Edible Pioneer Valley is the source of these terrific recipes. Published quarterly, it is, in its own words, “a culinary magazine dedicated to the Pioneer Valley’s local food and the people who grow, raise, and prepare it.”
Temaki sushi (hand roll) isn’t hard to assemble, and even if your first attempts don’t look perfect, they will still taste delicious. The nontraditional rice-cooking method (adapted from a recipe by Helen Rennie) results in firm, just-sticky-enough rice.
Temaki Ingredients (enough for about 8 rolls)
2 cups alfalfa or radish sprouts
1 cup fillings of your choice: raw fish, raw or cooked vegetables, cooked chicken or steak
Sushi rice (see recipe below)
4 sheets nori, cut in half the long way, into 8 long rectangles
Soy sauce for dipping
To make:
Make rice, using recipe below.
Prepare fillings: Cut ingredients into strips, about ¼ inch wide and 3 inches long.
Fill hand rolls: Spread about ? cup of rice on half a sheet of nori, making a square-shaped pad of rice. Lay a few generous pinches of sprouts and a few strips of filling diagonally across the rice.
Roll ’em up: Roll the rice-covered portion of rice up and over on an angle to enclose the filling. Keep rolling the seaweed around to make a cone shape. Serve with soy sauce.
Sushi Rice Ingredients
2 cups short-grain rice (sushi rice)
2 cups boiling water
½ cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons mirin (mirin is Japanese sweet rice wine, substitute dry sherry or marsala), optional
¼ cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
To make:
Preheat oven to 375°F.
In a bowl of water, rinse rice thoroughly. Change water until it’s clear. Drain rice in a fine strainer and transfer to 8-inch-square baking dish.
Pour boiling water over rice. Cover dish with foil. Bake 20 minutes. Remove pan from oven and let rest, covered, for 20 minutes.
Combine vinegar, mirin, sugar, and salt in small saucepan and warm over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.
Spoon rice into a large, preferably wooden bowl.
Using a rubber spatula, fold in half the vinegar mixture. Turn, flip, and fold rice to ensure vinegar mixture is evenly absorbed. Taste, and add more vinegar if rice seems under-seasoned. It should taste good all on its own. Makes about 4 cups cooked rice.
Recipes copyright 2016 by Pasco e Celebro LLC dba Edible Pioneer Valley, 4 Old Sunderland Road, Montague, MA 01351