Uncommon Sushi

 

”Everybody feels safe belonging not to the excluded minority, but to the excluding majority. [...] If you belong to the majority, you can avoid thinking lots of troubling things.” says on character in Haruki Murakami's ”1Q84”. As ”1Q84” is not George Orwell's ”1948”, but a fictional reality split open within another reality, I thought I might make a split-open sushi to accommodate it with my personality, meaning that I feel just fine belonging to the excluded minority, whatever that is, and thinking troubling things.

Difficulty: medium.

Kitchen tools:

- pans (two);

- steamer (or pot, if you just boil the soy beans);

- citrus squeezer;

- cooking machine;

- cutting board;

- knife;

- spatula;

- tablespoon;

- teaspoon;

- colander;

- bowls.

Duration: 1.15 h.

Serves: 3.

You need:

- 400 g of rice;

- 400 g of frozen Edamame soybeans;

- 8 g of seaweed (soaked);

- 6 sushi sheets;

- 1 ripe avocado (sliced);

- juice of half a lemon;

- half a lemon (sliced);

- 150 ml of wine (rosé);

- 8 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil;

- 600 ml of vegetable stock;

- 1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds;

- a pinch of sweet paprika;

- water (to soak the seaweed);

- salt and pepper (to taste).

Method:

1. Get in the mood.

2. Thank the ingredients for giving you energy.

3. Place the soybeans in your steamer and set the timer for 15 min. (Alternatively, you can boil them for 10 min, but add some salt to the water.)

4. Soak the seaweed in warm water (less than 40 C / 104 F) for 30 min.

5. Rinse the rice, pour 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan, and when hot, add the rice and fry for 10 min, mixing continuously.

6. Season with salt and pepper and fry for another 5 min.

7. Add the vegetable stock little by little, letting it be absorbed by the rice. Add the wine (sparing two tablespoons for the seaweed) and let it get absorbed. Near the end of the process, add the cumin seeds and a pinch of paprika, and mix them with the rice.

8. When the soybeans are done, dry them in a colander.

9. Place another pan on the fire and when hot, add the soybeans and fry them dry for 10 min.

10. When they are a little brownish, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and fry them for another 10 min.

11. Add the seaweed in a pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the spared wine and fry them for 15 min. (By doing this, you will partially remove the specific taste, if you do not like it.)

12. Squeeze half of the lemon.

13. Peel the avocado and slice it (1.5 cm thick slices).

14. Add it to a bowl and pour the lemon juice over it.

15. When the rice is done, try to separate it into three portions.

16. Place a sushi sheet on a cutting board, add one third of the rice and level it.

17. Place another sushi sheet over the rice.

18. Place a plate over it and flip it over.

19. Try to make a circle from the avocado slices, place some edamame soybeans in the circle, add some seaweed over and decorate the rest to your heart's content with soybeans and lemon slices.

20. Repeat the process with the other two plates.

21. Enjoy!