping board. Moisten your hands in vinegared water and make a bowl out of half a cup of prepared rice. Place this ball on the nori and spread it out carefully. Spread it gently, do not push it down onto the nori. Keep about 12 mm free of rice on the far end of nori to seal the roll.
Place a dab of wasabi on your inded finger and run your finger along the rice, from left to right in a straight line. This line should be at the end closest to you. Place the fillings for your roll on top of the wasabi, and wet the exposed strip of nori with rice vinegar. Lift the front of the bamboo mat closest to you. Roll the maki by pressing the mat down firmly on the nori. The nori will stick to itself when the roll is complete. Shape the ends of the rill so that no rice will fall out and then ler the roll to rest for a minute or two. Moisten a sharp knife with vinegared water before cutting the roll into four or six neat pieces.
( I know that by now you will be completely confused and think that rocket science is easier than making sushi rolls. Trust me it is easier than it sounds, and it is extremely helpful if you could observe someone making these first and then attempt to do it yourself. I watched a few shows on BBC Food before attempting to make these rolls.


Eating sushi


Pour soy sauce in a little bowl, add wasabi to taste, mix well and dip sushi into soy sauce and enjoy. You can also have pickled slices of ginger in between bites to cleanse the pallate. Beverages to accompany sushi are green tea or sake, both to be served warm.

Finnish Pancakes

This is an extremely easy recipe to make especially for sunday breakfast. And it tastes great!


Ingredients

4 tbsp melted butter
3 eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 cup flour
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
maple syrup

Method

Preheat oven to 200 celsius. Pour butter in a 9 x 16 inches baking pan (not smaller, trust me it won't work!). Whip eggs in a large bowl, then all other ingredients and mix together. Pour into the pan and bake for 20 minutes. Pour syrup and serve!

Kyri's Broccoli and Chicken pasta

My wife Kyri, is not what we would call a good cook. Unlike me, she is not fond of cooking, she gets bored easily and she can't improvise....She is aware of this and she often says "Well, I'm a career woman....". I have to give her credit for one thing though....She knows how to make the best pasta with white sauce ever.....She makes it with veggies and the other day she added chicken in it and it was divine....So this post is dedicated to my career woman!

Ingredients (4 servings)

2 large onions chopped
fresh onion chopped
2 medium size green peppers cut in small strings
1 medium size orange or red pepper cut in small strings
3 large mushrooms cut in small pieces
canned corn
1 medium size broccoli
500ml fresh creams
60g butter
3 chicken breasts soaked in soy sauce for a couple of hours
salt, pepper, maggi cube
chopped parsley
white wine, half glass

Method

Add butter in a large pan and fry for a couple of minutes. Add onions (not the fresh ones) and let them fry until they get a golden color. Then add peppers, mushrooms, corn, let them cook for a while and then add chicken (make sure you dont drain the soy sauce,it adds to the taste), salt, pepper and wine, mix and let them cook until chicken becomes light brown.
Then add fresh creams, stir well and right before it starts getting thick, add the broccoli and the fresh onions. Sauce needs another 5-7 minutes to cook in low heat.
The right time to start boiling the pasta is right before you add the fresh cream to the sauce mixture. Make sure you make the pasta (penne or any other kind but spaghetti) in a really large pot because you will need to pour sauce in it. Pasta needs ten minutes to cook (add salt or maggi if you like), drain water and add sauce in pot. Sprinkle the parsley, stir well and serve......

South African Milk Tart (Melktert)

Dear Disciples, sorry for the long silence. The Saint has been resting, recharging batteries and now is back for new adventures. Many followers have been requesting to post South African recipes. This is the beginning for the South African Cuisine Journeys with one of my favorite recipes, my mom used to make this when we were kids and I love it. Making it this morning, brought back so many memories from my homeland......

Ingredients for the base

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 egg beaten
4 tbsp butter
1/4 cup caster sugar

Ingredients for the filling

1 1/2 eggs beaten
1 1/4 tbsp flour
1 1/4 tbsp corn flour
2 1/4 cups milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp butter
4 1/2 tbsp sugar


Method for Base

Beat together butter and sugar. Add eggs and then all the dry ingredients. You now have a crumbly mix that you press into a pie dish (see picture in oven).
Bake at 170 degress Celsius for 15 minutes.

Method for filling

Boil Milk. In a different pot beat egg and sugar. Add flour and corn flour, then milk and let it cook until it thickens. Remove from heat and add vanilla and butter. Pour into baked shell and sprinkle over nutmeg and/or cinnamon. Refrigerate.