Once upon a time, I got a text from my friend Charlotte. She suggested that I occasionally write posts about cooking disasters. I liked the idea, but didn’t think about it too much, because how often do I really ruin something so bad it burns to death, explodes, or sets off the fire alarm? No all the often. But then I made this gingerbread house and my meaning of disaster shifted.

I decided I want to make a gingerbread house from scratch back in October. I thought to myself, “it’ll be fun,” and also “you’ve been baking for awhile now, you can totally do this, and it will totally look great.” So, my confidence was strong that I could make something delicious (it was) and decent looking (it wasn’t). I chose a Mary Berry recipe, because I love her on the Great British Bake Off and I trust her recipes. This recipe makes a lot of cookie dough since the house is fairly tall. My first roadblock was that I started mixing the dry ingredients and realized I didn’t have enough ginger. Stupid rookie mistake. But then I went to the store, I made sure I had everything else and I started baking.

Foolishly, I decided to make this after work one day. Because it totally makes sense that after a long day on my feet talking to children, I really want to make an elaborate gingerbread house. Anyway, the cookie dough mixed together well enough and I divided it as the recipe suggested. The first ball of dough rolled out nicely and I cut out some shapes from the house’s template. It was hard to get it up and onto the parchment paper, but I managed. However, the subsequent balls of dough had started to dry out. The dough was getting flaky and crumbling off as I rolled it out with my rolling pin. I was getting so frustrated I started using my hands to flatten the dough and stick pieces together. You can see that this method led to lumps and wrinkles in the finished cookies (which I think also led to structural integrity issues later).

Finally I had the pieces cut out and they were baking in the oven. While they were baking I smashed apart some hard candies which were going to go in the windows of the house. It was like 8:30pm and I’m making a serious racket and the candies are barely breaking up. Ryan is looking at me like, “what are you murdering over there?” So I stopped smashing and just used whatever small bits I had. I pulled the cookies out of the oven, sprinkled the candies in the openings, and baked it some more. When they came out, the cookies looked nicely browned and the stars and windows had a lovely stained glass appearance.

However, I made yet another mistake. In taking out the tray I got the thumb of my oven mitt in one of the cookies and made a noticeable divot. Sigh . I was disappointed, but at this point my hope wasn’t lost that this house could still look amazing. I decided to let the cookies cool and I’d assemble them the next day. I was feeling frustrated and I knew I wouldn’t have a beautiful house if I was decorating with rage.

The arrow points to my thumb print of shame.

The next day, I removed the cookies from parchment paper. Some pieces came off easily. But the ones with the candies seemed to have fused with the parchment paper and I couldn’t get them off without breaking the candy. So instead of beautiful stained glass, I had broken windows. My house was going to look like a Christmas village that had been abandoned in the woods. I started to pout. And then a bottom corner under the window broke off. Pouting turned to melt down.

“The house is ruined!” I shouted.

“No,” said Ryan, “It’s just the back, it’ll be fine.”

Always the voice of reason, I decided to listen to Ryan and trudge on. I made the frosting and it was thick and fluffy and tasty. I iced the cake board and then started to assemble the walls of the house. I was following the instructions to the letter and I was feeling like it was coming together. I had 3 walls up, and was about to put on the back wall when one side wall fell over. UGH! The wall fell into the frosting on the cake board and now the house looked like it had snow up to the windows. I propped that wall back up, and then the other side wall fell over. Well at least it would be symmetrically messed up.

I started yelling at my house, about how it was hideous and ruined and terrible and wasn’t going to look nice at all. Now that I had put my thumb in the cookie, broken a wall, broken the windows, and had icing all over 50% of the the house I gave up hope. This was not going to be a beautiful magazine worthy gingerbread house. Now all I could do was cover it in sweets. I decided not to use a piping bag to decorate (why bother!) and I just used a knife, my fingers and some candies.

I also chose to give up on waiting. “Hey Ryan, it says I should let it dry over night and then put on the roof. Should I just put on the roof now anyway?” I asked.

And, I think, sensing my frustrating at this project that had already taken me two evenings, he said “yeah put the roof on.”  It all ready looked like an abandoned shack and waiting over night wasn’t going to fix that. So I used chopsticks as support beams – and Ryan said “real houses have support beams,” – and I placed the roof on top.

It actually looked kind of nice (from some angles). It is clearly homemade. It is not beautiful and won’t win any awards. It won’t get re-pinned on Pinterest or get picked up on BuzzFeed. But, I actually still felt proud of myself. I had made a gingerbread house entirely from scratch. So I took pictures of the house, warts and all, so I could share it. I took all the pictures I wanted, I put my camera down, then sat on the couch.

