The Great Sushi Adventure

 

 

Sushi....why on earth would Sister Davis be blogging about sushi, when sushi is probably her least favorite food?  If you can even call sushi food! Raw fish, seaweed and rice....it's more like stuff you would find in Japanese flotsam (wreckage  found floating on or washed up by the sea).

But life can take some crazy turns and one day this week our missionary life took a decidedly different twist...and it included sushi.

 

Here is the story....Elder Davis was helping the Young Single Adults procure a rental van to take a rather large group of them to Lithuania for a New Years Eve Dance.  He was to meet one of our YSA's at the car rental place. Dimitrijs has recently come home from a mission in Novosibirsk (Siberia) . He is a sweet, gentle and quiet young man, and is currently serving in the church as the District Executive Secretary. 

On the way home, Dimitrijs asked Elder Davis for a favor.  He was requesting three things: #1- to make sushi at our apartment,  #2- bake a pie for his family and #3 make homemade fortune cookies. A rather odd assortment of requests, wouldn't you say? He asked if we would be willing to give up 3-4 hours of our time to help him do those three things on a Saturday afternoon. 

Sister Davis:  "Dimitrijs, have you ever made sushi?"

Dimi: "No."

Sister Davis: "Neither have I. Why would you want to make such a thing? Sushi is awful."

Dimi:  "Because, my girlfriend is coming from Russia and she once told me that she would like to try sushi.  I want to show her that I remembered what she said and I want to cook it myself."

Dimitrijs is obviously a romantic.

Sister Davis: "I know how to make a pie but I don't have  a clue about how to make sushi."

Dimi:  "That's okay, I have a recipe."

Sister Davis: Why do you want to make your own fortune cookie?

Dimi (with a shy expression on his face):  "I want to put a ring in one and ask my girlfriend to marry me."

Sister Davis (very excited!):  "WOW! That is so nice. Elder Davis and I are in on this...we will definitely help."

And that is how Elder & Sister Davis got involved in the Great Sushi Adventure.





 

First, you unroll the dried seaweed which is brittle and has a musty odor to it. Refrain from getting close and smelling it. It doesn't smell any better close up.

You make sticky rice extra sticky by adding some vinegar to it...and it looks as appetizing as glue.

Spread a glob of rice on the smelly seaweed.

 

Pick up a sharp knife and act like a samurai warrior ready to do battle...slice up raw salmon.

 

Add some avocado slices and place nicely down the middle of the rice.

And now the hard part...rolling up the brittle seaweed without breaking it. After a few aborted efforts, Sister Davis decided to show Dimitrijs how to roll it up... firm yet gentle. Dimitrijs did the rest.

Sister Davis is sorry for the grimace in the picture above but really, it was a hard thing for her to do. And her kitchen was beginning to smell like fish.

 

Dimitrijs was all smiles as Sister Davis was making sure he rolled it firmly enough to keep the rice from falling out.

 

Isn't it amazing what great lengths a young man in love will go to?

 

 Elder Davis went online to help Dimitijs by searching for a fortune cookie recipe...

 

It  had to make one big enough to hide this bit of bling.....and a fortune.

 

"I want to share my eternity with you....Will you marry me?"

 

Once the cookie batter has browned around the edges, pick it up and put a fortune in the middle of the cookie. Shape it quickly, while still warm, over the edge of a mug.

Pinch it just right to hold it's shape....

And let it cool in a muffin pan.

 

He made several of them with various fortunes in them. He was going to be hosting a special dinner for her the next night. Sister Davis ran to get him some candles and place mats to make it more romantic. We took him, his sushi and his special fortune cookies home late that night and he stopped along the way at an 24 hour  flower shop near his home. Can you believe that they actually have 24 hour flower shops here?!?  Now he was ready for his proposal!

 

This is Dimi's girlfriend from Russia,  before they had their romantic dinner.

 

For now,  Elder & Sister Davis had to be patient...

 

Post Script:   She loved the sushi, but said she would have to pray about her answer to his question. The next night at the New Year's Eve Dance, she told him..."YES!"