The Speares

Living the life in Muskoka


Sushi Night



With sashimi, mango salad, pot stickers, sake and miso soup.



Buckle up. This is going to be a wild ride. If you haven't taken the sashimi out of the freezer do it now. The sake should be in the fridge. Only serve the kind that is to be served cold. Once sashimi and sake are taken care of, rince

  • 1/2 cup sushi rice

until no longer milky. Then set a timer and soak it for a half hour. Start the mango salad. Peel and slice into longish thin strips
  • 2 big red mangoes or 3 little alphonsos
  • 1 red bell pepper (save a couple of slices for the sushi)
  • 1/4 red onion (very thin slices)
  • 1/4 cup basil
  • 1/4 cup mint and/or cilantro
  • a red thai chili or two - remove the seeds and then thin slices crosswise

put the works into a bowl, cover, and then into the fridge. About this time your timer is likely to go off. If so then skip ahead and deal with the rice. But until such time, make the dressing. In a mason jar, combine
  • Juice of a lime, topped up to 1/4 cup
  • Zest of that lime
  • 2 tsp white sugar
  • 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 TBSP avocado oil (or canola in a pinch)
  • A grind of pepper

Cover the jar then into the fridge.

When your 30 minute timer goes off, drain the rice, then into the rice cooker with

  • 3/4 cup filtered water

Hit go on the cooker. When it finishes in 20 minutes let it sit and steam for ten more. Better set another 30 minute timer because the little pop the rice maker makes isn't very loud. On to the miso soup. Prepare
  • 1 green onion, diagonal cut, separate the white and the green bits
  • 50 g enochi mushrooms, cut off the root end, cut the bunch in half crosswise (save a couple for the sushi)
  • 1/2 tsp grated ginger (1 inch knob)
  • 1 TBSP toasted seame seeds, ground in mortar and pestle
  • 1/2 block medium-firm tofu, ripped into little chunks (not sliced)

Put everything into the fridge in some container that leaves the items separate.

Your 30 minute timer should have gone off. Scoop the rice into a bowl and let it cool for 5 minutes. Then stir in

  • 2 TBSP sushi vinegar

cover, and put in the fridge.

Make the actual sushi. Cut into long strips or slices any or all of whatever looks good:

  • avocado (immediately put the strips in a bowl and sprinkle with sushi vinegar)
  • some red pepper
  • fake crab
  • water chestnuts
  • mushrooms (if you have some enochi they're already in long strips)
  • matchstick carrots
  • strips of cucumber

Then lube up the sushi bazooka. Use sesame oil. Lube up your hands too. Divvy up the sushi rice into both halves of the bazooka then tamp down with the rolling pin thing. Put interesting things you sliced up into the hole in the middle. Assemble the bazooka and squeeze the sushi out onto a clean cutting board that has a sheet of nori on it. Roll it up using a bit of water as glue on the last little bit, then slice onto serving board and cover with saran wrap. Any sushi goodies that wouldn't fit go into the mango salad, except maybe fake crab.

Get the accoutrements ready in little dishes.

  • Soy sauce
  • Sesame dipping sauce
  • Wasabe
  • Pickled ginger

Also add the dressing to the mango salad and mix it about.

Get the wok down, add a bit of water and then load up the steamer baskets with

  • a bag of frozen dumplings

or if you have loads of time, try homemade. Cover with the lid. Set the wok to a low steam and watch that it doesn't run out of water. The dumplings will be ready in 10 - 12 minutes, about the same time you're busy with miso. When they are done put them on the serving board with the sushi.

Time to prepare the miso soup. In a sauce pan, heat up (don't burn)

  • 1/2 TBSP Toasted sesame oil

then add the white bits of the onion and sauté for a minute or two. Careful they don't burn. Leave the heat fairly low. Then add the grated ginger and sauté for a minute. Next up the enochi. Sauté for another minute. Add

  • 2 cups PC ramen broth (or dashi if you have it)

Bring just to a simmer (you never boil miso) then turn off the heat. Add

  • 3 TBSP miso paste

and muddle it as best you can to dissolve. Then add the tofu, the green bits of the onion and the sesame seeds.

As soon as the soup is ready it's time to eat. Get the sashimi out of the fridge and put on the serving platter. Don't forget the sake!