World Cup Special: Denmark/Japan - Danish Sushi

I know. A flight of fancy indeed. But I just wanted to play! I had a hankering for sushi and my friend wanted herring! So what could come more naturally than Danish Sushi. Thinking back on some the techniques and ingredients I need to come back to sushi at some point. So forgive the glossing over of the way I created my sushi rolls but it deserves it's own post.

Sushi Rice

250g of sushi rice
Double the amount of water
Sushi Seasoning
Salt to taste

1. Boil the rice and then return to a simmer with a cover until the rice is cooked and the water evaporated (about 10 to 15 minutes). You might need to strain the rice.
2. Allow the rice to cool.
3. Add about 2 to 3 tbsp of the sushi seasoning. This will allow the rice to stick together.

Danish Sushi Rolls (Maki)

Prepared sushi rice
Nori seaweed sheets
Pickled herring
Grav laks (or Gravlax as I got the Swedish version - but not much in it)
Couple of asparagus spears
1 large carrot - cut finely in little sticks
Tiny nasturtium leaves to garnish
Wasabi (you can buy little tubs in many supermarkets nowadays)

1. Now comes the messy bit.... Clear a surface on your worktop.
2. Blanch the asparagus and carrot. Cool when tender.
3. If you have a sushi roll mat lay it out but you can use some baking paper.
4. Lay out your nori sheet and spread a layer of sushi rice over the sheet. Try to cover about the majority of the sheet with the rice but leave about 2 cm on one side.
5. About 2 cm in from the side lay a line of filling. I made up some herring versions, some grav laks, and couple that were just vegetables. You can mix it up a bit or experiment with other ingredients. (I will come back to sushi rolls at some point but this video is excellent - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nfEYUHtlLY).
6. Roll up the maki.
7. Cut the roll into bite-sized pieces.

Danish Nigiri

Sushi rice
Pretty much all the ingredients above

1. I happen to have a nigiri maker that I purchased in a Japanese supermarket some time ago but you can mould the sushi rice yourself (though it is a bit more difficult).
2. Fill your nigiri maker with rice and press the top on the mixture packing the rice tightly in the mould.
3. Gently ease the little nigiri out of the mould.
4. For the fish I dabbed a spot of wasabi onto the top and placed a bite-sized piece of fish on.
5. Garnish with a nasturtium leaf.
6. For the vegetables I cut them to the size of the nigiri and placed an asparagus spear and a couple carrot sticks on the top of the nigiri.
7. Cut a strand of nori seaweed and wrap around the vegetables and nigiri. This ties the vegetables to the top of the nigiri.

Danish Nigiri (a variation)

Thin slices of rye bread (I used pumpernickel)
Cream cheese
Grav laks
Herring
Seasoning

1. Cut the rye bread into 2 by 5 cm rectangles.
2. Spread some cream cheese on one rectangle and sandwich with another rectangle of rye bread.
3. Place a slice of grav laks or herring on top and serve!

Score: Food: 2 Game: 3 (even though I only got to see some of the goals as I was busy making this.)