Fidget has gone all Eastern this week. Big fans of sushi – and Japanese food in general – Trota and Fidget have had a go at making a simple and tasty meal at home; husband Salmon wasn’t planning to be gone fishing, so he may reach for that can of baked beans after all…

Sushi and miso soup

Anyway, everyone knows sushi is not difficult but there is one fundamental rule never to be broken: raw fish has to be super fresh! Japanese shops sell fish suitable for sushi and sashimi. Fidget gets his from Atariya (www.atariya.co.uk) or Umai / The Japan Centre (www.japancentre.com).

According to sushi connoisseur Mayumi Suzuki, to start you need to cook the sushi rice (300g) in your rice cooker (add a piece of kombu seaweed if you have it).  When cooked, tip in a bowl and sprinkle with 50–70ml of rice vinegar (to taste) cutting through the rice with a spatula and – if you can master it – fanning air with your other hand so that the rice cools down quicker and doesn’t ‘stew’ in the vinegar.

When the rice is cold, make little oval-shaped balls, which you will then top with a small dot of wasabi (easy on the wasabi, you can always add more later) and a slice of raw fish. Soy sauce on the side, dip in!

For the miso soup you will need miso paste (Fidget likes gutsy flavours, so he usually goes for the dark red (aka) variety). You also need a sachet of dashi (fish bouillon in granules), 1 tbsp dried wakame seaweed (it will expand), a small block of silky tofu cut in 1cm cubes, and thinly chopped spring onions to garnish.

Bring just over a litre of water to the boil, add the dashi and the wakame, then your miso paste gradually (not in big dollops, make sure it dissolves: about 50g or so, to taste). You shouldn’t boil the miso, so keep your heat low. Add the tofu and the spring onions and you are ready to serve.

Easy to make and very tasty!　  いただきます！