I sat down, and the house collapsed. I couldn’t help but laugh, and laugh hysterically, like Tom Hanks in the Money Pit (minute 2:18). This was not an ideal attempt at a gingerbread house. Stil, disaster might be a bit harsh as the cookies did taste really good. And it was house shaped for about 5 minutes. But, I learned that I like to bake so it tastes good and makes people happy. I’m not a baker who can make things beautiful, and that’s ok. So next time you feel bad that what you made doesn’t look like the picture, think of my gingerbread house and know you’re in good company.

If you’re still feeling brave and want to make your own gingerbread house I used this recipe from Mary Berry. It has a template which is nice. For other recipes, I’m really impressed by this recipe from Cavoletto. This recipe is for tiny houses that can hang on the edge of your mug of cocoa! I like it because it’s showing off a bit, but I also think smaller pieces might be easy to cut out and work with. I also like this recipe from Oh Sweet Day. Her decorations are lovely, but simple, and feel like I could actually replicate it. Finally, this haunted gingerbread house from Curry and Comfort is amazing and should just be looked at for enjoyment purposes.

Final point, is that this was SUPER messy. I mean 10 spoon messy and my scale only goes to 5 spoons. It was maximum messiness both days. I had mountains of dough flakes on the floor. I had icing on my face and hair. It was overwhelming and sort of impressive how big the mess was.

And if you are making a gingerbread house this year I want to hear about it and see it. Post about it in the comment below or send me pictures of your creations at cookingismessy@gmail.com. Good luck and happy holiday baking!

The post Gingerbread House appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

thanks to Charlotte for suggesting I include my learn to cook dude!

This is one of Ryan and my favorite, go-to, weeknight dinner recipes. Ryan loves Mexican flavors. I love rice and beans. It’s a great meal. But even so, I’ve been debating about posting this. I even made a pros and cons list. Here it is:

Cons –

• Creates a lot of dishes and that’s annoying
• Requires some finesse and timing. Lots of things are cooking at the same time, which can be stressful

Pros –

• Takes less than 45 minutes to make everything
• Tasty and filling
• It’s easy to make a lot, so it’s great for guests or if you want some to take for lunch
• There’s lots of options for making this even faster or even more homemade (more on that below)
• There’s lots of options for adding all the toppings and add-on foods that you like

So the pros outweigh the cons, which means you all get a nice recipe. Before we get started let me tell you about some of the options to amp up or amp down this recipe.

I use canned beans, frozen sofrito, and a taco seasoning packet. I prefer using these products because they still taste great and they decrease my prep time. Specifically, I liked Goya pink beans or any brand’s pinto beans. But of course you could use black beans, re-fried beans, or whatever kind of beans you like. If you don’t like canned beans, by all means use dried beans. People tell me they are much better, but I grew up often eating canned beans so I like them just fine.

You can also make your own sofrito. If you’re not familiar, it’s a tomato based seasoning blend. I prefer not to make it because it requires a lot of ingredients, some of which can be hard to find. If you are so inclined, a recipe I like is from Wilo Benet’s book Puerto Rico True Flavors. You can also do some Googling, and find a recipe you like. But the Goya frozen sofrito is great because it’s such a big tub and it keeps for a long time.

Finally, I buy taco seasoning packets. Again, it’s because taco seasoning is made up of a lot of ingredients and not all of which are already in my spice cabinet. However, when I’ve found myself without a seasoning packet, I’ve used this recipe.

Now, for the rice. I’m going to give you the recipe for making rice on the stove. I don’t have a rice cooker so I don’t know how that works, but go ahead and use it if you have it. If you really want to save yourself time, go ahead and use Uncle Ben’s 90 second rice – but I’ll be judging you a little bit. And I’ll be judging only because I think you should try stove making rice before you go to prepared rice. I’ve totally had Uncle Ben’s 90 second rice (sorry Mom), but the bag doesn’t make much and it’s not cost effective. I like making rice myself because it’s largely passive cooking, it makes a ton, and it’s cheap. Seriously a 2 pound bag of rice cost about $2 and will last a long time.

Just a few more notes and we’ll get to cooking. I never use tortillas when Ryan and I make taco salad. This is largely because I feel guilty about waste. I buy a bag of tortillas, we use about 6 and then they go stale and I feel bad about throwing them away. Usually Ryan and I make a taco salad heap and then use chips to scoop up the food. Feel free to use taco shells, tortillas, chips, or just a fork. Make it your own.

