California Roll

Hi Everyone! One of my many New Year's Resolutions (I have like 15...) is to cook twice a week. It's a great way to save money, eat healthier and keep the bf happy. I decided to try something new and make California Rolls! I am obsessed with sushi and figured I should learn to make my own. Using raw fish at home still makes me nervous, so I'm going to stick to imitation crab for a while.

Making the rolls is very easy. The prep work is what takes the most time. I used Just One Cookbook's tutorial as my guide and switched it up a little. It's an amazingly helpful post!

Ingredients:
9 cups prepared Sushi Rice (3 cups uncooked Japanese rice)
1 pack of Imitation Crab (around 15 sticks)
2 Tbsp. Mayonnaise
1 sliced (length-wise) English Cucumber
2 sliced Avocados
9 Nori (seaweed) sheets
Toasted Sesame Seeds

Sushi Rice:
1/3 cup rice vinegar
4 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. salt

Tools:
Bamboo Mat
Plastic Wrap

Don't forget Tobiko (flying fish roe), Pickled Sushi Ginger and Wasabi for garnish.

I never knew you had to season the rice, but it makes it taste awesome!

1. Mix together rice vinegar, sugar and salt.

2. Pour the rice vinegar mixture onto freshly cooked rice and mix well. Let it cool.

3. Mix mayonnaise with the imitation crab. I could have used more to get a creamier consistency, but I wanted to keep it healthier. I think I'll omit it completely next time because it wasn't that noticeable.

4. Wrap bamboo mat with plastic wrap.
5. Place nori sheet shiny side down and spread a thin layer of sushi rice.

6. Add rows of cucumber, avocados and crab on the bottom of the nori.
7. Lightly sprinkle toasted sesame seeds all over the rice and ingredients.

7. Roll slowly but firmly starting from the end with the ingredients. Stop every third of the way to compress the roll to ensure it's packed tightly.

8. Run your knife under water and slice into thin pieces. 

California rolls are easy to make and can feed a lot of people for little money. With this being my first attempt, I learned a lot! I cut the pieces too big, bought too much imitation crab, didn't add enough sugar, etc. So don't worry if your rolls don't look like something from a restaurant. Still tastes delicious! I was able to find everything at my local Korean store (H Mart). Enjoy!

Yuraku - Germantown, MD

The bf and I were in Germantown to pick up my younger cousin, so we stopped by this popular sushi joint - Yuraku. Sorry I forgot to take a pic of the sign, but envision a plain, red sign in an old shopping center...the interior is much nicer. There is plenty of parking in the front lot. The closest metro is Shady Grove on the red line.

I've been a few times before for their famous lunch buffet. It's around $13 a person, and offer a wide selection of special rolls and other buffet items.

It's a small place that gets packed very easily. When I used to work in Gaithersburg, my coworkers and I used to leave the office at 10:30am to get a table. The bf and I even came with a reservation on a weekend evening and ended up leaving because it was taking forever.

I like sushi places that give you free miso soup, yummy.

They also gave us japchae (Korean noodles), caesar salad, and apple salad.

So the menu has a HUGEEEEE selection of special rolls (close to 80). They cheaper than I've seen anywhere else, which contributes to their popularity. Other than their sushi, they offer noodles, tempura, grilled meats, and other typical Japanese items.

2 large boys and myself split only 4 rolls because they were MASSIVE. The photo doesn't show how much food you're getting for the price. Each of those pieces were two bites full.

Double Spicy Tuna Roll (Spicy tuna, tempura flake rolled and topped with more spicy tuna) for $7.95 - I'm not a pro when it comes to spicy foods, so this packed more of a punch than I wanted. It was also too mushy.

Crazy Horse (Chopped tuna, salmon, white tuna, yellow tail, red snapper, crabmeat, mayo, cucumber, avocado, masago, scallion) for $8.95 - I've realized that I'm not a fan of the chopped fish all blended together. You couldn't taste any of the ingredients.

Dr. Zhivago (Salmon, avocado, cucumber, crab, masago) for $5.75 - This was my favorite because salmon and avocado is an amazing combination.

Soft Rock & Roll (Fresh water eel, avocado, cucumber) for $6.50 - Unfortunately there was almost no eel in the roll.

I have many friends that are die hard fans of this place (and are going to think I'm insane). I think it's a great "bang for your buck", however I'm not impressed by the creations or the quality. The roll flavors are one-noted even with a good amount of ingredients. The pieces are made too big and don't feel delicate when eaten. I felt the same way when I tried their buffet but thought it would be different ordering off the menu...it wasn't.

