Makes 1 cup-ish

Combine ingredients in sauce pan and bring mixture to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat until sauce is simmering. Taste the sauce and balance the sweetness and saltiness to your liking. Simmer about 10 more minutes and then let cool.

If the mixture becomes too thick, add 2 tablespoons of hot water to thin out the sauce. 

Line a Tupperware with saran wrap. Layer to your hearts content, with nori, rice and smoked salmon. Flip to unmold. Slice into squares, and top these squares with roe. Pretty! 

Quick, delish, healthy, pretty, fun – just like you! 

Drain the spinach of excess water by squeezing through a colander. To this, add the miso paste, sesame oil and chili oil, if you like. Form the spinach mixture into rounds by hand and then sprinkle with sesame seeds. 

Beautiful for spicy tuna, anything with mango, and a little dollop goes well with any rolls that have scallop or eel. 

Combine in a food processor. Mix with the mayo to a desired consistency. 

You can buy Inari Skins at Mitsuwa, which are little pockets made of fried bean curd (soy). Open up the pockets, stuff in some sushi rice and sautéed shitake mushrooms and scallions. To make the shitake mushrooms, thinly slice about 10 shitakes. Heat a pan with vegetable oil until hot and add the mushrooms. You’ll notice that they will absorb the oil – don’t worry! After minute of sautéing over high heat, add a splash of soy sauce and a splash of mirin (a sweet Japanese sauce great for cooking and salad dressings). By a splash I mean 2 – 3 tablespoons. I also like to add a little balsamic vinegar. Let this liquid reduce while you finish cooking the mushrooms, and then, just as you take them off the heat, toss in a handful of chopped scallions. Delish! 

Sushi rollers In other words, the bamboo mats we used for rolling the sushi. Any Japanese store will have them and they are very cheap, like a dollar per mat.

Nori These are the sheets of seaweed that we used in the class to make the rolls, and hand rolls. Do make sure that the package is fresh – when exposed to air they can absorb moisture very easily and lose their crispness. Remember to put the shiny side down before you apply the rice, and apply the rice using a minimal amount, "lacey", of liquid so that the nori doesn’t get soggy.

Seasoned rice vinegar This can be found at most stores these days but if you can only find rice vinegar, don't sweat it, you can season it yourself! For every cup of rice vinegar add 3 tablespoons white sugar and mix until dissolved. This is your seasoned rice vinegar!

Sushi rice Don’t stress, it is forgiving! Find Japanese rice, or sushi rice. Rinse it well, to remove extra starch. Be sure to fan the rice as you transfer it from the cooking container to a non-metal bowl. When it is cool enough to touch, dress the rice with seasoned rice wine vinegar. Use about 1 cup seasoned rice vinegar for every 8 cups of cooked rice. Treat your rice gently, and do not over mix when introducing the vinegar to the rice.

Veggies A matter of personal preference, but here are some suggestions: cucumber (Japanese or English), mango, green onions, carrots, bell peppers, avocado, red cabbage, sunflower or radish sprouts, and/or heart of palm. Slice the veggies into thin strips to use in the maki rolls. If you happened to have a mandolin you can use that for your veggies.

Fish The fun part!

Ahi Tuna, Albacore Tuna, and Salmon (sushi grade, ask your fishmonger) should all be readily available at a good fish store. Japanese markets will carry much more variety. Often including exotic choices, like smoked eel (yum!), snapper, yellowtail, sea bass, cooked mini-shrimp, sashimi grade scallops, and ground tuna for your spicy tuna.

Black & white sesame seeds These are for when you roll the rice on the outside, "uramaki". You can also find Furiakake at Japanese markets which is a ready-made mix of black and white sesame seeds with nori flakes.

Fish roe In green, red, and orange is available at Japanese or fish markets, usually upon request. These are great for rolling your urimake too! Don’t forget the Saran Wrap when you make these. Put rice on one side, flip it onto the saran wrap, lightly rice the bottom of the other side and add filling. Place on roller and when rolling, extract the Saran.

Soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger Sake & Sapporo for drinking!

Mochi for dessert! What could be easier? I love the green tea mochi, but by all means, make a beautiful platter with all the flavors and colors, like mango or chocolate. You can sprinkle some confectioner’s sugar through a sifter on the top and decorate with mint leaves. Pretty! You can find mochi at Trader Joe’s, believe it or not! 

These make a delicious and elegant appetizer for any occasion. 

Mix all the ingredients together. Done! And try to make this last-minute so the tuna stays fresh and doesn’t get cooked in the soy sauce (the salt will cure it).

Lay a cuc strip in front of you, add a heaping spoonful of the tuna tartare and roll! Top with wasabi caviar. Wasabi caviar, or tobiko wasabi. You may need a toothpick to secure the roll. Alternatively, you can buy a Japanese leaf called “Shiso”. You call dollop the tuna tartare on top of the leaves and serve as such, like many fine Japanese restaurants do. Also, I sometimes buy wonton skins and fry them in hot oil. They also make fine vessels for the tuna tartare.