Sushi!

This is my first ever attempt at sushi - and it was easy! I am not sure what I expected, but it was simple to prepare. I managed to source all the ingredients locally, no need for an Asian supermarket. The rice wine vinegar & Nori (seaweed sheets) were utterly cheap at Home Bargains (29p each!), the sushi rice was easy to find in our small Tesco in the World Food aisle and the rolling mat came from Asda. The fillings were just avocado, peeled cucumber, crab sticks and tamagoyaki (a sweet Japanese sweet omlette). You could also add pappers, tuna, prawns, salmon etc. Rolling it up wasnt hard either - the rolling mat came with very clear instructions. This is definitely something I will make again!

1 Egg Tamagoyaki - (only if you want to include omlette in your sushi)

• 1 ‘large’ egg
• 1 Tbs. water
• 1 tsp. soy sauce (regular or light-colored; here I used regular, since that’s all I had in stock)
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 Tbs. bonito flakes (optional, for added flavor)
• Vegetable oil for cooking

Whisk all the ingredients together lightly with a fork. Heat a small frying pan, then add the mixture. Stir with a fork or chopsticks until it is half cooked. Then fold over one side, thenthe other, until you have a long thin omlette. Press down, let it cook for another 30 seconds then remove & allow to cool before using in sushi. Cut into strips.

• 300g sushi rice
• 2 tbsp rice or white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 1 large avocado
• juice ½ lemon
• 4 sheets nori seaweed
• 4crab sticks, cut in half lengthways
• 1 bunch chives 
• 1 egg tamagoyaki
• 3 inch piece of cucumber, peeled & cut into thin strips

• Put the rice in a small pan with 600ml water. Bring to the boil and cook for 10 mins until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender. Stir through the vinegar and sugar, cover and cool.
• Skin, stone and slice the avocado. Put in a bowl and squeeze over the lemon juice, turning the avocado to ensure the pieces are covered.
• Divide the rice between the nori sheets and spread it out evenly, leaving a 2cm border at the top . Lay the tamagoyaki over the rice, followed by the chives and finally position the avocado across the centre of one sheet.
• Add the crab sticks and cucumber to the other.
• Fold the bottom edge of the seaweed over the filling, then roll it up firmly. Dampen the top border with a little water to help it seal the roll. Repeat to make 4 rolls. At this stage, the rolls can be wrapped individually in cling film and chilled until ready to serve.
• Using a serrated knife, cut each roll into 8 rounds.