Sushi instead of pumpkin today...

Wow, it's been a busy few days - so busy I've had no time to look at any pictures I've taken or take any new pictures! I've been meaning to take pictures of my other pumpkin favorites - a pumpkin beer from a local brewery in Hayward, CA and Trader Joe's pumpkin butter (sort of like apple butter, but pumpkin), but I haven't been able to get home before the sun is down. As you can tell from the sub-par indoor pictures, the lighting inside my house is less than optimum to do the beer or the butter any justice! Since I've got no good pumpkin pictures left (although I still have THREE pumpkin entries left), we're taking a break from Pumpkin Season posts today...

Instead, I'm sharing something my friend, Ted, made for the party last Saturday. Ted and his sweetheart, Shuko-san, brought these wonderful home-made sushi rolls and we gobbled them up!


You see, it is somewhat of a misconception that we Japanese don't eat rolls. We do! We just don't have the wacky fried rolls or ones with avocado and/or cheese! We also don't use that orange tobiko roe to coat the outside of rolls - rolls in Japan are black with the seaweed on the outside. Rolls in Japan are somber and serious, not full of party like the rolls here...

What you see here is 'futomaki', one of Japan's most common rolled sushi. It literally translates to 'Fat Roll' and is often stuffed with all cooked items. Egg and kanpyou (re-hydrated dried gourds seasoned with sweet soysauce) are the usual suspects. Sometimes, spinach or other greens find itself wrapped into these big, giant rolls.

The dilemma as a consumer is always figuring out how to eat these monster sushi rolls. One bite? Woa! That'll be a big bite! Two bites? But then all the innards fall out! I usually pre-cut my roll on my plate and make them into bit-size mini rolls myself, but then the whole point of having the Fat Roll is lost...

Ted's rolls were BIIIIIIIIIIG too. His sushi rice was nicely seasoned and the egg inside, moist with a complex balance of sweet and savory. The nori actually does more than just hold the roll together, as they contribute a delicate aroma of the ocean. Yum!

With that hunger-inducing memory, it's time for dinner!