The Fuzzy Chef & Friends

Now that we have our rice, it's time to assemble some ingredients (really, you should be prepping these while the rice is cooking and cooling).  Essential to this are of course the sushi rice and nori.  I suggest buying your nori in a 10-pack of pre-toasted sheets, medium crispy ("2" on the helpful 1-3 scale on some brands).  Don't worry, 10 is plenty unless you're doing a wedding.

Wow, don't sushi chefs look expert? And so fast. And very Japanese. There's no way you could do that yourself. Takes years of training. Right?

Nah, don't let them fool you. Making superb sushi takes training, as does making a roll every 45 seconds. But making pretty good nori rolls (rolled sushi with the seaweed on the outside) when you have the whole afternoon is something that anyone with halfway decent knife skills can do. More importantly, sushi you just made tastes better that yesterday's fridge sushi from the market, and will really impress your friends. So let's do it!

One food area in which NYC is superior to San Francisco is the breadth of its international food offerings, and the pecularity of them. When most people think international food in NY they think Little Italy and Chinatown. Little Italy has been steadily shrinking for the last few years, now consisting of probably just 5 blocks of restaurants, and a handful of delis. Still, they still put up a nice Christmas display.

This risotto was even more pink in person. Take my word for it.

Recipe on continuation ...