ANDY JACKSON
Sushi has become increasingly popular in the past few years and once you acquire a taste for this delicious Japanese staple food, then there is no holding back.
The senior students definitely enjoyed learning the techniques involved. Some were already experts while others had yet to experience the process and new taste sensation.
Sushi is fun to make. We made the most common type which resembles a rice pinwheel. It involves pre-cooking short grain rice which is flavoured with vinegar and cooled to room temperature. A layer of rice is placed over a thin paper-like sheet called nori, which is made from seaweed. A selection of two or three ingredients (the filling) are positioned across the sheet and then it is rolled up tightly using a bamboo mat. The roll is cut into rings and served with soy sauce, wasabi paste and pickled ginger.
We chose avocado, carrot, cucumber and smoked salmon or chicken as our fillings and while everyone added soy sauce, only some were confident enough to enjoy a dash of hot wasabi paste.
Make sure the rice is sticky in texture and has been cooled down. Rice wine vinegar is recommended but any type of white vinegar can be substituted. Leftover vegetables and filling ingredients can be placed in a bowl and eaten as salad.
We bought our bamboo mats from a local Asian shop for $3 each. Most supermarkets sell supermarket kits in the aisle with the Asian products. Make sure the mats are washed thoroughly after use to remove any bits of rice. We let them drain on a dish rack and then placed them on a sunny bench top to totally dry out.
Any leftover sushi should be covered and stored in the fridge as cooked rice becomes a perishable or high-risk food at room temperature.
Sushi is a nutritious food. The nori seaweed sheets are an excellent source of iodine which is an important mineral needed to keep our thyroid gland healthy and assists in the body's metabolic function, in particular, the release of energy from cells.
Use the soy sauce sensibly. While it adds a lot of flavour, it is high in sodium and too much sodium over time contributes to high blood pressure and heart conditions.
We have also included a recipe for Nutty Spiced Carrot Muffins. They are easy to make and winter carrots are full of flavour. The mixture should be moist. We sprinkled sunflower and pumpkin seeds on top of each muffin before placing the tray in the oven to bake. This allows the seeds to toast and adds extra flavour. The muffins don't require any icing and are perfect for school lunchboxes. You could omit the seeds and add icing if you wish. This will increase the sweetness and fat content and make them resemble mini cup cakes.
Add nori sheets, a sushi bamboo mat and extra carrots to the shopping list this week and, while the rice is cooling and the muffins are baking, take a minute to look outside and watch the autumn leaves falling from the trees and blowing in the wind.
z If you enjoy Kai with Soul recipes, the first two years' worth have been collected in a great new book. Published to celebrate the school's jubilee, you can buy it from Poppies Bookshop, The Crafty Fox, Puke Ariki Information Centre and Mega Mitre 10 for $30. All profits go to the school. It's selling so well that it's gone into a second print run.
zContent provided by Katy Power and the year 13 Food and Nutrition class at Spotswood College.
Nutty Spiced Carrot Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
2 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup oil (canola/soya)
2 cups carrot - grated
1/2 cup sultanas
1/4 cup walnuts - optional
1/3- 1/2 cup sunflower and/or pumpkin seeds
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a muffin tray with cooking spray or use a pastry brush and brush a few drops of oil into each pan.
Sift the flour, salt, baking soda and spices in a large bowl.
In another large bowl whisk together the eggs, sugar and oil.
Stir in the grated carrot and gently mix in the dry ingredients. The mixture will be fairly runny.
Spoon the mixture into the muffin pans. Use two spoons - one to scoop the mixture out of the bowl and the other to scrape the mixture from the first spoon into each muffin pan.
Sprinkle a few sunflower or pumpkin seeds over each muffin or a mixture of both seeds.
Place in the preheated oven and bake for 18-20 minutes.
To test if they are cooked, lightly press on a muffin with your finger and it will spring back when done.
Let them cool before removing from pan.
Super Sushi
Makes 4 sushi rolls
2 cups water
1 cup sushi rice or short grain rice
5 Tbsp rice vinegar or any type of white vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4 sheets nori sushi (seaweed sheets)
The filling
1 carrot - grated
1/2 cucumber - peeled and cut into sticks lengthwise
1 avocado - sliced
200g smoked salmon or chicken
Place the rice and water into a medium size saucepan. Stir and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10-12 minutes until the rice is soft and the water has evaporated.
Stir in the vinegar, sugar and salt. Transfer the rice into a large bowl and allow to cool down for 30 minutes. (Add an extra tablespoon of vinegar if the rice is still too dry.)
Prepare the filling ingredients. Rinse the carrot and cucumber before slicing and grating. Cut the salmon or chicken into small pieces.
Lay a nori sheet, shiny side down, on the bamboo mat. Fluff up the cooled rice with a fork, then spread a quarter of the rice over the sheet and press it down thinly, wetting your fingers so the sticky rice is easy to work with. Leave 2 centimetres on the top end of the sheet rice-free - this will seal the roll later on.
Place a layer of the salad and salmon/ chicken filling across the centre of the rice- covered nori sheet. (Don't overload or it will be hard to roll.)
Now for the tricky part of rolling the sushi: Work at the end closest to you. Lift the bamboo mat with the nori sheet over the filling ingredients which you tuck down and under. (You will be all fingers and thumbs for the first roll.) Once you have compacted the roll into shape, pull the mat and roll the sushi underneath towards the top (other) end. Make sure the mat does not roll into the sushi itself. Wet the top rice-free 2cm end so it sticks the roll together.
Repeat the process with the other sheets of nori and filling ingredients. Cut each roll into 2cm-3 cm slices using a sharp wet knife. You can refrigerate the rolls and cut them later - this makes the cutting easier.
Place the sushi slices on a plate/platter and add a small dish of soy sauce and a blob of wasabi paste and a few slices of pickled ginger. Dip each roll in a little soy sauce and use a small knife to add a tiny bit of wasabi paste and ginger.
Tip: For a stronger wasabi flavour spread a little across the rice before you add the filling ingredients. Any leftover filling ingredients can be made into a small salad.
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