Now that we’ve learned the basics of making perfect sushi rice and rolling perfect sushi rolls, I’m going to show you a few mouthwatering variations of sushi rolls. These will pretty much put the California Roll to shame.

Sorry, California Roll. But you’ll understand in a minute.

(The “Sweets for your Sweetie” series will resume tomorrow. We have much chocolate to cover before Valentine’s Day.)





First of all, don’t mess with Cody. He’s serious about his rolls.

Way serious.





Second of all, many of the rolls we’re making today include this special spicy sauce. It’s mayonnaise (Japanese mayo in this case, but regular mayo works well, too) and red chili paste mixed together—about 4 parts mayo to 1 part chili paste.

This stuff is deeeelish. And it’s very, very spicy.





Third, this is Hyacinth.





Hyacinth is the life of the party.

Never mind that my parties are usually a little on the…tame side.





Here’s a big chunk of yellowfin tuna—also known as Ahi tuna. It’s beautiful, lean, mild, and fresh. And it’s one of the most commonly used ingredients in modern day sushi.

For sushi, you really must buy sushi-grade Ahi tuna—it must be as fresh as fresh can be. Talk to your local fish dude about it, or do some research online.

But remember: sushi rolls do NOT have to involve raw fish products. Most of the rolls I highlight today (as well as the California Roll I showed you last week) don’t contain any raw products.

______________________________

SPICY TUNA ROLL:

To make a spicy tuna roll, Cody coated one side of the nori (dried seaweed) with the sushi rice. (See previous tutorial for specific instructions.) Then he squirted a line of the spicy sauce on the rice side.





After that came the radish sprouts. According to Cody, radish sprouts are available in the produce section of Asian markets and are a little more mild in flavor (less grassy) than alfalfa sprouts. In addition to the sprouts, Cody placed a thin sliver of cucumber into the mix.





Now, pretend he placed a thin strip of sliced Ahi tuna on top of the other ingredients. Because after all, this is a spicy TUNA roll.

But I done forgotted to take a photo.





Then Cody simply rolled it up (again, see previous lesson.)





And that’s it!





You’ll notice that with the Spicy Tuna Roll, the rice is on the inside with the other ingredients. On the inside-out California Roll, you’ll remember, the rice was on the outside of the seaweed.





Next, Cody slices it up as he did the California Roll. I love that the two end pieces have the springy sprouts hanging out of the side. So fresh looking!

Note: The Spicy Tuna Roll was my second-favorite roll of the night.

______________________________

THE CANDY ROLL

For this roll, Cody put the spicy sauce on the seaweed side of things.

He’s always changing things up, the little trickster.





Next, please help me, he placed snowcrab (mixed with a tiny bit of Japanese mayonnaise to bind it together) right on the spicy sauce.

And please don’t get hung up on the Japanese mayo thing. Real mayo—HELLMAN’S MAYO, to be exact—will work just fine in all of these applications.

Hellman’s Mayonnaise is one of the best storebought ingredients one can buy.





Next to the crabmeat, as if he wasn’t sadistic enough, Cody placed a luscious line of avocado. Not too firm. Not too mushy.





I can’t HANDLE the truth. Now, Cody’s placing a tidy little line of shrimp into the mix.

Then he rolled it up and sliced it into pieces like a good little sushi chef. Delicious.

______________________________

SPICY EEL ROLL

It began very innocently. Rice on the bottom. Seaweed on the top. Crabmeat. Blanched asparagus. A normal Thursday afternoon.





This is freshwater eel, totally cooked through and coated with a mild Asian barbecue-style sauce.





The eel smells divine but DECIDEDLY more fishy than anything else in the room. And I found Cody’s explanation very interesting:

When fish is cooked, the natural oils—where the fishy scent resides—are released. The result is that cooked fish will taste much more fishy than raw fish. Many people mistakenly believe the opposite—that raw fish smells fishy. In fact, it’s the cooking process that brings out the fishy odor.





After Cody rolled up the snowcrab-and-blanched-asparagus roll, he began laying pieces of the cooked eel onto the top of the roll.





