Part 1: Sushi Shrimp Stack: avocado, cucumber, miso mayonnaise

 This is part 1 of a two part blog posting from my recreation/copy cat meal from Chuck's Fish. The whole meal you can see in the pictures above, but what I'll be describing in this post is the sushi stack (featured in the pictures above top-left.) This whole adventure started when I bought some shrimp at the store earlier this week. It s $5.99/lb FRESH, NOT FROZEN. Who passes that up???  So I began perusing Pinterest and the almighty Google for inspiration for a new shrimp dish. Honestly- garlic shrimp, grilled shrimp, bbq shrimp, ( I sound like Bubba from Forest Gump) all gets a little boring once you've mastered it. Throughout my looking I stumbled upon this idea of a Sushi Shrimp Stack (click link for original recipe). If you don't know me already, I LOVE SUSHI!!! My husband does too. Actually our first real date was sushi and a movie. We even named our miniature dachshund Sushi.

yeah, he's a cool dude........

Any-who, our favorite restaurant is Chuck's Fish and they have the most amazing sushi chef's I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. (Shout out to Riza, Brandon, and Corey) They truly consider it an art form and some of the flavor combinations they conjure up inside that roll of rice are simply magical! I love sitting at the sushi bar and watching them create these culinary masterpieces. I've always wanted to give it a try. Now- the "sushi" I created is to say the least, novice, super beginner, sushi for dummies, what have you. But I was rather impressed with the way the flavors combined, AND I did it myself!!! I did give it a go at creating an actual sushi roll with some of the leftovers, however, without the seaweed wrapper, it completely fell apart when I attempted to cut it. Anyways, back on topic... This sushi stack was surprisingly simple, with great flavors, and would be the prefect introduction for someone who "doesn't like sushi". Also these little babies are deceiving! I was afraid it wasn't going to be enough to eat, but man was it filling!!! (Guess it's all that rice). So enough with the chit chat, let's make some shrimp stacks!!!

Ingredients:

- 1 1/2 cups uncoooked sushi grade rice (if you can't find that, then any short grain rice will do, just don't add salt or butter/oil when cooking)

- 2 tbsp rice vinegar

- 8 oz shrimp (cooked, peeled, tails off)

- 1/2 cup-3/4 cup diced cucumber (peeled)- depends on how much cucumber you like

- 1 small/medium avocado, mashed

- 1 tsp (divided) sesame seeds

-  soy sauce

- 2 tbsp mayonnaise

- 1 tsp Sriracha (I did not have sriracha- but substituted miso instead for a slightly different flavor)

1.) Cook rice according to package directions. Some rices- especially brown rice- can take up to 45 minutes to cook, so make sure to consult the packaging before cooking so you can plan accordingly. Mine took about 15-20 minutes so I was able to prep everything else in the mean time. 

2.) As I just mentioned, while rice is cooking, prep everything else. Dice the cucumber, mash the avocado, peel and cut tails off shrimp.

3.) For the sriracha mayonnaise- simply combine the mayonnaise and sriracha together and let sit. If spicy isn't your thing, use miso instead. The miso is a little more difficult to work with, so you'll have to whisk it more to get a smooth consistency. You can also add some red pepper or chili sauce if you want a kick. 

4.) Now- go check your rice- make sure it's not sticking. If it's sticking add just a little bit of water and stir. 

5.) Time to cook the shrimp. Pour a little bit of vegetable oil or butter into a skillet and add a few shakes of garlic and salt. Let warm. Add shrimp and cook until pink/orange and done. Set aside to cool. 

6.) When rice is done, add rice vinegar and stir until combined. Line a baking sheet with foil and spread rice out on sheet to cool. 

7.) When rice has cooled and you have everything else ready, it's time to assemble your shrimp stack. 

            - Take a 1 cup dry measuring cup and put a small layer of cucumber in the bottom. ( My 1 cup is rounded so I arranged the cucumber in a sort of cone shape).

            - Next, spread a thin layer of the mashed avocado on top of the cucumber (this kind of acts as a glue, so don't be shy)

            - Then comes the shrimp. Once shrimp cools, cut into small pieces. Then press pieces on top of the avocado making a nice layer of shrimp. 

            - Fill the rest of the cup with the sushi rice. You will notice that the rice has become slightly sticky. Press this gently into the cup creating your base layer.  

            - Now the fun part. Turn the cup over onto a plate. Barely hover the upside down cup over the plate, or really just barely lift one side while gently tapping the cup with a spoon or knife. The stack should gently slide out of the cup. Be patient with it, it will slide out nicely. 

            - Once your stack is created you can dress it up with your mayonnaise mixture, sesame seeds, soy sauce etc. have fun! 

*** From this, I moved on to making Uptown Shrimp, so If you're making something else to accompany this, you can easily place this in the refrigerator to keep cool until you are ready to serve! 

Here is the link to my other post for the Uptown Shrimp