Teriyaki Beef Roll

My husband has been on call working from home this week.  His co-worker Fernando misses my food every time my husband works from home.  Today Fernando wanted sushi rolls for lunch, homemade and from a nearby restaurant.  My husband's lunch break isn't long enough for a visit to the office for lunch or a restaurant.  Instead of eating out I made some sushi rolls at home.  I had to get creative and create a roll based on food I already had.  The good news was, I had left-over steamed brown rice from last night's Indian dinner and steak in the freezer.  Teriyaki sauce is so yummy, so that was also part of my plan.  This is a throw it together roll, at least it is for me.

The sauce and flavor were out of this world yummy.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. Skirt Steak
1 English Cucumber
4 cups Sushi Brown Rice (Recipe Found Here)
Nori Sheets
1/2 cup Brown Rice Wine Vinegar (Rice Wine Vinegar can be substituted)
1/2 cup Dark Soy Sauce
1/2 cup Cane Sugar (white granulated sugar can be substituted)
Vegetable Oil

Mix 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 brown rice wine vinegar, 1/2 cup cane sugar.  Marinate the beef
in the mixture for 20 minutes.

Heat a 12 inch skillet over high heat.  Add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil.  Quickly brown the
steak on all sides.  

Remove from heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Pour marinade into small sauce pan over medium heat and reduce by half.  When it boils,
 lower heat to low.

Slice steak across the grain.

Place a 12 inch non-stick skillet over a medium-high heat.  Add steak and enough of the teriyaki marinade to coat.  Cook steak very quickly, slightly crisping the edges and remove from the heat.

Wash and cut cucumber into 4 equal pieces and julienne the pieces (cut small sticks).

Place nori sheet on prepared sushi mat.  Put a softball size mound of sushi rice on nori sheet.

Flatten rice using your hand wrapped in plastic wrap. (My friend Bridget taught me this trick.)
Leave the far 1/2 inch edge free of rice.  Place 9 cucumber sticks and teriyaki steak in a long
 strip in the middle of the rice.

Carefully roll as tightly as possible.  I'm still working on rolling tightly, so I'll need more practice.
Darn I have to make more of these.

Using a very sharp knife and a sawing motion cut the roll in half.

Place roll halves together and again with a sawing motion carefully cut into your desired
roll thickness.  Spoon on extra teriyaki sauce.

Since these do not contain anything that can go bad, they are great as leftovers, if you don't
eat them all when they are made.

Enjoy!

Teriyaki Beef Roll

Printable Recipe Found Here

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. Skirt Steak

1 English Cucumber

4 cups Sushi Brown Rice (Recipe Found Here)

Nori Sheets

1/2 cup Brown Rice Wine Vinegar (Rice Wine Vinegar can be substituted)

1/2 cup Dark Soy Sauce

1/2 cup Cane Sugar (white granulated sugar can be substituted)

Vegetable Oil 

Process:

Mix 1/2 cup soy sauce, 1/2 brown rice wine vinegar, 1/2 cup cane sugar.  Marinate the beef in the mixture for 20 minutes.

Heat a 12 inch skillet over high heat.  Add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil.  Quickly brown the steak on all sides.  

Remove from heat and allow to rest for 5 minutes.

Pour marinade into small sauce pan over medium heat and reduce by half.  When it boils lower heat to low.

Slice steak across the grain.

Place a 12 inch non-stick skillet over a medium-high heat.  Add steak and enough of the teriyaki marinade to coat.  Cook steak very quickly, slightly crisping the edges and remove from the heat.

Wash and cut cucumber into 4 equal pieces and julienne this pieces (cut small sticks).

Place nori sheet on prepared sushi mat.  Put a softball size mound of sushi rice on nori sheet.  

Flatten rice using your hand wrapped in plastic wrap. (My friend Bridget taught me this trick.) Leave the far 1/2 inch edge free of rice.  Place 9 cucumber sticks and teriyaki steak in a long strip in the middle of the rice.

Carefully roll as tightly as possible.

Using a very sharp knife and a sawing motion cut the roll in half.

