This has been a week of tension. It starts with looking at an apartment that is 30 seconds walk from work. The funny thing is it started as a joke. We already live 60 seconds from work. I made a joke among my co workers that I want to live even closer to work. We obviously thought that would be silly and impossible. While looking at ads we came across a studio within our budget that happened to be across the street in another direction. We can see it from the front window of work. It is a down grade but the prices of housing has almost doubled. We would have to leave the area and travel a distance to get a decent place that we could afford. We decided to opt for distance. I don't like to waste time on public transportation.
We applied for the apartment but it took jumping through quite a few hoops to get approved. We needed ID which we both only have a passport. We both lost our wallets a while back. The passport wasn't enough for them. We had to go through our disorganized files and find photo copies we had made and sent them. I wasn't sure if they would say something. They didn't but then we had to do our own credit check. This was a first and we had to pay for it ourselves. We know we have a low credit score.
We waited for a few days to get an answer then finally they responded and said they will approve us if we give them first and last months rent. This is not required by law in this province. We said yes so now we wait to sign the lease whenever he gets back to us. I was able to breathe again. On top of everything, I had to get a new hard drive installed. Fortunately Marc was able to do it so it didn't cost too much. It's been frustrating.
There is no better way to get out the tension then to make sushi or bread or something that requires using your hands.
Some people think that sushi is all about raw fish but it to me is about the rice which is seasoned and slightly sour. These days you can find so many sushi styles and fillings that your head would spin.
I don't often make sushi but when I do I almost always add avocado. The odd time I buy a plant based sushi it usually has avocado in it. Sometimes it can be boring.
This time I did something with it that I have never done before. I breaded and fried it. There is something about fried ingredients in sushi that makes it extra fun to eat. Actually fried things are always fun to eat but I try not to make a habit of it.
This starts by slicing some avocado that is not too soft but soft enough to peel the skin off with your fingers. That's my avocado ready test. If you're making guacamole then it can be softer.
I used bread crumbs that I had from before. To make a slurry I just used plant milk and tapioca flour. I didn't measure anything. With the slurry it should be thick enough to coat the avocado.
Dip the pieces in the slurry then into the bread crumbs. The bread crumbs had onion powder, garlic powder and chili powder added to it.
Fry in oil until golden.
When I cook sushi rice I add a couple pieces of kombu seaweed to it for extra flavor.
The rice is rinsed several times until the water is clear. I use 2 cups of rice to 3 cups of water.
When the rice is cooked I remove the kombu and add a 1/2 cup seasoned rice wine vinegar. I don't bother making my own but if I did I would use rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt.
When I mix it, I make sure I don't mix too roughly to break the rice. It's cooled down in the fridge. I sometimes make it the night before.
Put a nori sheet on plastic and a rolling mat. Have some water nearby to wet your hands and dip your hands to make spreading of the rice easier. Try to get an even layer and to the edge.
I kept it simple with just the addition of cucumber for texture.
Usually I put wasabi on top of the sushi but this time I made a wasabi mayo to put inside. I used vegan mayo, a pinch of black salt which gives it a egg like flavor and added the desired amount of wasabi to the mix.
I spread the wasabi mayo inside of the roll.
Bring the mat up tucking firmly. Pull it back then roll and tuck until it's complete.
Place them seam side down while rolling the others.
I cut the pieces by first cutting the roll in half then each half in half and so on.
I haven't been able to get ends that are perfect so I usually cut them off first and eat them before serving them. By that time I'm usually too full so Marc gets most of them.
I happened to have some vegan kimchi in the fridge so I decided to top each piece with it along with some toasted sesame seeds and pickled ginger. Sometimes I put the kimchi inside the rolls.
I also had a soy dipping sauce on the side. I added to the soy sauce, a few drops of sesame oil and sweetener (I always use agave nectar).
I am no sushi making expert but I have to say, that it was pretty darn good if you like that stuff.
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