Hubby made Norimaki Sushi

Hubby made Norimaki Sushi for lunch on 22nd February. Norimaki is a cylindrical rolled Sushi where a sheet of Nori seaweed is tightly wrapped around rice and various kinds of fillings, such as fishes and vegetables.

I cooked rice and mixed a few tablespoons of vinegar, sugar, and salt to the hot rice. Such vinegar mixed rice is used for making Norimaki Sushi. It should be mentioned that although white rice is generally used for making Sushi, we used brown rice as we always eat brown rice at home. Hubby chose various kinds of vegetables and sea-foods as filling ingredients for the Norimaki Sushi. He cut strips of cucumber, avocado, Kanikama crab sticks, and pre-cooked shrimps as the fillings for their complementary tastes and colors. Next, to assemble the Sushi rolls, hubby placed a bamboo Sushi-rolling mat called Maki-sudare on the kitchen work surface. He placed Maki-sudare in such a way that the side with stitched cotton thread ends was on the far side of him in order not to enfold them in Sushi roll. Then he placed a sheet of Nori seaweed with its glossy side facing down on the bamboo mat. He arranged the edges of the Nori sheet and the mat on the near-side of him in the same line.

Hubby cutting vegetables as filling ingredients for making Norimaki Sushi

Bamboo Sushi-rolling mat Maki-sudare

All the filling ingredients cut into proper size and Nori seaweed sheet placed on the bamboo rolling mat

Hubby says ‘let me show my muscles before proceeding’

Next he spread vinegar mixed rice evenly over the Nori seaweed sheet, leaving the upper far-side edge of the Nori sheet by about 1 centimeter as an extra overlapping space to seal the roll tightly after rolling. After that, he laid out the selected filling ingredients in a line at the center across the rice. Also, he slightly moistened the exposed far-side edge of the Nori sheet with rice vinegar.

Hubby spreading vinegar mixed rice over the Nori sheet

Spreading the rice over the Nori sheet is almost completed

Laying the selected fillings in a line at the center across the rice

The fillings lay in the middle across the rice

Next, he rolled up the Nori sheet along with the rice and the fillings inside to form a cylindrical rolled structure. He rolled up the Nori sheet using the base bamboo rolling mat. First he lifted up the edge of the rolling mat on the near-side of him and rolled it over to enclose the ingredients. While rolling, he simultaneously pushed and held the core ingredients with his fingers towards the inside so that the ingredients did not fall out from the sides. After thoroughly and tightly rolling up, the rice vinegar-moistened edge of the Nori sheet towards his far-side met and got attached to the glossy back of the near-side edge (now rolled up) of the Nori sheet. Next he pressed gently around and along the rolled up mat with both hands for a while, and shaped the rolled mat with the Nori Sheet and other contents inside into roundish or cylindrical structure. After that he unwrapped and removed the rolling mat, and a cylindrical rolled Norimaki Sushi was made. It should be noted that the shiny surface of the Nori sheet becomes visible after rolling and making the Norimaki Sushi.

Hubby lifted up the edge of the rolling mat on the near-side of him and started rolling it

Rolling

Rolling completed and is followed by pressing around and along the rolled up mat

Hubby posing with the rolled up mat

Hubby holding the cylindrical Norimaki Sushi

Hubby made one more Norimaki Sushi, which was a bit thinner than the first one. In this case, he used only about half the amount of vinegar mixed rice as compared to the first one. He spread the vinegar mixed rice over the Nori seaweed sheet placed on the rolling mat, and laid out the selected filling ingredients in a line at the center across the rice. In addition, in this case, he spread mayonnaise over the fillings directly from a plastic tube. He rolled up the Nori sheet along with the rice and the fillings inside and completed making the second cylindrical Norimaki Sushi.

Hubby making a thinner Norimaki Sushi with less rice

He spread mayonnaise over the fillings directly from a plastic tube

Ready to be rolled

Hubby rolling up the bamboo mat along with the Nori sheet, rice, and fillings inside

Hubby posing with two cylindrical Norimaki Sushi

Hubby cut the two cylindrical Norimaki Sushi rolls into several pieces. First he sliced a roll in half and then placed the two halves together side by side, and cut them again at about 1/3 intervals to create 6 equal bite-size pieces. So with two cylindrical rolls, he made a total of 12 pieces of Norimaki Sushi. Care should be taken to cut firmly and straight down otherwise the roll may come apart or the round shape may be broken.

Hubby cutting the rolled Norimaki Sushi into several pieces

Arranged the bite-sized pieces on a plate

Looks delicious

Hubby says ‘let me try one’

We had Norimaki Sushi accompanied with Miso soup for lunch. While I enjoyed the Norimaki Sushi pieces without any dipping sauce, hubby had the Sushi pieces by dipping them in soy sauce. It was a healthy and delicious lunch.

