A Sushi Roll Party

Another Cooks Challenge is out of the way! The November 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was brought to you by Audax of Audax Artifex and Rose of The Bite Me Kitchen. They chose sushi as the challenge.

This month I enlisted the participation of one of my neighbourhood friends to help me with the challenge. When I mentioned to her that I would be making some sushi rolls this past week she asked if she could take part.....and since cooking is always more fun with friends...I did not say no. I have made California type rolls before, but had never tried to make any inside out rolls or nigiri sushi either....so I was interested to try this challenge. I am a big fan of bento box meals and do like the ones with some rolls included, but am not a big fan of sashimi. I have found that I most appreciate the flavour of raw tuna.....but never raw salmon. With that in mind I decided that my inside out 'dragon roll' would be based on a spicy tuna roll, my nori covered roll would be essentially a California roll using shrimp rather than pollack, and that my nigiri would be topped with shrimp.
We ended up making the 'sushi' on Remembrance Day and to my surprise, my local grocery store carried sashimi grade tuna....complete with instructions on how to slice it. Christine made rolls with California type fillings, and some with smoked salmon mixed with a bit of mayonnaise. The rolls all turned out well, but I found that forming the nigiri is a skill that I need a little practice with. Never the less, the rolls and nigiri were consumed without complaint. If you would like to see some other Daring Cooks and their creations check them out here.