Homemade Sushi

 Sushi is a food I have come to love. It's a light, flavorful meal that is something Matt and I really enjoy treating ourselves to. I decided to try my hand at some homemade sushi rolls. My favorite rolls always have some form of cream cheese in them. I love the different consistencies in the textures and flavors and cream cheese always brings out the best to me. I made a Philadelphia Roll and our own Mango Roll creation.

I used fresh mangoes, avocados, cream cheese and smoked salmon. We purchased the sushi seaweed wraps from the grocery store. We had jasmine rice at home already and that made for the perfect, sticky sushi rice.

You start out by laying out your seaweed on a plastic wrap sheet. There is a special bamboo mat for wrapping sushi, but I couldn't find one so I made do without. Since then I found one at Publix for $2.99 and now it's  got a special place in my kitchen.

Spread your rice out on top of your seaweed piece. I went a little thick on the rice since it was my first time, but the rice should be stick and stick together on top of your seaweed.

Then flip the rice/seaweed over so that the rice is facing down. I lined my fillings up along one side of the square piece. This roll was our mango roll. Pieces of fresh mango, avocado and smoked salmon.

Once your fillings are in place, start rolling up the seaweed/rice square. The plastic wrap helps you tuck in the rice so it stays in place without it sticking to your hands.

Keep rolling....

Once it's rolled, you have the option of sprinkling on a few sesame seeds. I toasted mine for extra flavor. Now find your SHARPEST knife. (I had to sharpen one, I found out the hard way that sushi doesn't cut easily.) Start cutting the sushi into slices.

The rolls are huge! But so so delicious.

Serve with chopsticks and a side of soy sauce. 

Such a fun project. It was really easy and we were lucky to get the rice perfect on the first try. It's better to buy specific sushi rice because other rices won't stick together as well. From the research I did before I started cooking, it seemed like getting the rice to the right consistency was the biggest challenge. You've got so many ways to experiment with this recipe as well. You can do rolls with fried shrimp and fried fish. I'll probably steer clear of actual RAW sea foods when I prepare them myself. You could include all sorts of fruits and veggies to make some tasty veggie sushi. We'll probably be trying these again this weekend. Happy sushi eating!