INGREDIENTS:
(2 servings)
3 cups rice vinegar
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons salt
4 ounces fresh ginger root, peeled, sliced paper thin, peels reserved
3 inches European cucumber, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, julienned
2-4 drops red food coloring
1 cup short grain white rice
2 inch square kombu (dried seaweed)
2 teaspoons sake
1½ Tablespoons wasabi powder
as necessary water
1 fresh scallion
1 each 1¼ lb.
Maine Lobster
2 sheets nori (sushi wrapper)
½ cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
DIRECTIONS:
1st Day: Add sugar and salt to rice vinegar and bring to a boil until dissolved, then remove and cool 1½ cups of vinegar mix, maintain remainder hot. Individually place ginger, cucumber, and carrots in three separate non-metallic containers. Cover the carrots and ginger with hot vinegar mix. Cover the cucumber with ¾ cup of the cooled vinegar mix, reserving ¾ cup for use in the sauce. Stir red food color into ginger until bright pink color is obtained. Cover containers and refrigerate overnight. Using a large wire mesh strainer, wash rice and kombu together under cold running water. Place rice and kombu in a container and cover with cold water, cover and refrigerate overnight. Mix sake into wasabi powder with water as necessary until a thick paste is obtained, placed in covered container and refrigerate overnight.
2nd Day: Bring large pot of water to boil. Trim off ends of scallion so length is same as width of nori sheet, reserve green end trimmings for later use in sauce. Briefly blanch scallion in boiling water and set aside. Cook Maine Lobster in boiling water, remove, cool in ice water, and break down into tail, knuckle, and whole claw meat. Drain and rinse soaked rice and kombu, place in rice cooker with 1¼ cups cold water and cook until done. Remove into large container and stir in 3 tablespoons reserved rice vinegar mixture, folding constantly to cool rice without breaking down individual grains of rice.
Prepare sauce by combining soy sauce, ginger peelings, sesame oil, and remaining rice vinegar mix. Bring to a boil, strain, cool, adjust to taste with water and reserve.
Assembly: Assemble sushi roll by placing one sheet of nori on plastic wrapped bamboo sushi mat. Cover first two thirds of nori with ¼ inch thickness of vinegared rice using wet fingers to spread rice about, center blanched scallion lengthwise across center of rice. Top scallion with thin strips of pickled ginger and carrots. Cut lobster tail meat into narrow pieces lengthwise and lay along scallion, include knuckle meat as necessary to provide coverage along entire length of scallion (width of nori). Dampen exposed Nori
and carefully roll sushi using fingers to tuck ingredients into nori and thumbs to roll mat and nori. Roll sushi tightly without tearing nori.
Portion roll by trimming off each end of roll to square up ends, then cutting the roll in half with one straight cut across. Cut each half piece in half again with a diagonal cut to obtain four pieces with an angled end and a flat end. Assemble sushi cake by cutting sixteen ¼ inch wide strips from remaining nori sheet. Place 2 sets of strips on flat surface in a 5 by 3 strip square weave pattern in approximate size of each Maine Lobster claw with ends of strips extended. Place a Maine Lobster claw on top of one set of nori strips with length of claw across 5 strips of nori and claw width across the 3 strips. Form a rectangular cake of rice the same size as the Maine Lobster claw and 1/2 inch thick. Place rice cake on top of claw then wet and wrap extended ends of nori strips around rice to form a neat package. Turn package over so Maine Lobster claw is on top to represent a Maine Lobsters' claw caught in a lobster trap. Repeat with second claw.
Plating: Fill a small ramekin half full with prepared sauce and add a ½ teaspoon of chopped reserved scallion trimmings. Place on plate. Place slices of pickled cucumber in a circular pattern on plate and top center with a small bunch of folded slices of pink pickled ginger. Center a small dab of wasabi paste on ginger. Place 2 pieces of sushi roll and 1 sushi cake on plate to complete. Repeat for second portion.
NUTRITIONAL:
Per serving:
calories 602.3
carbohydrate 115.8 g
cholesterol 71 mg
total fat 3.8 g
protein 24.9 g
sodium 4747 mg
dietary fiber 5.3 g
calcium 84 mg
Nutritional information provided by MasterCook II, 1996. These profiles are meant to be approximate guides to nutrient contents of the recipe. Those persons on special diets may require more specific nutrient data and should consult their personal physicians, registered dietitians, and/or food manufacturers
