Sushi 101

Alright everyone!  Welcome back.  This time we are going right into a favorite dish which not as intimidating as it looks to make.  SUSHI!!  Sushi is a great source for healthy eating.  A great balance of veggies, carbs, and depending on where you get the fish, it has a healthy and tasty protein source.

Before we start I decided that since I always put the music on first before cooking I'm going to post the track of the day before we get into the recipe.  I'm feeling some Hip Hop tonight so I'm going to introduce miss Sa-Roc from the southeastern part of Washington D.C.  Mega fly and full of great content.  I collaborated with NEIU Hip Hop Club to fly her up to Chicago last year for a great show.  Enjoy......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYJVbJ9Vm_w

There's a few steps in preparation.  Quality comes from how well you prep.  From cutting the veggies, to getting the fish, what kind of rice you get, and especially the freshness of the ingredients, this will all factor on the quality of the sushi you make.

Here are the necessary ingredients:

1.)  Rice Vinegar

2.)  Sushi quality rice (most packages will that on the front "sushi rice") available at most Asian markets.  Google it!

3.)  Seaweed wraps

4.)  whatever fish you choose

5.)  Seedless cucumber

6.)  cilantro

7.)  Rice cooker

8.)  Bamboo sushi wrapper (Sorry I don't know the technical name)

9.)  Any other veggies you may like to add (green onions, tomatoes, lettuce). Be creative.

BUYING THE RIGHT RICE

Nishiki Rice is one of my favorite brands of Sushi quality rice.  The grains are medium sized and roundish compared to jasmine and basmati rice.  They hold more moisture and the thickness gives it great texture for sushi.

 

SELECTING THE SEAWEED WRAPPER

 

The seaweed wraps come in the following packages.  They are not expensive at all.  The ones specifically made for maki rolls have a thicker feel versus the seaweed that is made for dipping or to eat with steamed rice.

 GETTING THE SUSHI BAMBOO WRAPPER

 The sushi wrapper can be bought online or at your local Asian market.  You should always keep it dry and stored in a room temperature area.  

CUTTING THE VEGETABLES

Prepare your veggies by chopping the cilantro, green onions, cutting the cucumber into long slices as well as the jalapenos, and placing them all in small bowls so they are organized and ready to go.  When cutting the cucumbers first cut it half so each half is around 4 inches long.  Then you slice them into thin slices length wise almost like sandwich sliced pickles.  Lastly you stack the slices until you can hold them down comfortably and slice them down length wise again to get the results below.  Be careful to stop slicing once you get towards the center of the cucumber to avoid the seeds.  The seeds are a little bitter so they are not used.

COOKING THE RICE

The rice should be cooked in a rice cooker with an inch of water above the rice.  Be sure to rinse the rice a couple of times before filling it up with water by squeezing and shuffling the rice in water with your hands. Drain water and repeat about 2 more times.  Put that in the rice cooker and press cook.  Once the rice cooker clicks over to warm let it sit for about 15 more minutes so most steam clears out.  Grabbing the rice immediately after it cooks still leaves it very soggy and mushy. 

 PREPARING THE RICE

Scoop the cooked rice into a non metal bowl or pan.  The reason is because when the hot rice touches cold metal it instantly loses its heat.  When the rice cools to room temperature it has to be aired out via fanning or else it ruins the desired texture when adding the rice vinegar.  Slowly sprinkle the rice vinegar over the rice until you can see a light glossy layer over each grain.  Fan out the steam with a hand fan or anything similar.  While you are doing this you mix the rice with a ladle to help even out the vinegar.  Be sure you are mixing carefully to even out the vinegar only and not mash the rice.  Oh yeah please excuse the Christmas theme trays.  The were the only clean ones at the time.  LOL.

PREPARING THE SUSHI WRAPPER

Wrap the bamboo wrapper in plastic film for sanitation purposes and to give it an even roll.  You can discard the plastic once you are done and the bamboo wrapper stays clean.  Using it without the film will give it and uneven roll and eventually cause your bamboo wrapper to get dirty.

WRAPPING THE SUSHI

Once the rice and wrapper are ready you can start with a sheet of seaweed.  Keep a bowl of water next to you to constantly keep your hands wet.  The wetness will cause the rice to not stick on you as much.  Spread the rice evenly across the seaweed and leave about an inch and a half of bare seaweed towards the top.  Once you roll it you will wet the upper edge of the bare part.  This will seal the roll.  Add fish and then the cucumber slices.  After that feel free to add whatever you like and get creative.

