Sushi Rice

• Please see one of the three sushi rice recipes I listed directly above this recipe if it's your first time making sushi rice.
• Keep sushi rice covered with a damp towel or paper towel until you are ready to use it.

Nigiri (How to Make Sushi)

Nori Seaweed

• Using clean kitchen scissors or a sharp knife and cutting board, cut one sheet of nori seaweed into strips approximately ½ inch wide.
• Seal strips in an airtight Ziplock bag or airtight container and keep in the refrigerator until needed.

Beets Topping

• Wash and peel beet with a vegetable peeler.
• Mince or dice beets into small, uniform cubes.
• Place diced beets in a small bowl and add mayonnaise. Mix together with a spoon until beets are evenly coated and the mayonnaise turns pink in color.
• Cover beets/mayo topping and keep in the refrigerator.

Avocado

• Using the sharpest knife you own and cutting board, carefully slice the avocado the long way, from stem to the bottom. With your fingers out of the path of the blade, gently rotate the avocado until the halves of avocado spit in two.

  Tip: Leave the pit inside the one half until later. This will prevent the avocado half from going brown.
• Start with the knife tip at the stem. With your fingers safely out of the way, cut one long, vertical line from the stem to the bottom of the half of avocado. With the knife at about a 45 degree angle, press down slowly and gently. Make sure to cut all the way through the avocado flesh so that the point of the blade brushes against the inside of the avocado peel.
• Repeat cutting vertical lines about ¼ inches apart until the entire avocado half is sliced.

  Safety tip: Always keep your fingers out of the path of the knife blade.
• Use a metal soup spoon (approximately tablespoon size), preferable with a sharper edges and tip. Start at the base of the avocado, with the stem facing your body on the cutting board. Holding the avocado half down with one hand, firmly press the spoon tip down between the inside of the avocado peel and the flesh. Gently and slowly move the spoon's edge from side to side to separate the flesh from the inside of the peel. Just like scooping ice cream, remove the entire half of avocado from the peel in one slow scooping motion towards the stem.

  Tip: Until you've had practice, do this step slowly. The trick is to always keep pressure on the inside of the avocado peel with the tip of your spoon.
• Use your fingers if necessary to keep the slices of avocado together and not falling out of your spoon. Turn the spoon upside-down and place the avocado half face down (the flat side with the pit opening). Keep all the slices intact until you are ready to make your avocado sushi.

Shaping Rice Balls

• Wet both of your hands. Scoop up a small ball of rice (about 3 tablespoons) with your right hand. Squeeze it until it sticks together into an oblong ball. Then transfer it to your left hand. While tightly cupping your left hand, press down on top of the rice with two fingers.
• Pick up the ball of rice with your fingers, rotate it 180 degrees, and repeat the steps: cupping and pressing with two fingers. Flip it over upside-down and repeat again. Rotate it 180 degrees and repeat once more.

  Continue if necessary, until you have a neat oblong shaped rice ball. (See photo above.)
• Using your fingers, place oblong balls of rice on serving plates.

Adding toppings on top of rice balls

• Then, still using your fingers, place three strips of avocado on top of each ball of sushi rice.
• Gently press down on the avocado strips with the palm of your hand, firmly enough so the avocado sticks to the top of the balls of rice.
• With a spoon or knife, put a small slab of grass-fed butter on the top center of the avocado. (Skip this step to make this recipe vegan.)
• On low heat, melt the butter and toast the top layer of avocado with a culinary butane torch. Move the flame back and forth until the edges of the avocado are slightly charred.
• Cut small slices of lemon. Squeeze the juice of one lemon slice on one or two pieces of avocado sushi.
• With a zester or fine grater, zest the lemon peel and sprinkle evenly on top of the avocado slices.
• Using the cooking torch on low heat, gently torch the lemon peel zest, just enough that it smokes a little and you see very fine black lines of charring. This will give the avocado sushi a very subtle smokey taste.
• Lay a strip of nori seaweed across the avocado sushi, perpendicular to make a 't'. Wrap each piece of avocado sushi with a strip of nori seaweed. Pinch or cut off excess to make the strips of nori the right length to wrap underneath. Very gently pick up the rice ball and tuck the ends below. With your finger, press nori against the rice ball so it sticks tightly.
• Using a spoon, carefully garnish the top of each piece of sushi with the beets/mayonnaise mix. Place it right in the middle, on top of the strip of nori seaweed.
• If possible, serve with the sushi rice still warm. Be patient with yourself because this takes some practice and know how.