NO FORK, RADIO

That's not me in the photo - I am taking pictures

There are plenty of foods that do not require use of a fork. Like apples, bananas, corn-on-the-cob, Dimply Plum Cake*, egg salad sandwiches, figs and granola bars. But my favorite no-fork food is SUSHI. Forget about California roll, I like my sushi in hand rolls and snake-like formations with soft shell crab, salmon roe, avocado, designer sauces & cool names like Sex on the Moon.

*Dimply plum cake is this week's pick from the bakers at Tuesdays with Dorie. As a member of the group, I am required to write a post about this cake TODAY. I believe I have done so in spirit if not exactly in deed.

Sushi (like Dimply Plum Cake) is best eaten the day it is made. It's also pretty pricey. This is a good good reason to take a sushi class. There's one tonight and it is only $20. It is offered by Sunflower Market, but the instructor is a sushi chef at Whole Foods (!!!). He is funny & very good. My sushi also turns out funny and good.

We start with a practice roll of rice, avocado and veggies. The technique is to:

1) Cover a sheet of nori (sea weed) with a thin layer of sticky rice,
2) Sprinkle the rice side with sesame seeds and turn it over,
3. Put a row of rice lengthwise down the middle of the "blank" side,
4) Put strips of avocado, cucumber & carrot on either side of the rice,
5) Roll up lengthwise and cut into 8 pieces.

Sticky rice: Cook 2 cups of regular or brown rice with 2 cups of water. Let rice/water sit for 20 minutes before cooking it. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover & simmer for 10 min. Turn off heat & steam for 20 min. Place rice in a large bowl & sprinkle with 1/4 C of rice vinegar & 1 tsp salt, mixing lightly with wood spoon (not metal). Optional: dissolve 2 T sugar in the vinegar.





Good luck getting a nice tight roll. Even if you do, the avocado will probably slip out when you cut it crosswise into pieces.

Having mastered the not-so-tight roll, we move on to the good stuff: eel, tuna, salmon & crab. I am making a basic spicy tuna/avocado roll when I see that one student has gone creative. He made a handroll with the assistant chef and they are working on a roll with salmon & avocado on the outside. With help from the assistant, I make a decent rainbow roll, too. We finish it off with a squiggle of teryaki sauce & some sesame seeds. Turns out, she has only been making sushi for a few months. She's new to Colorado and worried about driving in the snow. I try to reassure her that it can't be worse than driving in Minnesota where she used to live. But then again, there are no mountains in Minni.


Handrolls may look easy but avocado comes shooting out of my roll. The chef kindly comments that the winter avocado we are using is not nearly as good or cooperative as the summer kind.

My sushi is almost finished

Chopsticks, anyone?

JOKE TIME:

Two polar bears are sitting in a bathtub. The first one says, "Pass the soap." The second one says, "No soap, radio!"

Two elephants are sitting in the bathtub. One elephant says to the other, "Please pass the soap." The elephant replies to the other elephant, "What do I look like, a radio?"

No soap radio at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_soap_radio

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE DIMPLY PLUM CAKE?

Cake by Nancy at Dogs Eat The Crumbs