I Dream Of Sushi

The first time I ate sushi was 15 years ago when my husband took me to the now-defunct Hotel Nikko Christmas party in Chicago. My husband worked there as a waiter before he started law school. This was one of the best company Christmas parties I’ve attended. The hotel turned over its immense ball room to its employees—giving us lots of room to do the electric slide. Tables groaned with appetizers, including what looked like a mountain of sushi. I nervously popped a Sake roll in my mouth … and fell in love.
After all these years, it never occurred to me to make sushi myself. The sheets of seaweed, or nori, look so brittle, I thought they would crumble when I attempted rolling rice and fish into them. But my cravings finally got the best of me, so I gave sushi-making a go last weekend. I cooked and seasoned the sushi rice and spread it out evenly on the nori. The delicate smell of the seaweed dampened by the rice made my mouth water. I added some crab meat, cucumber and avocado to the middle of the sheet, held my breath, and began to roll it into a cylinder with the help of the bamboo mat. It turns out nori is sturdier than it looks because when I removed the mat, I was pleased to see it had stuck together to make a plump California roll.
And now, Jenny, the winner of my sushi set giveaway, can have her own sushi-making adventures! Please email me your address so I can send the set to you.