“Sushi Mat”

Nyel takes his role as Executive Chef of the Household very seriously.  Plus he loves to pore over recipes — in magazines, in books, online.  Plus he’s a guy who was born to shop.  Under current pandemic circumstances, of course, that means that he lets his fingers do the walking and I am constantly amazed at what the UPS Driver delivers to our house.  Last night it was a shushi mat!  Who knew?

The Easy Part

Properly called a makisu, this mat woven from bamboo and cotton string is used in food preparation in Japanese cooking.  Makisu are most commonly used to make a kind of rolled sushi called makizushi, but they are also used to shape other soft foods such as omelets,  and to squeeze excess liquid out of food.  I haven’t seen a makisu since I was married to Marta’s father back in the sixties.  It, along with chopsticks for assorted purposes and various sumi inks and brushes, came with what we jokingly called his “dowry.”  I don’t remember that either of us ever used the makisu, but Bill did do some lovely sumi paintings now and then.

Ready To Roll!

So… fast forward sixty years to the here and now!  Nyel is planning to make my all-time-favorite kind of sushi — California rolls and vegetable rolls.  All I need to do is make the rice!  (That’s one lasting legacy from those earlier days — I make great “Japanese rice” (as do Marta and Charlie.)  Yay!  I can scarcely wait. Let the fun begin!!!