Learning to MAKE sushi!

So I got an itch to learn how to make my own sushi.. I thought it would be fun to make one night for dinner or for  lunch on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Our friends Danny and Shira invited us over a few weeks ago for sushi and Danny taught me how to use the roller and how to spread the rice without ripping the nori paper. We had a great time making different kinds and of course, eating it!
  This week I went on a mission to find my own sushi roller, rice paddle and some cute little square dishes to put the soy sauce and wasabi in, along with some cute little rectangle plates to use as serving dishes. I really like the rustic hand made pottery that is found everywhere around here and am SURE I will be brining home a ton of it when we leave here in 3 years!
 This morning while Josh and I were sipping our coffee on the couch and the girls were still sleeping, I got the idea that we should make sushi for dinner! Josh had to go into work for a bit and Elliot had a birthday party to attend in the afternoon, so that left me some time to get some sushi supplies together. Josh had taken Hannah to work with him and on the way home they stopped by a local Japanese grocery store to pick up some things I couldn't get at the commissary, like wasabi, fresh fish and sushi rice. Who knew there was such a thing as rice used just for sushi! I spent at least a half hour searching the internet on how to make the perfect sushi rice. I watched a few video's and off I went testing out a method to "make the perfect sushi rice." Turns out the guy was right! It was the perfect sushi rice! Just sticky enough to stay together, but tender enough to fall apart in your mouth! Anyway.... Hannah and Josh had to ask the clerks at the store where to find a few things and then they arrived back home just in time to start "rolling!" We also decided to fry up some tempura  shrimp and asparagus to munch on before the sushi was ready.
   At the last minute, we invited our friends Tim and Michelle over to test out my experiments and Tim decided to make some Octopus Balls. I know, Octopus Balls sound gross, but they weren't actual Octopus Balls, but rather sort of a pancake consistency batter cooked in a neat little round frying pan thing and then you drop in a little piece of octopus and then let them cook until firm... They were quite tasty!!  Here's a photo of the Octopus Ball cooker and what the Octopus Balls looked like when Tim was all done cooking them..

    After lots of rolling and mashing rice on nori paper, here are the finished products!

Hannah likes the cucumber roll with avocado, so this one was for her.

This one is tuna and avacado.

Michelle and I were having fun staging a culinary photo. This one shows the tempura shrimp and asparagus.

The coloring didn't come out as nice on this plate, but this is crab and cucumber, salmon with avocado and some other fish that I don't know, but didn't like that much..

Here's the great spread!  Tim and Michelle even brought over some Golden Saki and Chuhai! 

All in all my first sushi making experience was a great one and I'm looking forward to making it again. Watch out friends back home, when I get there you'll all be eating sushi with me!!  For those of you who just won't give sushi a try, like my sweet Elliot Rose,  I will be nice and make you some of these....

Peanut butter and Jelly Sushi Rolls!