sushi rolls

Birthday Cupcakes
PROJECT OF OPEN MIND
Yields 22 -24
cupcakes
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon table salt
2 sticks unsalted butter,
softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla
extract
4 large eggs, at room
temperature
2 cups buttermilk,
well-shaken
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Line your muffins tins with parchment liners.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a
medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar in a large
bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then
beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down
the bowl after each addition. At low speed, beat in buttermilk until
just combined (mixture will look curdled). Add flour mixture in three
batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.
Spread batter evenly in cake pan, then rap pan on counter several
times to eliminate air bubbles.
Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes
out clean, 10 to 15 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes. Cool
completely before frosting.
Basic Sushi Rice Recipe
PROJECT OF OPEN MIND
Makes 4-6 servings
3 cups Japanese rice
3 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup rice vinegar
3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
Put the rice in a large bowl and wash it with
cold water. Repeat washing until the water
becomes almost clear. Drain the rice in a
colander and set aside for 30 minutes. Place
the rice in rice cooker and add water. Let the
rice soak in the water at least 30 minutes.
Start the cooker. When rice is cooked, let it
steam for about 15 minutes.
Prepare sushi vinegar (sushi-zu) by mixing rice
vinegar, sugar, and salt in a sauce pan. Put the
pan on low heat and heat until the sugar
dissolves. Cool the vinegar mixture.
Spread the hot steamed rice into a large
plate or a large bowl. Please use a nonmetallic bowl to prevent any interaction
with rice vinegar. It's best to use a wooden
bowl called sushi-oke. Sprinkle the
vinegar mixture over the rice and fold the
rice by shamoji (rice spatula) quickly. Be
careful not to smash the rice. To cool and
remove the moisture of the rice well, use a
fan as you mix sushi rice. This will give
sushi rice a shiny look. It's best to use
sushi rice right away.
Simple Buttercream Frosting Recipe
PROJECT OF OPEN MIND
Yield: Enough to
frost 10-12 cupcakes
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons milk
Pinch of salt
Mix In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk, mix together
sugar and butter. Mix on low speed until well blended and
then increase speed to medium and beat for another 3
minutes (or alternatively mix by hand).
Cream Add vanilla and milk and continue to beat on
medium speed for 1 minute more, adding more cream if
needed for spreading consistency.
Filling Ingredients for Sushi
PROJECT OF OPEN MIND
Use your best judgment when
buying ingredients, each roll gets
about 1-2 ounces of filling.
Ahi tuna (maguro)
Carrots
Cucumber
Sauteed shitake mushrooms
Sesame seeds
Avocado
Fake crab (surimi)
Green onions
Wasabi
Spicy Tuna mixture
(mayonnaise and siracha)
Use your imagination to create
different flavors of rolls!
Spread an Even Layer of Rice: The
place where many people falter in
rolling perfect sushi is that their rice
layer is not even. You want to cover all
of the nori (all the way to the edges) in
a layer of rice that is a consistent depth,
aside from the top inch or two of the
nori, which you will leave completely
clean to help seal the roll when it is
done.
Arrange Ingredients Precisely: After
you have spread your sushi rice on the
nori, arrange your ingredients that are
going inside the roll. They should be
laid across the roll about 1 inch from
the bottom, and each ingredient should
stretch uniformly from one side to the
other.
Roll and Seal: This is the step that
takes a little bit of practice, but
learning to do it right will significantly improve the look of your
sushi. Starting from the bottom of
the bamboo sushi mat, pick it up a
little and roll it upward, pulling the
mat out from the nori when you
reach the point where it would get
rolled into the sushi roll. Dab some
water all the way across your
exposed