Chagigah Kitchen: Dairy Maki Sushi

Happy Sunday, Chagigah listeners! Some say that eating your troubles is a bad approach to life… evidently, these people have never tried dairy maki sushi at the end of a long day. This week in our Chagigah Kitchen, we’re whipping up dessert before the main course for those of you having one of those days, or just want to treat yourself before the dreaded work week starts up once more. As always, be sure to tune into Chagigah with Mark Grossman every Sunday from 8AM-11AM and send your recipe ideas and feedback to chagigah@wers.org! Have a fantastic week, and enjoy the chocolate deliciousness.

Dairy Maki Sushi (originally called “Dessert Maki”)

Dairy Maki Sushi is an exquisite dessert recipe from the affable Ricardo Larrivee of the Food Network program ‘Ricardo and Friends’ (www.foodtv.ca). Read over the entire recipe before you begin and if you follow the steps carefully, the results will be eye-catching and delicious. Note that the finely grated semi-sweet chocolate and sesame seeds are used later on as a coating.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup 35% cream
• ½ cup sushi rice (Japanese short grain rice)
• 1 pinch of salt
• 2 oz. white chocolate, chopped
• ½ cup fruit of choice (slice a bit more than ½ cup to be sure) (red plums, kiwi, mango, pineapple, strawberries) cut into thin strips
• 2 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, finely grated
• 2 tbsp. mixed sesame seeds (both black and white, toasted if possible)

Directions:
In a small saucepan, bring milk, cream, rice and salt to a boil. Reduce heat to low and stir. Cover and simmer gently on low until rice is tender, about 25 minutes, stirring and scraping the bottom several times during cooking. Remove from heat. Add the white chocolate to saucepan and set aside for about 2 minutes, covered, heat off. After 2 minutes, stir until the chocolate is melted and evenly distributed. Let cool.
Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on a damp countertop. Spead the rice on it, forming a rectangle of about 5 x 14 inches (13 x 35.5 cm). Arrange the fruit in a narrow strip lengthwise down the middle of the rectangle, in a single layer. Using the plastic wrap, and working from the long sides, roll into a 14” cylinder (35.5cm). Twist the ends of the plastic wrap to close. Refrigerate until very firm, about 3 hours or 30 minutes in the freezer. Place the grated chocolate or the sesame seeds on a plate. Set aside.
For easy handling, cut the long cold roll into two equal pieces. Remove the plastic wrap. Roll each half – one half in the mixed sesame seeds, to coat lightly and the other half, pressing gently to coat in the chocolate. Once coated, use a sharp knife to slice each roll into 1 inch (2.5 cm) rounds. Arrange on serving plate and enjoy!

By Jamie Loftus

If you liked this, check out:
Chagigah Kitchen: Berry Salmon