Hubby’s lunch of Norimaki Sushi and Miso soup

Hubby ready to eat

Hubby having lunch

It was the first time for hubby to make Norimaki Sushi. The Sushi pieces tasted delicious. It was a nice relaxing day for us.

Relatives

As I wrote in the previous two posts, hubby and I stayed in Tokyo on August 11th and in the evening of August 12th we went to hubby’s ancestral home in Ichinomiya city. From Tokyo we took Shinkansen bullet train and reached Nagoya at about 9 pm. From there we took a local train and reached hubby’s home in Ichinomiya by 10 pm. On reaching hubby’s ancestral home, we immediately retired to bed as we were rather tired due to sightseeing and travel.

Every year during Obon in mid August, hubby and I visit hubby’s ancestral home. Obon is an annual Buddhist event to commemorate our ancestors. It is believed that each year during Obon, the spirits of ancestors return to this world in order to visit their relatives. Traditionally, lanterns are hung in front of houses to welcome the spirits of ancestors, graves are visited, and food offerings are made at home family altars. At the end of Obon, floating lanterns are put into rivers, lakes, and seas so that the spirits can return back into their world. The customs followed vary considerably from region to region. Obon is celebrated from the 13th to the 15th of August every year.

On 13th August, my hubby, father-in-law, and his wife got up at about 4.45 am, got ready, and left home at 5.30 am to go for playing golf. I preferred to stay at home and relax as I am not much interested in golf. I spent the entire day lazing around. I read a few pages of a novel, drank several cups of tea, and watched television. At about 4.30 pm, hubby, father-in-law, and his wife returned back home after playing golf. After half an hour or so, we all prayed at the family altar to welcome the soul of my late mother-in-law and all the ancestors, which is the purpose of Obon. My father-in-law offered some food items at the altar, lit incense sticks, and read some sutras. My hubby and father-in-law's wife also chanted the sutras in unison. Unfortunately, I cannot read Japanese language and so only observed the prayer rituals.

Later in the evening, we all went for dinner at a local sushi restaurant. Hubby’s sister, who lives nearby, joined us for dinner. Her daughters also accompanied her. It was nice to chat with relatives and play with the daughters of my sister-in-law. Both nieces of hubby are so cute. We had a nice evening and enjoyed having a tasty dinner of sushi and sashimi.

Cute daughters of hubby’s sister

My sister-in-law and her elder daughter having dinner

My sister-in-law and her younger daughter having dinner

Father-in-law and his wife having dinner

Hubby and I along with my father-in-law and his wife

The next morning, my hubby, father-in-law and his wife, and I visited the home of my father-in-law’s eldest brother who lives nearby. It is the main ancestral home of ‘Nagata family’. There is an amazingly exotic family altar where father-in-law prayed to welcome the souls of his late parents and all the ancestors. We all also prayed at the altar. I saw the photos of hubby’s grandparents for the first time and realized that hubby resembles both his grandparents a lot! In fact, hubby looks like a perfect combination of his grandparents. I also saw the family crest of ‘Nagata family’. In olden times, men and women of ‘Nagata family’ used to have the family crest mark on their kimonos. We had a nice time chatting with hubby’s eldest uncle and his wife over snacks and cups of green tea.

Family altar at the home of the eldest uncle of hubby

Hubby’s relatives in front of the family altar

Another view of the family altar

Food offerings to welcome the souls of ancestors

Father-in-law praying to welcome the souls of ancestors

Photographs of hubby’s grandparents near the family altar

Family crest of ‘Nagata-family’

Hubby’s eldest uncle

After about 1.5 hours, we left the home of hubby’s uncle. Afterwards hubby and I visited my mother-in-law’s grave and offered our prayers. Hubby cleaned the gravestone with water, offered flowers, and lit some candle and incense sticks.

Hubby praying at his mother’s grave

I am praying at my mother-in-law’s grave

It feels nice to meet our relatives during Obon and gives us a sense of fulfillment for carrying out our traditional family duties. Later in the day, hubby and I visited Inuyama Castle located in a nearby city. I will write about this in the next post.

Kaiten-zushi

On 11th February, hubby and I had dinner at a kaiten-zushi restaurant named Ichiba no sushiyasan in Akita city. This restaurant is located inside a wholesale market named Akita marugoto ichiba which is known as ‘the kitchen of Akita’ and offers best fresh local food products.

