Homemade Sushi

I love sushi, but since it usually requires us to go out (I’m not much of a fan of the pre-packaged kinds at the grocery store), it can get a little pricy. So, I decided to try and make my own. I’ve never tried to make sushi before in my life, so it was definitely an interesting experience. I figured it couldn’t be that hard, though, since all I needed was some short grain rice, nori, and veggies to fill it with.

Before the sushi making extravaganza, though, I had to get in a long run. My poor left leg has been plagued with injuries since October. It first started out with pulled ankle and Achilles muscles due to going to fast and furious with my Vibram Five Fingers. Once that had finally cleared up, I developed shin splints in November from ramping up the mileage too quickly after coming back from the original injury. Then, during the Disney Half, I managed to fracture (or at least severely sprain, but I wouldn’t know because I refused to go to a doctor, duh) a metatarsal bone in my foot. Finally, after all that, I was ready to start running mid-March. Up to this point I had only done 4 miles, so Sunday marked my first “long” run, of 8 miles. My left shin has been bothering me a little, but I’ve been icing like crazy to hopefully keep it at bay. My goal was to stay under 9;30 minute miles, and I did that without problem, finishing in 1:14:20. I got to be a little “hardcore,” though, as I bled through my sock. This seems to be a somewhat regular occurrence for me, though and it doesn’t hurt. I’ll spare you the picture (yes, I took one).

I’m still planning to run/walk the RU Unite Half April 17th, so we’ll see. I wasn’t 100% sure if I could mentally handle just doing a run/walk, but after reading Caitlin’s More Half Recap (who is also injured) I know I can do it! And I also have officially signed the fiancé and myself up to run the Philadelphia Marathon this November 20th!

But back to the sushi. For our roll, I threw in some avocado (finally ripe from last week), cucumber, and smoked salmon. I was a bit nervous about the whole rolling technique, but it’s actually really easy! We grabbed a sushi kit that had the bamboo mat in it along with the nori, short-grain “sushi” rice, sushi vinegar, and also soy sauce and wasabi. I’m glad that it came with so much, so next time we just need to get our filling and the rice and nori. I had a ton of fun making it, and can’t wait to try it again with some different goodies inside.

Homemade Sushi
– Makes 4 full rolls –

Ingredients:
1 4oz. package of smoked salmon
2 cups sushi rice (short grain white rice)
1/4 cup sushi vinegar
4 slices of nori (dried seaweed)
1/2 cucumber, peeled and sliced (long ways)
1/2 avocado, sliced

Directions:
1. Cook rice in boiling salted water, about 15-20 minutes. Add sushi vinegar and allow to cool.
2. Once rice is cooled, lay a nori sheet on top of the bamboo mat. Moisten your hands, and spread about a 1/4 cup of the rice on the nori in a thin layer, leaving about 2 inches at the edge of the far side of the nori.
3. Layer the cucumber, avocado, and salmon across the middle of the nori. Using the bamboo mat, starting at the edge closest to you, begin to roll away from you, until the nori is completely rolled.
4. Remove the mat, and slice the roll in 1/2 inch to 1 inch pieces.