Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Hot n' Trashy


Ever since learning to make sushi at Doraku I've found homemade sushi-making parties to be the best Sunday night activity. Last week we were craving sushi hard and had no desire to leave the house or brave the supermarket. Luckily we had the basics on hand: sushi rice, rice vinegar, sesame seeds, pickled ginger and a 6-pack of TsingTao beer (yes, beer is a vital component of sushi-making parties).
For fillings we had: a perfectly ripe avocado, red peppers, cucumbers. In the absence of fresh fish we raided the freezer and found a pack of imitation crab and, *gasp*, frozen fish sticks. You heard me, frozen fish sticks. This girl's not ashamed to say I like to channel my 3rd grade years every once in a while with a nice processed piece of breaded goodness. Thus was born the Hot n' Trashy roll, a deliciously low-brow maki filled with strips of fried fish sticks (preferably Gorton's but Mrs. Paul's will do in a pinch) spicy mayo mix and strips of dill pickles. The mingling of the crispy fish, vinegar-inflected pickles and creamy chili sauce is the confluence of so many strong trailer-trash flavors you're almost tempted to slap on a pair of jean cut-offs, tease your hair and declare Bud Light the nectar of the gods. Like a good blogger I'll dutifully proffer the recipe for you here, should you decide to lay an unrefined Yankee hand to what would otherwise be respectable Japanese food.
Hot n' Trashy Maki Roll
sushi rice and nori
2 Gortons's fish sticks (preferably the Classic Golden Crunchy Fillets)
2 spears Claussen Kosher Dill pickles, sliced thin. If you're feeling particularly ballsy, Batampte pickles also work well.
red pepper sliced thin
2 Tbl. mayonaise
1 tsp. chirashi chili sauce
Prepare the sushi rice this way. We don't use a rice cooker and it always comes out fine. But using a wooden bowl is key. Mix together the mayo and chili sauce and arrange one strip of each ingredient on rice and nori. Roll and slice.
Marry your first cousin. (optional)

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've always wanted to try this. Sounds perfect, though I'd have to say a bottle of Sapporo would be the perfect addition.

SteveBM said...

Love the name of this roll hahaha! The rice is the bitch... Thanks for the link to the rice recipe though. I also got a high score in the little sushi match game haha!

sara said...

Katherine - Sapporo would have been a nice pairing but I'm partial to the Chinese brew, after drinking it for 3 weeks straight in Beijing it's my go-to Asian bevvy.
bm - the key to the rice (I learned) is rinsing it many times before cooking until the water runs clear.