19773 Frederick Rd
Germantown, MD 20876
(301) 515-7448
www.yuraku.com

Sushiko - Chevy Chase, MD

A lazy night with the bf meant using our Groupon at Sushiko in Chevy Chase, MD. It has been on Washingtonian Magazine's Top 100 Best Restaurants list in the past, and this was our first time eating there. Located in a very posh shopping center, there is an hourly parking lot right out front. Closest metro stop is Friendship Heights on the red line.

It was smaller than I thought it would be. Simple design with the sushi bar in the back. The front of the restaurant has the bar and windows. I wish there were some visible windows in the dining room to make it appear more open.

The menu consists of mostly sushi, small plates, and a few entrees.

We love duck, so we started out with a non-sushi item of Honey soy roasted duck breast (mustard miso) for  $10.50. It wasn't a lot of food, but I thought it was yummy because of the sauce and they were sliced thinly.

The Softshell crab roll (fried crab with avocado and sesame dressing) for $10 was good and once again the sauce helped to make it taste better.


Left to right:
Rainbow roll (cucumber, avocado, salmon, tuna, shrimp, white fish) for $12.50.
Toro roll (minced fatty tuna with cucumber and avocado) for $9.50.
Dragon roll (cucumber, avocado, eel) for $12.50.

The dragon roll was our favorite because it was very tender and melted in your mouth. The toro roll's fatty tuna didn't seem particularly different than regular tuna. The rainbow roll also had very good quality ingredients.

Pretty simple night with a few shared dishes. I've heard so much about this place, and I thought it was good but perhaps I had higher expectations? The atmosphere was pretty normal and the rolls weren't as creative as other places I have been, however you can definitely taste the quality in the rice and fish. I thought our server was fine. Don't forget to ask them to validate your parking ticket as you pay your check.

5455 Wisconsin Ave
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
(301) 961-1644
www.sushikorestaurants.com

Kushi - Mt. Vernon Square, DC

Sorry I've been MIA guys! These past 2 weeks with me being sick and now the bf has been tiring. However, we did have time to celebrate my birthday! Capricorns baby! Last year consisted of drinking and dancing with 30 of my friends at Lotus Lounge. This year I was super anti-celebratory. I just wanted to have a chill dinner with the bf and save $ at the same time by using a Groupon. We ended up going to Kushi, a Izakaya (Japanese gastropub) in Mt. Vernon Square. There is metered street parking and the closest metro stop is Mt Vernon Sq - 7th St/Convention Center on the green/yellow line.

The interior is split up into 4 sections: main dining room, robata grill, bar and sushi bar. Very simple decor, nothing really fancy on the walls. Large blocks of wood, smooth concrete and hanging light bulbs.

This izakaya is something unique to DC when it comes to Japanese food. The focal point of the restaurant is the open robata grill, which is where you can watch the chefs in action! Small plates and kushiyaki (grilled skewered items) are the specialties. The bf and I were able to sit at the robata grill, which I would recommend because it's fun watch and talk about during dinner.

The menu is quite overwhelming. There are many sushi, small plate and kushiyaki options. It took the bf and I a while to decide which ones seemed worthwhile to try. Like other tapas-style places, the small plates are meant to be shared.

This little shrimp "shu mai" item arrived at our table, and we were like "did we order this?" We were then told it was a complementary item to start off everyone's meal. Very yummy too!

I love braised pork belly ($4.50) because of the tenderness and fat. This one came with a nice broth and mustard to add some acidity. I enjoyed it, but the bf thought it was too fatty.

We wanted to try something that sounded different and ordered the egg custard with seafood and mushrooms ($7). It was very silky and had the right amount of salt.

From top to bottom: duck breast and scallion ($4), crispy chicken skin ($4), lobster tail ($18). The bf liked the duck more than I did because I thought it was a bit tough. The chicken skin was good but doesn't beat Popeyes fried chicken skin. The lobster tail was delicious too but not worth the price.

The bf chose the chicken breast w/ plum ($5), which I found a bit dry, so I let him have 2 of the 3.

We enjoyed the grilled squid legs ($4) a lot actually. Cooked perfectly, not overcooked or chewy. Nice simple grilled flavor.

Very impressed with the yellowtail & scallion roll ($7) because of the great quality of ingredients. It almost melts in your mouth. Also, I don't recall seeing yellowtail chopped before, so that was nice choice that contributed to the smooth texture.