ROLLING THE SUSHI

This will be the hardest the get.  You will roll the bottom part up with the bamboo wrapper.  First roll you will seal in the contents.  Make the roll tight as you can without ripping the seaweed.  Once the contents are covered you should still be able to see the bare part of the seaweed.  You will then give the roll a squeeze to make it tight.  After that you wet the top edge of the bare part of the seaweed with water.  Continue rolling it up and squeeze again to make it tight.  The finished roll should look like the bottom picture.  Note that the contents will stick out the sides.  That's ok.

CUTTING THE SUSHI

Make sure your knife is sharp.  Wet the blade so that the rice won't stick to it.  Cut the sushi with the knife from one end to the other.  The technique is to keep the knife wet so it doesn't stick and also cut the sushi at an angle so that you utilize the maximum sharpness of the blade.  Once you slice into the roll use small and quick cuts kind of like sawing.  Serve the sushi on a tray and use your imagination to give it a beautiful display.  Serve with soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger.  Wasabi is a Japanese horseradish that when added to the soy sauce it will give it a horseradish type zing.  The ginger is to help clean your palette between rolls so you can get the full taste of each roll without leftover taste of the last roll you ate.  Here's a hint:  If the wasabi goes up your nose it will burn your sinuses and eyes.  To stop that you should plug your nose until the heat goes away.  This will block passage into your nasal area.  

I hope you enjoyed this lesson.  Sushi 101 in a nutshell.   Remember you will make mistakes.  Keep trying until you develop the technique.  You will never get it if you don't try.  Good luck.  Also enjoy your sushi with a cold beer or hot sake.  Both will enhance the flavors of the fish.  Enjoy!

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Food for thought........

Tonight's blog is dedicated to health and living.  This recipe is not about a certain dish but your diet more likely.  In such a fast paced society the one thing we all strive for is convenience - quicker car, saving money, less traveling, faster phone service, more social networks, etc.  Companies understand the demand in the market so they provide.  But understand this, with more convenience comes a price.  We sacrifice our health specifically.  From getting food delivered to us, to ready made microwave meals, and fast food diets.  Eventually our bodies take a toll from all the "convenience."

I urge everyone to be aware of what you are taking in on a regular basis and how it affects your body.  From my experience here in the U.S. I've noticed a lot of protein and carbs in the American diet.  Be conscious of how a balanced meal can change your health for the better.  The urban myth is that veggies taste bad and you have to resort to "bird food."  On the contrary,  I will provide throughout this blog quick and easy veggie recipes to add to any dish as a side but not only that - a healthy side.

Be wary of fast food.  The convenience of fast food destroys your health.  Take some time to research what they are made of and how.  This should help change your mind.  Also understand in the long run, when you pay the extra dollars to get natural, organic, and farm raised foods you are saving years on your life.

From this paragraph on I will get really opinionated so be prepared.  In my opinion, a lot of people cannot fathom the fact that we are so much a part of this economy that governments and corporations substitute our health for quicker, cheaper, and more "convenient" ways of providing food so that they can produce more and save on costs so they can profit.  We then take this health problem and have to pay more to go visit doctors or physicians.  It's never ending cycle of "feeding the cows" until they come to their end or serve their purpose.  Kind of like real cows in meat factories but the difference is that it's us.  Take that time to realize what you are taking in our digestive system before you pay for your "convenience."  Start with your mind and then with your body.  A lot of time people will say that their job is enough exercise or they are just too tired.  That's the reason.  You get tired fast because there's a poor health and lack of exercise issue.

The balance of life.  In the Theravada Buddhism teachings the balance of life comes from the teachings of the "middle way."  Don't do too much and don't do too little.  Don't spend all your life chasing money and then lose your health in the process.  Eat balanced and more conscious meals and maintain your body by exercising.  Balance your life between money, love, food, exercise, family, etc.  What's going on in the world today?  Working so much that we can't enjoy ourselves.  Not eating right because we have no time.  Chasing the dollar to make ends meet.  It's like my man Marvin Gaye said. "What's going on."  Food for thought.....

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KKEXZTrvAU

Let's start! Something easy. Sweet chili baked chicken!

 Sweet Chili Roasted Chicken

Welcome to the first recipe.  I wanted to start this off easy and work my way up.  All of my dishes ranges from quick fix meals in 30 minutes or creating plates from scratch including sauces.  The first one will be a quick fix.  Sweet Chili Chicken uses the Sweet Chili sauce that comes prepared in the bottle like the displayed picture below.  Very low on cost and adds so much flavor to any chicken. 

Have the chicken thawed out and placed in a mixing bowl.  I always like to rinse my chicken after thawing out.

 For six chicken legs I like to use half a table spoon of salt, half a table spoon of black pepper, four cloves of garlic minced up, and a teaspoon of some basil leaves flakes.  Mix together with hands to evenly spice the chicken legs leaving no area untouched. 