You’ll have three things going at once. I like rice on the back burner and beans and veggies/meat on the front two. This way, when you stir, you aren’t reaching over anything.

And the last thing about “make it your own,” is that this meal allows for you to put whatever you like on top of it. We usually add at least cheese and salsa, but there’s so many more options and I’ll list some below.

That’s enough background, let’s get to cooking. With this recipe you’ll be cooking 3 things. The directions will be all together, and I’m doing this because it should allow you get all 3 dishes finished at the same time. And that’s what you want because then you can serve everything hot.

Ingredients you don’t have to cook and can use as toppings:

salsa

chopped tomatoes

shredded cheese

sour cream

lettuce

guacamole

Ingredients (for the cooking-part):

1 cup long grain white rice (you can also use other types of rice if you prefer)

2 cups water

1 tbsp butter

1 medium onion

1 can Goya pink beans

1/4 cup Goya frozen sofrito

1-2 bell peppers (any color you like)

1 tbsp and 1 tsp (or 4 tsp) taco seasoning

1 lb ground turkey (or beef if you prefer)

Directions:

1. Start with the rice. I recommend following the package instructions, but I’ll also give you my instructions. Use a back burner, this is important because you need 2 other burners and the rice will be largely left alone so it shouldn’t be in the front. Anyway, add 1 cup of rice, 2 cups of water, and 1 tbsp of butter to a medium pot. Bring the water to a boil. Once it’s boiling, turn the heat to low. Cover the pot and simmer until the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes.  I recommend you set a timer for 20 minutes and use it to help you synchronize the rest of your cooking. Below is the rice mid-cook.

2. While you’re waiting for the rice. Chop the bell pepper and onion in strips.

3. When you have about 15 minutes left on your rice timer, heat a large pan (on a front burner) on medium. Once it gets hot enough, saute your onions and pepper strips until they are browned and soft. This takes about 5-7 minutes.

4. At about 12 minutes left on your rice timer, put the beans (and the liquid in the can) in a small pot. Add the sofrito. (Note: if you’re using frozen sofrito, microwave the tub for 30 seconds and then scrape out 1/4 cup. It’s not serious if you have more or less). Simmer the beans on medium for about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Beans are done when they are tender and hot throughout.

5. Ok, once your peppers and onions are soft, remove them from the pan and set aside. You should have about 8-10 minutes left on your rice timer. Add the ground turkey to the hot pan. Stir in the taco seasoning. Cook until the meat isn’t pink. This takes about 5-7 minutes. Stir the onions and peppers back in. (Note: You don’t have to mix the onions and peppers in with the meat, but I like to because it ensures we eat our vegetables).

6. Put a paper towel on a plate. Pour the cooked ground turkey on the paper towel plate and let the grease drain.

7. Your timer should be going off! Check the rice! Take off the lid, use a fork and push aside the rice so you can see the bottom of the pan. Is there water? The rice isn’t done. Is it dry and does the rice look fluffy? Then it’s done! Fluff it up and serve. (Note: Technically you shouldn’t open the lid while you’re cooking rice but if you’re new to this, I suggest checking on the rice maybe 5-7 minutes before it’s supposed to be done. This will help you gauge if the rice is cooking too fast (the water is already gone) or if there is some water left then things are going well).

8. Turn off all your burners and you should be ready to serve! I like rice on the bottom, then beans with their juices, then meat, then toppings. But you should plate however you like!

Messy level – This is a three spoon recipe because of the amount of dishes this makes. You’re going to use 2 pots, 1 pan, a knife, and a cutting board. And if you put all your toppings in serving bowls, you’ve got yourself quite the mess. But, in terms of cooking, this doesn’t make much of a mess. The technique is pretty much heat, stir, serve so there’s no splatter or craziness. I think it’s worth the mess. And Ryan’s my resident dish washer and requests this meal, so the dishes can’t be that bad… right?

This past weekend, Ryan and I had dinner with our friend Shane and his girlfriend, Molly. Shane told me he had been binge-reading my blog. I was so touched, and I told him I’d give him a shout out in my next post. So here it is: Hi Shane!! Thank you for reading my blog!

Want a shout out of your own? Post a comment about something food related and the next shout out could be yours. Tell me about your favorite meal, favorite dish you’ve had on vacation, childhood favorite, a food you’re afraid of, or whatever you want. If I like the post, I’ll give you a shout out. 