We also ordered flying fish roe ($3.50) and eel ($5). The fish roe was oily, but didn't leave a greasy film in my mouth. I liked that they were cold, so it was a nice sensation paired with the warm rice underneath it. The eel was fresh and a cut large. The texture was soft and not scaly.

We topped off dinner with some unique ice cream flavors. Black sesame and wasabi topped with crystallized ginger ($3.75 each). The black sesame was more enjoyable because it reminded me of chocolate making it easier to eat more. The wasabi was veryyyy different! The 1st bite will awaken your taste buds. I enjoyed the fiery sensation at first, but as I kept eating it, it intensified and the flavor changed to the point I didn't want to eat it anymore.

The food came out quickly and it's relaxing to watch the chefs at the robata grill because they're very calm while they cook. The staff was nice and easy-going, and that was exactly how I wanted to spend my birthday. I wanted an interesting, but laid-back night eating high quality food. I was full, but like many other restaurants serving small plates, its not enough food for the bf at that price. I would say a few items we had were memorable (yellowtail & scallion roll, grilled squid legs and wasabi ice cream) while the others were good, they didn't leave a lasting impression. Some items I was hoping to try that night like sea urchin and extra fatty tuna were unavailable.

465 K Street, NW
Washington DC 20001
202-682-3123
www.eatkushi.com

Matuba - Bethesda, MD

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit, but life has been busy and I've been injured... let's get to it! I get sushi cravings fairly often, but I don't usually act upon them because it can get expensive. This time the bf and I decided to satisfy our raw fish craving with an All-You-Can-Eat revolving sushi buffet at Matuba. There is metered street parking and a metered garage on the same block. The closest metro stop is Bethesda on the red line.

The restaurant is split up into different sections. The 1st thing you see if the sushi bar, then you walk a bit and see the main dining area. Walk up a loft and you see these tables which fit larger groups.

Walk down some more stairs, and there is the revolving sushi bar! I think it sits around 16 people. $17.95 per person for dinner.

I think it's fun to interact with your food and pick which ones look good as they swivel along by. Like a predator stalking its prey...lol.

They had a lot of non-sushi items on the belt like fried dumplings, salad, chicken teriyaki, tempura, etc. I thought there were more of these on the belt than sushi, which I wasn't a fan of.

As far as the sushi selection, it was very limited to about the ones I photographed, along with a few hand rolls or variations of those below. The quality was sadly very poor. One of the salmon pieces had something hard in it, the seaweed for the handrolls were tough, the fish didn't have a clean flavor, and I saw a few flies land on the plates.

I wanted to take a picture of all of our plates but they kept taking them away! This was about 1/3 of our plates. We wanted to get our money's worth despite the fact I was already stuffed.

This review is only about their sushi buffet. I don't know how their normal menu is. I really wanted to like their buffet because its a cool and fun concept, but the quality was not worth it. The selection of fish was disappointing too. The staff and sushi chef were super nice and friendly though. If you're not picky about quality, then this buffet could be something you'd like. It's cheaper during lunch hours too.

4918 Cordell Ave
Bethesda, MD 20814
(301) 652-7449
http://www.matuba-sushi.com/matuba/Home_.html

Japanese/Korean Curry

I haven't cooked in so long! (wifey material? ha...) The bf's mom gave me 2 potatoes and a packet of curry, so I decided to make a huge pot of it to last the week. If you haven't had Japanese/Korean curry, it's so good. It's smells amazing, and it's not too spicy. The sauce is thick and tastes very warm and comforting. I'm not sure what makes it either Japanese or Korean, because they look exactly the same to me.

It's one of the easiest things to make! These are the ingredients I used, you can mix it up and add whatever you'd like. A Little Bit Of Evrything likes to put garlic and jalapenos in hers, so it's all your preference.

Ingredients:
1 Box of Golden Curry Sauce Mix (hot)
2 Idaho potatoes
2 Onions
5 Carrots
1 lb of beef chunks

Start by boiling 6 cups of water because it can take a while.

Chop the onions, potatoes and carrots. You want all of the ingredients to be around the same size. That helps them cook more evenly. So I cut them around the size of the beef chunks.

Cook the beef in a pan until they are cooked through. The box said to cook the onions and beef together, but my pan isn't large enough.

Then I cooked the onions until they were slightly transparent.

Throw the cooked beef, cooked onions, potatoes and carrots into the pot of boiling water!

The curry packet comes in a pack of 2.

I like my curry flavorful, so I threw the entire box in (2 packets). You can choose to use less and just refrigerate the unused portions.

Stir so the curry block melts, then simmer with a lid for about 15 minutes. Look how much it makes!

Serve over short grain rice, and chow down!