Front of Ichiba no sushiyasan restaurant

Nowadays people the world over are quite familiar with the Japanese cuisine sushi. However, I have realized that my friends from India often get confused between sushi and sashimi (raw fish). So I will briefly explain about sushi. Sushi is cooked vinegar rice that is commonly topped with raw fish or put into rolls. Depending upon the fillings and toppings, condiments, and the way the ingredients are put together, sushi can be broadly classified into four types. The first type of sushi called nigirizushi is hand-pressed mound of rice with a bit of wasabi and a slice of raw fish/shellfish/other ingredients on top. The second type called makizushi is cylindrical sushi roll wrapped in nori seaweed. The third type called inarizushi is deep-fried tofu pouch stuffed with sushi rice. The fourth type called chirashizushi is a spread of various ingredients like fish, mushroom, omelette, and seaweed over seasoned rice on a dish. Soy sauce and wasabi are most important seasonings for sushi. Soy sauce is used as dipping sauce. Wasabi is put in nigirizushi or is mixed with soy sauce for dipping. Pickled ginger called gari is served as a side ingredient with sushi, which is eaten between bites of sushi to refresh the mouth.

Hubby and I had been to a kaiten-zushi restaurant. Kaiten-zushi is a sushi restaurant where the plates containing sushi are placed on a rotating conveyor belt that winds through the restaurant and moves past every table and counter seat (sushi bar). Customers sitting on the counter seat face the conveyor belt, and pick their selections from a steady stream of sushi moving along the conveyor belt. In addition, there are tables placed at right angles to the conveyor belt, allowing a group of up to six people to sit at one table. Two people sitting at the table who are nearest to the conveyer belt usually pick up the plates of sushi selected by others in the group. The usual speed of conveyor belt is about 8 cm per second which is slow enough to ensure safe transport of sushi and fast enough to bring enough volume and varieties to the customers.

Sushi plates on a conveyor belt

Kaiten-zushi restaurants are usually considered towards the bottom end of both price and quality as compared to traditional sushi restaurants. However, it is very popular nowadays. For foreigners like me with limited Japanese language skills, this type of sushi restaurant is really convenient as we can just pick our choice of sushi from the conveyor belt without worrying about the proper reading and pronunciation of the kanji characters for that particular sushi and ordering it. A remarkable feature of kaiten-zushi is the stream of plates winding through the restaurant. The selection is usually not limited to sushi, and often includes fruits, drinks, desserts, and soups. If customers cannot find their desired sushi, they can make special orders. If a small quantity of sushi is ordered, it is placed on the conveyor belt but marked so that other customers know that the dish was ordered by someone. Tools and condiments like chopsticks, gari pickled ginger, soy sauce, and small dishes for soy sauce are usually found near the seats. Often self-served tea is complimentary with cups stacked on a shelf and green tea powder or teabags kept in a storage container on the sushi bar counter or tables. There is also a hot water faucet at the counter or tables to make tea.

Sushi conveyor belt, a box of gari pickled ginger, and hot water faucet at the bar counter

Hubby making hot green tea

Hubby and I had various kinds of sushi at kaiten-zushi restaurant. Sushi is generally served in pairs at this type of restaurant. So we both had one sushi piece each from every plate we selected. Therefore we could enjoy the taste of several kinds of sushi. We had nigirizushi of anago (eel), maguro (tuna), kanburi (yellowtail), tamagoyaki (egg omelette), aburi salmon, and aburi engawa. Engawa is the thin muscle of the dorsal fin of hirame (flounder). Aburi means roasted sushi where the fish topping is seared with a blowtorch, and is partly grilled and partly raw. The taste of aburi sushi is just amazing. We also had special type of nigirizushi called gunkanmaki, which is an oval, hand-formed mound of sushi rice with a strip of nori seaweed wrapped around its perimeter to form a vessel that is filled with some soft, loose or fine-chopped ingredients. We had gunkanmaki of tako salada (salad of octopus and mayonnaise) and uni (sea urchin). In addition, we had makizushi of kanikama (crab stick). We also ordered atsuyaki tamago (thick tamagoyaki), the taste of which is considered to be a good measure of the quality and skills of a sushi restaurant. The omelette was light, fluffy, and delicious. Hubby had a bowl of ebi (shrimp) miso soup to go along with sushi. We enjoyed our dinner of sushi very much.

Our dinner of various kinds of sushi

Hubby eating sushi

Hubby having soup

After finishing our dinner, we piled the empty plates of sushi one above the other. Hubby then called a restaurant staff, who calculated the bill by counting the number and type of plates of consumed sushi. Plates with different colors, patterns, and shapes have different prices, which ranged from 200 Yen to 800 Yen at this shop. The cost of different plates was indicated on a signboard inside the restaurant.

A pile of empty plates of sushi

A portion of sushi plates showing different colors and patterns

Hubby and I love eating at kaiten-zushi restaurant as we can just pick our choice of sushi from the conveyor belt without worrying about the special language, correct jargon, and culture of traditional sushi shop. Actually my hubby is not much familiar with the special language of traditional sushi shop, even though he is Japanese. I have noticed that most of the people of his generation are not really bothered about using the correct jargon. Therefore kaiten-zushi is very popular nowadays. We liked the sushi of Ichiba no sushiyasan restaurant. I compiled a video of our dinner at this restaurant.

A compiled video of our dinner at Ichiba no sushiyasan