Fiction To Sink Your Teeth Into, a feature from author and professional chef Rohan O’Duill!

Dany and Vin Vin share several meals in Sushi and Sea Lions, from accidentally undercooked chicken parmigiana to diner chicken wings to the titular sushi. While under pressure to do a chicken parmigiana, I left that surprise for the book. This is the perfect snack to keep in the fridge and pull out and enjoy with this great read. Enjoy.

Snack – serves 2/3

Ingredients:

• 300g sushi rice
• 2 tbsp rice
• white wine vinegar
• 4 sheets nori seaweed
• fillings: smoked salmon, cucumber and red pepper
• accompaniments: soya sauce, pickled ginger and wasabi

Utensils
• Pot
• Bamboo sushi rollers

Directions:

• Place the rice in a pot and add 600ml of water.
• Cook until the water reaches the level of the rice, then remove from heat, cover with a lid and allow to cook out for a further 10 minutes.
• Stir through the white wine vinegar and allow to cool.
• Place the nori sheet shiny side down on the bamboo rollers.
• Sprinkle with some water and cover with a thin layer of rice leaving a 1cm gap at top and bottom.
• Place the salmon on top of the rice and the cucumber and pepper slices along the centre.
• Take the bottom edge of the nori and tightly roll up. Wet the final edge to make sure it seals.
• Leave in the fridge for a couple of hours, before slicing with a sharp wet knife.
• Serve with the soya sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger.

Variations
You can make so many different types of sushi. I tend not to use raw fish as it is difficult guaranteeing freshness in the supermarkets here. You can also use cooked crab meat, cooked king prawns, ham, boiled egg. You can also use avocado, beetroot, carrot, radish, spring onion, chives and pretty much anything else you can think about sticking in there. Vinny is scared of raw fish, and even he would enjoy this meal!