Place roll halves together and again with a sawing motion carefully cut into your desired roll thickness. Spoon on extra teriyaki sauce.

Since these do not contain anything that can go bad, they are great as leftovers, if you don't eat them all when they are made.

Enjoy!

Yakitory Roll

You know I don't think I posted my news on here, because I didn't think about sharing it with you.  I am pregnant, or as my friend Rebecca pointed out, Queens Foodie Mama has a bun in the oven.  We are having a baby girl, due January 6. My children are super excited. Remember when I made California Rolls?  Well I wanted to make sushi rolls again but not with shrimp and of course not with raw salmon.  I'm sure my OB-GYN would gladly remind me to avoid raw meat/poultry/fish of any kind, so raw salmon was out.  While researching recipes for sushi rolls, I came upon Unagi Rolls. Unagi is grilled/barbequed fresh water eel.  Eel didn't really appeal to me, so I looked up what people said eel tasted like and some people mentioned it tasted like chicken.  My brain immediately decided why not do a sushi roll with chicken instead.  Next I looked up what Japanese barbecued chicken was called and also a recipe for the barbeque sauce and that is when I chose the name, Yakitory, meaning grilled chicken.  I tend to volunteer to take dinner to every woman who has just had a baby and her family in our church so the Yakitory Rolls were going to be for both my family and the Havig's who I was told by my friend Whitney loved sushi.  This recipe is dedicated to Kara and baby Heidi.

The rice was really sticky, that is why the rolls look a little sad.  Of course I'm not a
Japanese chef either.  These are still really tasty.

Ingredients for Yakitory (Grilled Chicken):

4 Chicken Thighs (with skin and bone)
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
3 tablespoons Brown Rice Vinegar
3 tablespoons Cane Sugar (white sugar can be substituted)
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Ground Ginger

Pour soy sauce, and brown rice vinegar into a small sauce pan.  Add sugar, garlic, and ginger
to sauce.  Cook over medium heat until it boils and reduce heat to low.  Cook on
low for 5 minutes.

Brush sauce onto thighs, on the skin and under the skin.  Brush all over.  Allow to marinate
for 20 minutes on the counter.

I cooked the chicken in my rotisserie for 20 minutes, you could also grill the chicken.

Ingredients for Brown Sushi Rice:

4 cup uncooked Medium Grain Brown rice
Water (add as much as the directions on the bag of rice recommends)
1/2 cup Brown Rice Vinegar
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
3 tablespoons Cane Sugar (white sugar can be substituted)

Cook the rice on the stove according to directions on bag or do what I do and use a rice
cooker which is so much easier to use.

Mix vinegar, sugar, and salt together.

 Add vinegar mixture to still warm rice, stir until combined.

Ingredients for Yakitory Roll:

4 barbecue/grilled Chicken Thighs
1 English Cucumber
1 ripe Avocado
Nori Paper
Brown Sushi Rice

Remove bones from chicken thighs, trying to keep the thigh intact.  Thinly slice chicken with
skin on across the grain.

 Sauté sliced chicken over medium heat until slightly crispy on edges.

Julienne cucumber into small matchsticks.  Slice half the avocado lengthwise in skin and
scoop out with a large spoon.

Cover bamboo sushi mat in plastic wrap.

Place nori sheet in the middle of the mat.

Scoop out a baseball size mound of brown sushi rice onto the nori sheet.

 With wet fingers spread out the rice, cover all but the top small edge of the sheet. 

Flip nori sheet so rice is on the backside.

Place nine cucumber sticks, three in a row and three deep on the middle of the sheet.  Add 3
slices of avocado to the cucumber.  Finally add strips of chicken.

 Using the mat roll the rice covered nori sheet, carefully keep the other ingredients inside the nori sheet.

Repeat with all the rice and other ingredients.  Cut the rolls using a serrated knife in the
slow sawing motion.  Dip the knife in water between each cut to prevent sticking.  Slice rolls
into 1 1/2 inch thick slices.   

Enjoy!

