Sushi Party

Gretchen's visit landed the weekend before finals and we stayed up late the first night at a concert in Cleveland. While I wanted to host a dinner party to introduce her to some of my nearest and dearest on the second night, I didn't want to exhaust myself with a day's worth of prepping and cooking. Therefore, I decided on a sushi party. You can easily host a sushi party at the drop of a hat if you have the following ingredients on hand: miso (fermented soybean paste), tofu, nori (dried seaweed used for wrapping sushi), and rice vinegar. Just make the miso soup and sushi rice and request that your guests each bring one julienned sushi filling. It's so easy and super impressive!     


When I think of my favorite childhood foods, several Japanese dishes top the list. Different variations on dishes using sushi rice (white rice with sugar and rice vinegar) are very popular party foods. The ones I remember are chirashizushi (sushi toppings are placed directly on top of the sushi rice) and temakizushi (sushi rice and toppings are placed in a small piece of nori and rolled). Temakizushi is fun because you create your own rolls, making it a favorite for children's parties. Last Christmas I asked my mom for a traditional Japanese cookbook and lucky me, I got it! I use The Essentials of Japanese Cooking by Tokiko Suzuki (2002). The recipes for my sushi party were from this book.

A note on Japanese rice: Get a rice cooker. Period. In addition, while I will extoll on the health benefits of brown rice at a later time, sushi rice requires white rice. Period.

Tofu and Leek Miso Soup

1 block of tofu

1 leek 

7 cups dashi (fish) stock

6 Tbsp miso 

Directions: To make the dashi stock, bring 7 cups of water to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and then add about 2 teaspoons of concentrated fish stock (I use Hon-Dashi Bonito Fish Soup Stock). While the water is coming to a boil I add in any vegetables that take time to cook (I added chopped carrots to this recipe since I had some in my fridge). After adding the fish soup stock, stir in the miso paste. This can take a while. Then add the tofu and leeks and keep warm until time to serve. 

Sushi Rice

4 cups uncooked rice

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp salt

Directions: Rinse the rice several times to release excess starch (until water is clear) and place in rice cooker. For every 4 parts rice, add 5 parts water. Let rice soak for 30 minutes to an hour before you turn on the rice cooker. When rice is done, place in a large serving bowl. Combine vinegar, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl. The next step requires the use of a handheld fan and a helper. Slowly pour the vinegar mixture over the rice a little at a time, using a rice paddle to mix in the vinegar "swiftly and gently," while the helper vigorously fans the rice (my job as a child). This step gives a "better flavor."

Ideas for sushi fillings: You can add whatever sushi fillings you and your guests dream up. We had cucumber, avocado, carrots, asparagus, flaked tuna fish, and mango. 

Sushi sauces and condiments: As is customary for sushi, you will need soy sauce, wasabe paste, and pickled ginger. We also had eel sauce, rice topping mix, and sesame seeds. 

Most IMPORTANT ingredient: Fabulous friends to share it with. 

Overall directions: Take a piece of the hand sized nori and place a small amount of sushi rice in it. Then add any filling, sauces, and condiments. Roll. The finished product should look something like this (see below) and is eaten kind of like a taco.