The post Taco Salad appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

Sushi we made during our class at Sur la Table

A trait I get from my father is that when I really want something, but maybe it’s a little frivolous, I take forever to actually jump in and do it. If Papa wants golf clubs or a new television, he’ll research characteristics and prices, he’ll go online and in stores, and he’ll talk about it. He’ll visit, and re-visit stores. And my mom will eventually say, “just buy it!!!”  But he needs to take his time. It’s what makes him feel comfortable. And I’m pretty much the same way. For a long time (like over 2 years, I’m embarrassed to say) I hemmed and hawed over a sushi making class. I wanted to go, but it seemed a little expensive and unnecessary. I mean wouldn’t it be too hard? Wasn’t class too expensive? Would I ever really make it at home? Why did I even want to make sushi? Who would I go with? And so I thought about it. And I researched which places had classes, and I price compared, and menu compared. I did this when I lived in DC, then when I lived in NYC, and then again when I moved back to the DC area. And then, as can be expected, I never signed up. But I talked about it and thought about it a lot. So, I’ve inherited this trait and now Ryan has to deal with my crazy inaction.

And like my Mom, who tells Papa to just buy it, Ryan gave me the push I needed. He suggested to Santa that I might want a cooking class for Christmas. And, Santa, Ryan and my parents came through.  (The same also happened for blooming tea, which I talked about and researched to death, and then my family finally bought it for me and I now have 4 different kinds of blooming tea).

For a Christmas gift my parents bought me a gift certificate to Sur la Table and I used it to sign up for sushi class (after repeatedly asking Ryan if we really should do that class over something else). No more thinking and planning, I was going to make sushi! And I’m happy to say, the class was totally worth it. Thanks Mama and Papa! Is making sushi at home faster or cheaper? No, it’s not. But is it more awesome? Absolutely. And shouldn’t we make the world more awesome? Yes. Now go watch the Kid President (who also wants to make the world more awesome) video I just embedded so you can feel awesome. No wait, finish reading my blog first.

Silicone sushi mat

Ryan and I finally went to class at Sur la Table in February and we made spicy tuna and salmon rolls, and a veggie hand roll. It was much easier to assemble and create than we expected. And after class I called my parents to gush about how fun and amazing it was. And we had so much fun, and so much success that we bought a sushi mat after class. There were two options for sushi mats: bamboo and silicone. Bamboo is the traditional option, but to use it at home you need to cover it with plastic wrap. According to our instructor, bamboo mats are easy to ruin and difficult to clean, which is why you need the plastic wrap. Silicone mats are modern and don’t look as nice, but you don’t need plastic wrap and  you can clean the mat in the dishwasher. We went with the silicone mat.

Prior to class, making sushi seemed like one of those secret mysteries that must be hard to put together. And real sushi masters, I’m sure, do much more complicated things with their ingredients and rolls. But for the average home cook, sushi at home is a possibility. Then, a few after the class our friends Steve and Jess came to visit and suggested we take a crack at making sushi at home. Steve and Jess are great friends to have visit. They’re easy going, but also up to try different things. The main goal being just to have a nice weekend. They’d been to DC before, so were open for less site-seeing and instead  welcomed a weekend of eating and drinking in Arlington. And for us, an eating weekend is becoming the norm. When they visited in New York we spent the whole weekend taking them out for pizza, ramen, and to drink boots of beer in dingy dive bars. Anyway, back in Arlington, we took them to El Chilango, a great Mexican food truck, and to Bayou for beignets. But the highlight was definitely spending the afternoon together making up sushi combinations and gorging ourselves on what we’d put together. It’s a great way to have an adventure and catch up with old friends. Also, making sushi at home allows you to  customize your rolls and create something that’s both delicious and brag-worthy.

I’ve made sushi once more since they came to visit and took more step-by-step pictures that hopefully will help be a guide if you decide to make sushi yourself. I’ll try to be as straightforward as possible, but some things need explanation and stories to show what to do. But I hope you decide to take on sushi at home. It’s a fun activity and even if it doesn’t come out perfectly, it will still taste delicious.

My focus in this post is mostly on the way to make sushi. I’ll leave fillings mostly up to you, but I have included a recipe for spicy tuna. This is sort of a long post, so let’s get started.

