If I had to choose a favourite day of the week, for sure it
would be Sunday. When I was working in kitchens it always was. I cant explain
it but working on a Sunday for me just had that special feel. I used to hate
having Sunday off, it felt like such a waste of a day, much better to spend it at
work. And then going out on a Sunday night, hospitality night, was much better
than going out on a Saturday. No annoying idiots to deal with, no lines to get
into clubs, just good old fashioned drinking, dancing and fun.
Well that was
all before babies, and now Sunday is family day and still my favourite. It is my
husbands day off and is really the only time he has to relax with the family. So
what do two chefs do on their day off, you guessed it, we cook. Now I know we
all hear that chefs have such a tiring work schedule and are so busy that on
their day of they don’t even want to see a kitchen. 90 per cent of the time
this is not us! For sure, we are not making Michelin star meals for ourselves,
but definitely something damn tasty. We love to cook together, and we love to
entertain, and now that we have finished renovating our house any excuse for a BBQ or lazy Sunday lunch will do. However this rainy Sunday was just for us to relax,
eat some delicious food and enjoy time together with our daughter.
So what was on
the menu this week, SUSHI! Neither of us having ever made it before, but we
recently brought back a huge bunch of Asian products from Australia and had
been planning our sushi date for a while. For first timers, I think we did a pretty
good job. Early Saturday morning we went
to our local market to buy the fish.. Oh how I love the markets, full of little
independent growers selling their produce and old and young customers going
about there shopping. I love the markets. Heading to the fish section to buy
our tuna and salmon, the smell of the ocean comes wafting our way, so fresh!
Even my Mum, who is no fish fan, can happily handle this smell of the sea. So
with our fish bought and supplies at home we were ready to make SUSHI!
After Sunday morning family cuddles in bed (yes dog too!) it was time to start
the sushi rice. This is my recipe for the sushi rice.
FIrst put baby in the pot :) jokes!!
FIrst put baby in the pot :) jokes!!
Wash 360g of sushi rice
in cold water for 15 minutes by putting rice in a bowl, covering with water and
scrubbing rice with your hand, drain water, and repeat process until water
looks fairly clear. Leave the rice soaking in fresh cold water for half an
hour, drain and repeat the process of rinsing for another five minutes. When
the water runs clear its ready to cook. Put the rice in a pot with 450g of water.
Put on heat and bring to the boil. Boil for 1 minute, then turn off the heat
and cover the pan with a damp tea towel and a plate and a heavy weight of some
sort on top of the plate, you want pressure. Leave for ten minutes. Remove lid,
cut rice with a wooden spoon and pour onto a large tray, being delicate with
the rice. You don’t want to stir, it is more of a cutting action. Add sushi
rice seasoning over rice, about 150ml or as much as you feel you need to moisten the rice without drowning it. Continue cutting rice to spread the vinegar. Fan,
or blow air onto the sushi rice to help cool it down. Leave out until room
temperature. Then make sushi as you wish.
We made our sushi with the cucumber, avocado, kewpie, salmon and tuna. They were delicious. We ate sushi for lunch until we were going to blow, and then we ate sushi for dinner, hehe. What a success. We even managed to watch an afternoon movie with only a sneaky 5 minute nap from both of us. What could be better?