Yakitory Rolls

Printable Recipe Found Here

Ingredients for Yakitory (Grilled Chicken):

4 Chicken Thighs (with skin and bone)
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
3 tablespoons Brown Rice Vinegar
3 tablespoons Cane Sugar (white sugar can be substituted)
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 teaspoon Ground Ginger

Process:

Pour soy sauce, and brown rice vinegar into a small sauce pan.  Add sugar, garlic, and ginger to sauce. Cook over medium heat until it boils and reduce heat to low.  Cook on low for 5 minutes.

Brush sauce onto thighs, on the skin and under the skin.  Brush all over.  Allow to marinate for 20 minutes on the counter.

Cook the chicken in a rotisserie for 20 minutes, or you could also grill the chicken.

Ingredients for Brown Sushi Rice:

4 cup uncooked Medium Grain Brown rice
Water (add as much as the directions on the bag of rice recommends)
1/2 cup Brown Rice Vinegar
1 teaspoon Sea Salt
3 tablespoons Cane Sugar (white sugar can be substituted)

Cook the rice on the stove according to directions on bag or do what I do and use a rice cooker which is so much easier to use.

Mix vinegar, sugar, and salt together.

Add vinegar mixture to still warm rice, stir until combined.

Ingredients for Yakitory Roll:

4 barbecue/grilled Chicken Thighs
1 English Cucumber
1 ripe Avocado
Nori Paper
Brown Sushi Rice

Remove bones from chicken thighs, trying to keep the thigh intact.  Thinly slice chicken with skin on across the grain.

Sauté sliced chicken over medium heat until slightly crispy on edges.

Julienne cucumber into small matchsticks.  Slice half the avocado lengthwise in skin and scoop out with a large spoon.

Cover bamboo sushi mat in plastic wrap.

Place nori sheet in the middle of the mat.

Scoop out a baseball size mound of brown sushi rice onto the nori sheet.

With wet fingers spread out the rice, cover all but the top small edge of the sheet. 

Flip nori sheet so rice is on the backside.

Place nine cucumber sticks, three in a row and three deep on the middle of the sheet.  Add 3 slices of avocado to cucumber.  Finally add strips of chicken.

Using the mat roll the rice covered nori sheet, carefully keep the other ingredients inside the nori sheet.

Repeat with all the rice and other ingredients.  Cut the rolls using a serrated knife in the slow sawing motion.  Dip the knife in water between each cut to prevent sticking.  Slice rolls into 1 1/2 inch thick slices.   

Enjoy!

Hoisin Sauce

Chinese food is another of my favorite ethnic cuisine's to cook. It help's that we have a Chinese teenager living with us, to give me his honest opinion about how far off the mark I was with authenticity.  I bought a frozen duck from Costco, my very first attempt at preparing duck and also my first time eating it too.  I wanted to have sauce with the duck that any self-respecting Chinese family would serve with Peking Duck.  Hoisin seemed to be my best bet for authenticity and I had all the ingredients on hand already.  This is a super easy recipe to prepare. 

This is a bottle of yummy Chinese goodness, just waiting to be put on your Peking Duck.
Don't worry, I'll show you how to make Peking Duck in another post.

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 tablespoons Smooth Peanut Butter
1 tablespoon Turbinado Sugar (Dark Brown Sugar can be substituted)
2 teaspoons Brown Rice Vinegar (rice Vinegar can be substituted)
1 Clove of Garlic
2 teaspoons Toasted Sesame Seed Oil
1 teaspoon Hot Sauce (I used my homemade hot sauce, recipe found here)
1/8 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper

 Place all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.

 You now have Hoisin Sauce!

Pour into a squeeze bottle or lidded container.

Enjoy!

Hoisin Sauce

Printable Recipe Found Here

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons Soy Sauce

2 tablespoons Smooth Peanut Butter

1 tablespoon Turbinado Sugar (Dark Brown Sugar can be substituted)

2 teaspoons Brown Rice Vinegar (Rice Vinegar can be substituted)

1 Clove of Garlic

2 teaspoons Toasted Sesame Seed Oil

1 teaspoon Hot Sauce 

1/8 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Process:

Place all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth.

Pour into a squeeze bottle or lidded container.

Enjoy!