Then—important—Cody covered the roll with a sheet of aluminum foil…





Then placed the bamboo mat over the top of the foil, squeezing it lightly to bind it together.





Then, Cody slices the rolls with the foil still on.





The purpose of the foil is to allow the eel to stay on the top of the roll without sliding off as you slice.

Dang sushi chefs. They’re so brilliant.





And look! It worked!





Oh, geez. To top things off, Cody drizzled some eel sauce over the top.

The eel sauce is a thick, sweet reduction of—well, eel juice or something. I could eat it with a spoon, it’s so good.





But you know what?





As exceedingly yummy as this looked and sounded…

It wound up being my least-favorite sushi roll of the night.

Oh, don’t get me wrong—I’d chose it over pretty much any other options I would normally have had that Thursday night. But it was SO much more fishy than the rest of the sushi rolls. Those ol’ fish oils really went nuts on Cody when he placed the eel into the oven. And for some reason…that level of fishiness just didn’t translate well to the sushi I know and love.

______________________________

THE DUNWELL ROLL—This one is really evil.

Cody had the AUDACITY to actually FRY some SHRIMP in TEMPURA BATTER at my HOUSE.





Then he drained the shrimp on paper towels.

Note: Cody froze the shrimp in long, skinny shapes, then battered and dropped them into the hot oil when they were still frozen. This ensured they wouldn’t curl.





This sushi roll has cream cheese in it; Cody simply grabs chunks of it, then forms it into long, skinny pieces for the rolls.





Next come long, skinny sticks of fresh, seeded jalapenos, followed by a squirt of the spicy sauce.





Next, Cody lops off the shrimp tails…





And places the crispy fried shrimp inside the roll.





Then he rolls ’em up and slices ’em.





You’re looking at my absolute favorite sushi roll. There’s just something about the jalapeno strip, the cream cheese, and the contrastingly crispy shrimp—not to mention the special spicy sauce—that sets my heart afire. (My mouth, too.)

The Dunwell Roll is seriously delicious.

______________________________

THE 6151 ROLL





I’ve just got one more roll to show you. This is deep fried crabcake. I sneaked a bite and almost died from sheer bliss.





Meantime, back on the stove: pans of lobster meat with chili paste, heavy cream, and other ridiculously sinful ingredients.





This is an inside-out roll—the rice is on the outside. On the inside goes cream cheese and jalapeno, just like the one before.





Next goes the fried crabcake. Cody just sorta breaks it into pieces as he lays it on top of the other ingredients, leaving the wonderful crunch throughout the roll.





Next comes a piece of blanched asparagus.





Then he rolls ’em up….





Rolls the long rolls in masago (capelin roe, otherwise known as weird orange fish eggs), then slices the rolls into pieces.





Then—and for this I’m going to ask your forgiveness—Cody places pieces of the creamy, spicy cooked lobster on top of each piece.





I know this is causing all sorts of ancient sushi enthusiasts to roll over in their graves…but if this is wrong, I don’t ever want to be right.





Next comes a drizzle of eel sauce…





A sprinkling of chopped green onions, and a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds. To say this was a feast for the senses is a criminal understatement.

_________________________________

To recap, here are the rolls I showed you today:

Spicy Tuna Roll

Ahi tuna, cucumber and radish sprouts with spicy sauce

Candy Roll

Shrimp, snow crab, avocado, spicy sauce – rolled in sesame seeds

Eel Roll

Crabmeat, asparagus, topped with eel slices.

Dunwell Roll

Deep-fried shrimp, jalapeño, cream cheese and spicy sauce

6151 Roll

Crab cake, cream cheese, jalapeño & asparagus rolled in masago; topped with lobster tail cooked in a chili cream sauce, caramelized eel sauce, garlic, scallions and sesame seeds

____________________________

Thanks, everyone, for hanging with me during my Sushi Fest! It’s not every day sushi enters my life on the ranch. In fact, I think it’s safe to say this was pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime thing for me.

I appreciate your being patient while I chronicle the heck out of it.

Love,

Pioneer Woman

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io