Home cookin

For safety, some of the sushi were equipped with seat belts.

Taking a page right out of my grandmother's book, I made sushi at home tonight for the first time evar. She taught me how to make the stuff about 10 years ago, but for whatever reason, I decided I needed to make some today.

There really is a lot to making sushi. You have to make the seasoning for the rice, you have to cook the rice, prep your vegetables, cut your nori (toasted seaweed) if needed and clear a space in the kitchen to make the sushi.

I managed to find tuna at the store today... it was frozen and Tom said it tasted pretty good. I'm not a big fan of sashimi, but I did a good job on the cucumber rolls. In addition, I made sunomono (Japanese salad with pickled vegetables) and miso soup (for the second time this week). This time, I got the miso recipe damn near perfect by using equal parts red and white miso (red had a bolder, saltier flavor; white is more mild). I had the cute Japanese dishes all ready. It was time to chow down. As I pulled out the dishes that hold the shoyu (soy sauce) while you dip your sushi, I realized ... no shoyu.

In most Asian households, not having soy sauce is a travesty. I can't think of the last time I haven't had any. But since the move, well, I guess I either threw out the stuff I had before, or it's in a box in one of the sheds that the spiders have taken over. Growing up, soy sauce came out of a 3-gallon Kikkoman drum. It was something you never ran out of. Until tonight. When I decide to make sushi for the first time evar.

Thankfully, there's an Albertson's right down the street, and I was able to get the soy sauce just fine. I guess the only thing I need to do to cap off an evening of Japanese food is to make some tea, have some mochi and play some video games.