(Look! I’m not dead and actually posting things! Amazing and astounding isn’t it? All it takes is a little faith and nagging ye non-believers.)

My “little” (almost out of high school) sister came and visited me for a couple of weeks in June so I had a brief creative spree.  My sister is a long time partner-in-crime/making-stuff-buddy, but since we don’t live close by anymore, we have to make the most of our visits.  One of our favorite activities is culinary experiments.  We save up recipes we want to try for the once or twice a year we get to hang out.  She is an avid follower of many bento blogs, so our list is heavily weighted towards Asian food these days.   One of the first things we decided to try our hand at this time was some homemade sushi.  I am a long time sushi aficionado, but my sister is still trying to decide if she likes it.

Making sushi at home really isn’t that difficult and the internet provides a wealth of information to help you figure it out.  Contrary to popular belief, sushi does not actually have to contain raw fish or even fish at all and with the rising popularity of such foods, the international section of many grocery stores have most of the ingredients.  My sister and I found everything we needed at my local chain grocery store.  There were even overpriced cute little kits.  You probably won’t find all the ingredients to do super traditional rolls, but you can find enough to try your hand at it and end up with something tasty.  All you really need is short grain or “sushi” rice, vinegar, and seaweed.  Of course if you do have a good Asian store nearby, I would recommend going there instead so you don’t have to pay the exorbitant “specialty item” prices of the grocery store.

For guidance on constructing and filling our rolls, we turned to one of our favorite food blogs Just Hungry.  This blog contains a wealth of basic and practical Japanese cooking information as well as interesting cultural tidbits.  The author has several very handy articles about sushi, these being the ones we referred to:

• How to make Japanese-style plain rice and sushi rice – proper rice preparation is critical for this adventure
• Ehoumaki (ehou maki): Lucky long sushi roll for Setsubun no hi – basic rolling filling technique for sushi rolls, plus some easy filling ideas
• A sushi roll bento, plus how to make sushi rolls without a sushi mat – in case you don’t have a sushi mat

Arming ourselves with a bowl of sushi rice, seaweed sheets, and some very sharp kitchen implements, my sister and I intrepidly set forth on the business of actually constructing the rolls.  Since we were limited to what we could find at the local grocery, we kept our fillings pretty simple.  We made four different rolls, filled as such:

• “Philly” roll – smoked salmon, cream cheese, a tiny bit of chopped onion
• “Too cheap to buy crab, but already have shrimp” California roll – cooked shrimp, avocado, cucumber
• “Whatever I feel like” roll – canned tuna (mixed with mayo), cucumber, carrot
• “Kinda like a sammich” roll – Havarti cheese, salami, carrot

Lessons Learned

All in all I felt this experiment was pretty successful.  The rolls turned out pretty cute and were reasonably tasty too.  Personally I like little bite sized rolls better, so I next time I would make them smaller.  I felt there was a bit too much rice to filling, but that’s something easy to fix with experience. I would also probably add some lettuce or other greens to add a bit of color and make them prettier.  If you decide to try your hand at making sushi too, here is my sage noob advice:

1. Buy the right rice — Being an uncultured American, I never really paid much attention to different types of rice.  It turns out it’s a big deal when you are making traditional Japanese food or sushi.  The variety used for sushi is a short grain white rice that is much stickier than long grain varieties like Jasmine or Basmati. I had never used this kind of rice before and I was amazed at the difference in texture. So remember, despite the convenience of long grain rice, don’t cheat or you will be frustrated and disappointed.
2. Don’t worry about fancy ingredients — Sushi is really only a “fancy” food in the U.S.  Elsewhere it is a cheap and convenient food that you can fill with everyday ingredients.  If you are at a loss for easy fillings, I would suggest looking up kimbap recipes.  Kimbap (or gimbap) is a Korean food that is quite similar to sushi that is often packed for lunches and picnics and has simple fillings.  Of course, if you know a good place to get sashimi grade fish and you can afford it, there’s no reason not to try that either. I’m just a cheapskate.  Maybe someday I’ll splurg and try it with some fresh and tasty tuna (*nom, nom, nom*)
3. Ugly food still tastes good — If this is your first attempt, it’s rather likely your rolls will be unsightly.  It takes a little practice to roll them up neatly.  Either way they will still be tasty (assuming you filled them with tasty things).  If you are having trouble, I would suggest checking out some of the sushi making videos on YouTube. Visual aids usually help me figure things out.

Last week I agreed to update my poor neglected blog if my little sister updated her neglected photography. Much to my dismay, she had updated within five minutes of said agreement. So here I am, completing my half of the bargain. Recently I have designated Sundays my “experiment” day of the week. A couple of weeks ago, confronted with the remnants of an ill advised lemon purchase and a bunch of leftover ginger for stir-fry, I decided to attempt making ginger beer. It combines three of my favorite things: efficient use of resources (a.k.a. getting rid of leftovers), new projects, and SCIENCE!

Ginger beer is really just ginger ale with some attitude, but it does involve one of mankind’s oldest and most cherished forms of mad science–brewing. To get the soda carbonated, you have to do some fermenting. Just a little bit.  Not enough to make it legitimately alcoholic.

By the way kids, I don’t know if you know this, but yeast is really cool. It’s a domesticated microbe. You should check it out sometime.

*Ahem* Moving on. So this project isn’t exactly “instant” gratification, but it is super easy and very gratifying…if you like cool, refreshing, zingy beverages.

Ginger Beer

Now I’m not going to give you a complete how-to.  The internet is rife with ginger beer how-tos.  I will however tell you what you need, and my notes on the process.