Lay the chicken across the baking dish.  I like to put a griddle screen in the baking dish so the chicken does not get oily in the cooking process.  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

After the first 15 minutes of putting the chicken in you lower the temperature down to 400.  Cook until golden brown on the outside.  I like to turn the chicken once when I see it's starting to get that golden color and cook for another five to ten minutes.  Once the chicken is cooked, you want to pulled out the baking dish so you can apply the sweet chili sauce.  Pour some sauce into a small bowl and apply a thick coating over the chicken.  Turn off the oven completely but while it's still hot put the chicken back into the oven so it can warm up the sauce.  Once you take it back out serve on a plate and BAM!  You got yourself an amazing entree which is quite, easy, and can be very impressive if done correctly.

Enjoy with a glass of white wine.  I prefer a sauvignon blanc or a white zinefindel.  Of course you can add more to make this a meal.  Sauteed veggies and rice.  I'll show that in a later post.  This was a quick and easy recipe for a an easy and delicious chicken dish.  Cooking with soul.  And on that note, I'd like to end with a soulful track from one of my favorites - Erykah Badu 's "Bag Lady."  This song reminds me to relax sometimes in this tough society and the race to make more money because that stress can become baggage. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SavBYLc7Og

Cooking basics 101. Let's start!

Welcome again.  This is Step1.  To prepare yourself for any culinary adventure you would have to have the right tools - a good knife, sharpening rod, cutting board, clean towels, and mixing bowls of different sizes.  The cutting boards can consist of the plastic cutting boards that last longer and the wooden ones that don't last as long but are better for your knife, in my opinion.  The knife should be an all around cutting, slicing, dicing, and chopping utensil so quality is worth the extra dollar.  Germans knives are one of the top quality knives due to their steel.  Solid and durable they manage to keep their sharpness and can take a beating.  Sharpening rods don't necessarily sharpen the knife.  It's more to smooth out the blade during use.  Depending on the quality of your blade you may have to sharpen the knife with a sharpening stone or taking it to a professional.  Next is your basic ingredients.  I always prepare myself with the following spices - salt, pepper, fresh garlic, sugar, olive oil, and basil.

 

Welcome to my new Bboy Soul Kitchen!!

Welcome to my new blog - Bboy Soul Kitchen!!  This blog will be dedicated to my years as a hibachi chef - a japansese flat top grilling with a twist of dynamics adding on tricks like flipping spatulas and forks as well as making fire through onion volcanos.

The blog combines two of my greatest passions - bboying, a Hip Hop style of dance, and cooking.  I will be illustrating and composing recipes that I have either been passed down to me from associate chefs that I have worked with (I'll do my best to give credit) or recipes that I have put together through experimenting or because there just wasn't anything to eat and I whipped up something that ended up tasting the bomb.

To give disclaimers about the contents of my recipes here goes.  My cuisines are a mix of Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Lao, and Thai or even fusions.  Sometimes I may do a meal with a Latin or American influence to change it up but the majority have that Far East feel.  I really enjoy balanced meals - carbs (rice, potatoes, tortillas), proteins or meats (red meat, poultry, fish, or tofu), and lots of veggies!  I love giving them a colorful display for visual appeal because nobody likes a boring looking meal.  If you want to impress a date try one of my fancier dishes but make sure it's a fit for your date.  I will not be responsible for missed love connection because you decided to cook Korean BBQ ribs for a vegetarian.  I like to have a drink with my meals so sometimes I may recommend a glass of wine (for the 21 and over of course) or I may just blog a drink i like to enjoy as a recipe - Sake Mojitos!! Woohoo!

With each recipe or post I will include music or artists that have influenced my life or I may just simply like groovin' to it during commuting in the car, riding the CTA, training on the dance floor, or jammin' out in the kitchen while cooking.  My cooking tends to taste better when I'm listening to something that touches my soul during the culinary process.  Included I will have breakdancing footage of myself or others that have influenced my dancing.  My idealogies for dance helped my create concepts that carried over to my career as a hibachi chef which lead me to being a head chef for a short period of time.  Plus it gives my blog a twist besides the typical "here are some recipes. now go cook." 

Please enjoy the blog and feel free to post, ask questions, and add compliments.  The more the merrier.  Feel free to share with friends, relatives, and co-workers.

 In addition to that here's a track I'd like to kick off this blog with.  A breaking track by Ludi called "Ying Yang Technique."  I figured it would fit the Asiatic/Bboy merge of this blog.  One of my partners in dance used a snippet of this track during our performance in Shanghai, China two years ago and again at the Pritzker Pavilion last year in our "5 Styles" breakdancing piece which I will post later.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VupplZf8ohk&feature=BFa&list=FLXAt9pM4yQjHfckhAI3KEeQ