Last night I was invited to a friend’s house for a sushi making night! There were eight of us in all and the only things we were asked to bring were a chopping board and a knife. I had never made sushi so was really looking forward to it and was not disappointed! Our lovely host G had really gone to town with all the ingredients and provided Nori sheets with rice, avocado, carrot, beetroot, peppers, omelette, raw & cooked tuna for fillings as well as pickled ginger, wasabi, sesame seeds, soy sauce, miso soup, prawn & veg tempura! She gave us all a demonstration before setting us to work.
On our sheets of Nori, we pressed out a thin layer of the nice sticky sushi rice then at one end built up a layer of our chosen fillings; I chose carrot, avocado & raw tuna. We then made a nice tight roll and using a little water on the end of the nori sheet sealed the roll closed. The ends were trimmed and using a slightly damp knife the rolls cut into 1cm thick slices which we all placed on one big platter in the centre of the table. They looked amazing and tasted even better dipped in a little soy with a tickle of wasabi on each one.
2 of the other guests provided dessert in the form of green tea pound cake and water melon sorbet. I don’t think I have ever (as an adult at any rate) eaten a more colourful pudding! It looked stunning and was the perfect end to a perfect evening.
Earlier in the day, I’d made some Pumpkin Soup influenced by a different eastern cuisine, this time from Thailand…………
and to use up some rather unappealing, over ripe bananas something from the other side of the world; Banana Bread from Nigella’s Domestic Goddess book.
Put 100g sultanas in a small pan and pour over 75ml or bourbon or dark rum (or I guess you could use orange juice if feeling in a puritanical mood!). Bring to the boil then take off the heat and leave until the sultanas have soaked up all the liquid.
In a mixer put 125g melted butter and 150g golden caster sugar and mix until well combined. Beat in 2 eggs, one at a time then add 300g mashed ripe banana, 1 tsp vanilla extract and the sultanas drained of any remaining liquid.
Weigh out 175g plain flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp bicarb & 1/2 tsp salt and add 1/3 at a time carefully stirring in after each addition. Put the mixture in a lined loaf tin (23x13x7cm) and bake at 170c for 1 to 1 1/4 hours. Cool and Eat!