Sushi Rice:

Ingredients –

1 1/2 cups short grain rice (You can also buy rice called “sushi rice.” So far, every short grain rice I’ve found also had “sushi rice” written on the packaging)

Rice Vinegar

2 tbsp sugar

2 teaspoons coarse salt

Directions – 

Note – Sushi rice is seasoned! It’s not just plain white rice. The basic instructions are first you cook the rice, then you let it cool a bit, then you season it, then cover the rice to keep it moist. Also, this amount of rice will make about 6 rolls, which equals about 36 pieces.

1. Using a fine mesh strainer, rinse the rice with cold water until the water runs clear. This might take 2-5 minutes. Using your hands to gentle turn and move the rice so you can make sure all the rice is being rinsed off. This step removes excess starch from the rice.

2. Cook the rice according to package directions.

3. While rice is cooking, mix the vinegar seasoning. In a small bowl stir vinegar, sugar, and salt. Stir until sugar and salt are dissolved. Or mostly dissolved, I have a hard time getting the coarse salt to dissolve all the way. Set bowl aside.

4. Once rice is cooked, remove the pot from the heat, let it stand covered for 5 minutes so the rice can cool.

5. Using a large flat spoon (you can also buy a traditional paddle in stores) gentle transfer the rice to a large platter. Traditionally a wood platter is used. In the classroom the instructor used a rimmed baking sheet. I used a glass Pyrex dish. Throughout this whole process you will probably need to rinse your spoon occasionally as rice gets stuck to it.

6. Once the rice is transferred, use your spoon to gently fold the rice over in your dish. This is giving it air so the rice cools a bit. While folding, fan the rice. (Sushi kits often come with fans, but I just used a stiff piece of paper). You want your rice to be cool enough that it doesn’t wilt or melt the nori when they come into contact. But you don’t want it so cold that the rice loses its stickiness. You want the rice to be “tepid,” according to my instructions from Sur la Table. Room temperature is fine, but if it’s a little warm that’s ok. If it’s a little warm the nori might get wrinkly (I had that happen) but the roll can still be made.

7. When the rice is the right temperature pour the vinegar mixture 1 tbsp at a time over the rice. You might not use all the vinegar mixture. You want to distribute the vinegar mixture evenly. Use your spoon to gently fold the rice and coat it all with the vinegar. Continue this until the rice has a sheen.

8. Cover the rice with damp paper towels. You can also use a kitchen towel, but the instructor said that detergent scents and flavors can be transferred through cloth, so paper towels can be preferable.

Fillings:

1. Chop up vegetables into matchsticks. I used red peppers, carrots, radishes, and cucumbers. You can really use whatever vegetables you like. Heck, use whatever you like – string cheese, Twizzlers, pretzel sticks. All of those things could easily be in matchstick form.

Spicy Tuna:

I think the part that makes people nervous about making sushi at home is buying the fish. How do we know what will be good? Am I going to get sick? I can’t make you any promises about the fish you buy, but I can tell you what I know. Our instructor at Sur la Table said that “sushi grade fish” means that it is fish that has been frozen down to a certain temperature so that bacteria will be killed. She said you can ask at the fish counter about what they recommend to use in sushi. She also said some sushi bars, and sushi bars in grocery stores, will also sell you fish.

Ryan, Steve, Jess, and I went to Whole Foods. I asked the man behind the fish counter what we could use for sushi. He told me that he wasn’t allowed to recommend any of the fish for sushi, but that people do it all the time, and in Europe this fish would be considered ok for sushi. So the four of us looked at each other and decided were were going to go for it anyway. We also went to the sushi counter at Whole Foods and I had the most ridiculous conversation where neither the lady nor I understood the other.

Me: Do you have fish we could use to make sushi?

Lady at the Sushi Counter: This is sushi

Me: No, no. I want to make it at home. What fish can I use?

Lady at the Sushi Counter: Sushi is here. You can eat this.

Anyway, I walked away and we bought the salmon and tuna from the fish counter and none of us got sick. Now back to the recipe.

Ingredients: 

4 oz yellow fin tuna

1 tbsp Sriracha

1 – 1 1/2 tbsp mayonnaise (If you can find Japanese mayo – which I can’t! – use that)

1/2 tsp mirin (it’s a liquid and you can find it in grocery store in the “ethnic food” section)

1-2 tbsp finely chopped green onions (more or less to taste)

1 tsp lemon zest

Instructions:

1. For the sauce, mix the ingredients together. Taste. If it’s too hot put in more mayo. Not hot enough, add some Sriracha. Based on my research, basic spicy tuna sauce includes hot sauce, mayo, mirin, and green onions. Mix those basic ingredients to your liking and you’ve got sauce.

