One of my favourite things to eat is avocado sushi, but I always feel a bit guilty because sushi contains white, not brown, rice.

Imagine my delight at finding BROWN sticky rice in the international aisle of the Courtenay Superstore! There was only one problem: I didn’t know how to make sushi. This little fact, however, didn’t dissuade me from buying the brown sticky rice and giving it a whack.

After a few sad attempts….

I decided to break down and have my good friends at Amazon send me the amazing Sushi Bazooka (of course, I did).

Now, the reason I believed this crappy-looking little plastic tool would do the trick is that I consulted about fifty Youtube videos on the topic and the only time the sushi didn’t work out was with one guy who was making it for the first time, and clearly didn’t consult the instructions.

Anyway, this particular video is very helpful!

So the first thing you do is make the sushi rice. I made one cup (dry) in the Instant Pot (1:1 ratio rice: water for 22 minutes, NPR) and then popped the container in a sink of cold water (to cool the rice quickly) and stirred in a heated mixture of…

• 2 TBS sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 TBS vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar

Once the rice is cool, you just pull out your bazooka and assemble it your sushi bazooka!

The main things to remember are…

1. Spray the inside of the bazooka with a bit of oil;
2. Be sure to add 1/2 cup of rice to each side of the bazooka so it’s well packed;
3. Be sure to use the plunger to make a little trough on either side;
4. Be sure that the innards don’t extend too far to the edges (the rice on both sides need to contact each other when you press them together or the sushi falls apart;
5. Once you’ve closed the bazooka, be sure to use the plunger to pack the rice well;

I’ve added grilled tofu, avocado, and shredded carrots above, but my favourite is just avocado (and lots of it!).

Once you’ve closed the bazooka and packed it down with the plunger, push the contents onto a nori sheet (smooth side down). Be sure to wet the end of the nori paper so it adheres.

Once you’ve made the roll, stick it in the fridge for about ten minutes to allow the nori paper to absorb the moisture of the roll. When you cut the roll, be sure to dip your knife into a bowl of water for each cut. This makes the nori paper easier to cut.

Now serve that all up with a nice cup of miso soup–yum yum!!

Here’s a super quick miso soup recipe from The Happy Pear–those adorable Irish twins from Greystones, Ireland:

And we’ve had our second great snowfall of the season!! Much more snow than last time, so a couple of avocado rolls and a cup of miso soup in front of the fire is just the perfect thing for a cozy afternoon!