My Cadette always loves a cooking challenge, so fall break was a perfect time to try some more complicated and time-consuming cooking and attempt to make sushi for our first time. (Needless to say, when she works on the New Cuisines badge, she has fun with it!)

My daughter and I have wanted to have a sushi-making day since a college friend of mine gave us a sushi kit for Christmas using her favorite ingredients. We welcomed having a long afternoon to try making sushi for the first time!

Making sushi seems like a complicated task, especially if you’re thinking you need to perfectly roll and slice sushi rolls. Switching to temaki, or a hand roll, is a more forgiving way to package it. And it’s trendy. I loved this quote I read on the Food Republic:

“Temaki is the equivalent of a taco party. Family and friends come over and build their own.”

And “sushi” doesn’t mean raw fish, though we tend to think it is. In reality, sushi means vinegared fish, which may or may not be cooked. In our recipe, we used smoked salmon to make temaki.

For our handroll, we adapted a recipe from The Sushi Lover’s Cookbook.

Ingredients for a salmon handroll:

• Sushi nori
• Short-grain rice or sushi rice
• Smoked salmon
• Shredded carrots
• Rice vinegar
• Sugar
• Water

Time considerations:

Making the sushi rice itself is about a 40 to 45 minute process. It’s definitely not something you’d want to rush. Assembling the handrolls after the rice is finished is a quick process.

Making sushi rice:

Rinse 1 cup of rice well, then soak for 1/2 hour. Drain.

Boil 1 cup water. Add the soaked rice, then cook on low for 10 minutes. Turn off stove, cover, and let rest for another 5-10 minutes. The rice will have a sticky consistency.

Marinating the smoked salmon:

For the marinade, use 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Add the smoked salmon and marinate while the rice is cooking.

Assembling the handroll:

Cut a sheet of sushi nori in half. Add 1 tablespoon of prepared sushi rice on the sheet. Add smoked salmon and shredded carrots and roll in a cone shape.

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What has your troop tried for the New Cuisines badge? Share your favorite recipes below!

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