2. For the tuna, remove any tough sinewy parts of the fish. In the picture below I’m holding a tough sinewy part. In between the tuna layers there is sinew, but you only really need to remove what is tough (and therefore what would be hard to chew). You can tell what’s tough because when you try to cut, you’ll have some resistance against your knife. There are two ways to remove the sinew. #1 Use a knife and cut the tuna into cubes. You can cut around the tough bits  pretty easily #1 Use a spoon to scrape off the layers of tuna. This will scrape the meet from the sinew and give you small pieces of tuna.

3. Once you’ve removed the tough parts what you want it small pieces of tuna. You can do this by cutting the tuna into small pieces or by scraping the meat using the spoon.

4. Mix the tuna with the sauce. Set aside until you’re ready to fill your roll.

Making the Roll:

Make sure you have a spacious work area. Within your reach you’ll need a sushi mat, nori, the rice, cut up veggies, fish, knife, damp towel, and bowl of water. The first time we made this at home we made an epic mess. The second time I used my giant cutting board as a work space. This way I could spill, drop rice, and make rolls without getting stuff all over my table. To gush for a second, I’m crazy for my huge cutting board. I got it from the Container Store and it’s 20″x15″. Huge rights? It’s great because there’s space for EVERYTHING. Space for cutting, space for what’s on deck to be cut, space for what’s already been cut, and space for the bits that need to be discarded. Sure it doesn’t really fit in the sink, but it does fit in the dishwasher. Gush over. Let’s get rolling.

Sushi rolling set up

1. Place your sushi mat in front of you.

2. Put a piece of nori, shiny side down, on the sushi mat. The bottom of the nori and bottom of the sushi mat should be aligned. The nori is likely perforated. You want the perforation to be parallel to you. You also may want to break off 1 to 1.5 lines so you don’t have too much nori. I like to break off a bit of nori because it had a chewy mouth feel and I don’t want more of that.

3. Using the bowl of water lightly wet your hands. You want a light sheen on your hands. This is so the rice won’t stick to you too much.

4. Grab a baseball size ball of rice and put it in the middle of the nori. Using your fingers gently spread the rice across the nori. You want a thin layer of rice. Grab more rice and fill in any holes so that your whole nori sheet it covered.  If your hands are getting too covered in rice, use the bowl of water to wipe off the rice.

Jess spreading her rice

5. If you want nori on the outside of your finished roll move on to the next step. If you want rice on the outside of your roll, flip the nori over. Now the rice will be touching the sushi mat and the nori will be facing you. About 1/3 of the way up the nori from you, put a thin layer of rice.

6. Place the fillings about 1/3 of the way up the nori (if you are doing rice on the outside, you’re putting your filling on the thin layer you just made in the previous step). Layer your fillings parallel to you. Try not to go crazy, it’s easy to overfill.

This is an example where the nori will be on the outside of the finished roll

7. Put your thumbs under the sushi mat. Put the rest of your fingers on the fillings. Hold the fillings in place as you use your thumb to pull the edge of the sushi mat up and over the fillings. Press gently. What you are doing is creating a seal and locking the fillings in the roll.

8. Check on your roll to make sure it’s sealed. Then, gentle pull the sushi mat over the roll again, but this time keep pulling so you’re rolling the entire sheet of nori. You should not have a log of sushi.

Sushi rolled is sealed! Now to roll it all the way over. This is an example with rice on the outside of the roll.

9. Using a sharp knife cut the sushi into six pieces. You will likely need to use the damp cloth to wipe your knife between cuts. The knife will get very sticky from the rice and fish. I like to cut the middle first, then cut each half in thirds. Your end pieces might be a little sad and have things falling out. All you have to do it take some extra rice or fillings and stuff it in there to look nice. It’s your roll, in your house, so it doesn’t have to be perfect.

You can see the end piece is falling out a bit. I just shoved everything back in and placed it cut side up. Then you can’t tell it’s messy.

10. EAT IT! You earned it! Hope it’s delicious.

Messy Level: High. At least the first time, this was an epic mess. I’m sure professional chefs have this down to a science, but not so for me the at-home cook. The first time we had spills, rice, and soy sauce all over the table. The second time we were less messy,  but there were still a lot of dishes. Making sushi takes a lot of utensils, plates, paper towels, and ingredients. It’s another reason why you should make sushi in a group because then you have help cleaning up. Also, if you stay away from spicy tuna and stick to just plain, non-saucy fish you’ll probably have less clean up.

The post Sushi at Home appeared first on Cooking is Messy.