The Recipe

There are lots of recipes for ginger beer/ale out there and most of them are pretty similar.  I chose to use one from Alton Brown:  Ginger Ale

It is labeled “ginger ale” but I consider it ginger beer.  It has a healthy peppery bite compared to the mild mannered stuff you buy in a can.

Equipment

• A clean 2 liter soda bottle, or two 1 liter glass bail top bottles (mine came from IKEA, you can also find them at home brew supply stores)
• A fine grater (Microplane, FTW!)
• Strainer
• A pot

Ingredients

• Fresh ginger (3-4 in)
• A lemon
• Sugar (I went all fancy and used turbinado sugar)
• Yeast, bread or champagne (champagne yeast can also be found at a home brew supply store, and is pretty cheap)
• Water

Notes

I have made two rounds of this already, so I’ve had a chance to screw up and work a few things out:

• 1.5 oz = 3 Tbsp of ground ginger–I guesstimated the first time and didn’t put nearly enough in.  It was weak sauce.
• 6 oz ~ 3/4 cup sugar–This brew is not super sweet like regular soda.  In fact the yeast consumes a portion of that sugar to provide the carbonation.
• Champagne yeast provides much better carbonation and taste.  I tried bread yeast the first time and was disappointed with the results.
• Don’t add lemon zest.  I tried this out due to some comments, but it only seemed to lend a bitter “lemon cleaner” vibe.
• The gunky stuff at the bottom won’t hurt you.  That being said, I tend to avoid drinking it, but I’m too lazy to filter it out.
• And finally, let it sit in the fridge for at least a day after fermenting before consuming.  It will taste better.

So faithful readers I urge you to go forth and experiment!  If you are feeling particularly adventurous, you can try making it with wild yeast.

Or if you need something a bit more adult, might I suggest the Dark ‘n Stormy?

Now, must scurry off to make a third batch!

I really enjoy cooking and I really enjoy eating.  Every now and then I have these yearnings to pretend I am some sort of cultured, sophisticated adult.  The kind of adult who throws lavish dinner parties, and wears swanky dresses.  So I clean up my cramped, awkward little apartment, buy a bunch of nice booze, and make a lot of fancy food.  Then I tell my friends they better come over and pretend we are classy people.  The illusion doesn’t work unless you have more than two people.  Besides, I would probably never clean my apartment if people didn’t occasionally visit.

My birthday was coming up so I decided I was going to have one of these “classy” parties.  It’s only fitting that I celebrate my aging by pretending I’m a grown up, right?  Anyways, I tidied up my abode (I even cleaned my fridge *shudder*), invited as many people as I thought would fit in my living room (turns out ten people is kind of pushing it), and made up a bunch of fancy little hors d’oeuvres (even spell check couldn’t help me with that one).  I have decided this is an excellent way of spending a birthday.  I didn’t have to leave my house, there weren’t any restaurant staff or mariachis to sing to me, and I found out that when you tell people not to bring things to your party, they will in fact show up with lots of nice booze.  Also, since Mr. Boy doesn’t actually know where to find anything in our apartment, nobody could find any candles.  I savor the small victories in life.

Back to the food!  Like I said, I made a bunch of hors d’oeuvres and appetizer stuff.  Amongst all the fancy tidbits, I also made one of my old favorites, the humble deviled egg.  Now I have rather strong opinions about deviled eggs.  They are not supposed to be bland.  They are not supposed to be dry and pasty.  There is no excuse for making flavorless, unseasoned deviled eggs.  I have actually seen some that were just egg yolk and mayonnaise.  Heresy!  So to save the world from tragically uninteresting deviled eggs, I am going to share my own, secret, family recipe.  In my own unabashedly biased opinion, this is also the best recipe for deviled eggs.  To all the mothers and grandmothers I have just offended, it is unfortunate, but I refuse to apologize.  Yours are probably perfectly acceptable, but mine are supreme.

The Best Deviled Eggs

This is not a terribly exact recipe, but I have attempted to give you some fairly accurate estimates on measurements.  They can be made a day ahead, but I think they are best the day of.

Ingredients:
1 dozen hard-boiled eggs*
a couple of good dollops of mayo (or a scant 1/2 cup)
1 tsp or to taste Dijon (or other tasty mustard)
a couple of finely chopped small sweet pickles (or a couple spoonfuls sweet pickle relish)
tsp or so of rice vinegar (or another mild vinegar)
dash of soy sauce
pinch of sugar
salt and pepper to taste
paprika (on top for color)

Cut the eggs in half lengthwise and take out all the yokes.   Smash up the yokes with a fork or pastry blender, then add  enough mayo to give it a good thick and creamy consistency, not too dry, and mix until mostly smooth.  Mix in the rest of the ingredients then sample liberally and tweak the seasonings if needed.  When it is just right, put it all in a ziploc (a sandwich bag is usually big enough), clip the corner, and use it like a pastry bag.  Squeeze the filling into the empty halves, mounding it up a bit.  You might have some extra filling at the end.  You can either eat it yourself, or add more to the eggs.  Sprinkle with paprika for color if you are feeling fancy.  Refrigerate until ready to consume!

Bonus Ingredients: (for extra zing)
1 Tbsp or so minced onion, shallot, chives, or green onion
a generous pinch of garlic and/or onion powder
hot paprika instead of regular sprinkled on top
finely chopped thyme
chopped chives for garnish

*I assume you know how to boil eggs already, but if you don’t, here is the fool proof method:  Place eggs in one layer in a pot and cover with water.  Bring them to a boil then turn off the heat and cover.  Let sit for ten minutes then drain and run under cold water.  Peel and enjoy!  Oh, and just so you know, those eggs that have been sitting in your fridge for a couple of weeks?  They will peel so much easier than if you used fresh eggs.

Go forth now, and enjoy delicious egg treats!