Sushi's All That

J & I had a couple of friends over & I, true to form, wanted to make something low fat - something that wouldn't wreck my dedication to 'the cause'. Luckily for me, J is the King Prawn of sushi making - in my completely unbiased opinion, his Nigiri puts Pret, Boots, Marks' & even Yo to shame. AND it's a relatively low cal option.

Having concluded that we would offer our guest an Eastern culinary treat, I dove into my recipe books to find a suitable accompaniment, which I found in May's Weight Watchers magazine in the form of Chicken Yakitori.

The following recipes require a fairly hefty and quite expensive trip down to the Chinese supermarket but the most of what you buy can be used again at least five times.

PRAWN AND CUCUMBER NIGIRI (approx 1.5 WW points each)

Ingredients:
- 400g Sushi rice
- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Mirin
- 2 tbsp Rice vinegar
- 5x sheets Nori
- Rolling mat
- 3 tbsp Mayo
- 1/2 Lemon
- Cucumber
- Prawns

1) Make rice - don't wash it because it ultimately makes it more sticky
2) While the rice is cooking mix the sugar, salt, mirin and rice vinegar in a bowl
3) When the rice is cooked, pour into a bowl & mix all of the above together. Leave to cool for about 30 minutes
4) Chop cucumbers into sticks
5) Squeeze half a lemon into the mayo and mix it
6) Position the Nori on the centre of the rolling mat and spread a thin layer of rice onto it
7) On the bottom side of the mat spread a thin layer of the mayo mix, on top of which place a line of cucumber & a line of prawns (as demonstrated by the glamorous J-Dog)
8) Roll like a cigarette
9) Wet the end of the Nori and firmly stick it down
10) Chop into even sized pieces


CHICKEN YAKITORI (approx 4 WW points per portion)

Ingredients:
- 4 pieces of chicken
- 4 spring onions shredded lengthways
For the marinade:
- 2 tbsp teriyaki sauce
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 tsp sesame seeds (although I forgot these and it wasn't a big deal)
- 1tsp caster sugar
For the yakitori sauce
- 1tbsp sake (again, I didn't have this & it still tasted great)
- 3 tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tbsp mirin
- 1 tsp caster sugar

1) Cut the chickin into 2cm chunks and put in a non-metallic boel. Add the marinade ingredients, combine well and set aside to marinate for at least 15 minutes
2) Meanwhile, put the yakitori ingredients in a small pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved (or warm it in a microwave). Set aside to cool.
3) Preheat the grill to medium-high and grill the chicken for 10-15 minutes, turning occasionally until cooked through. Serve scattered with the spring onions, with the yakitori sauce on the side.

Sayonara folks

Lush