When I landed in Honolulu last October, the skyline was tie-dyed orange, yellow and periwinkle, and I headed straight for Waikiki’s palm-tree-lined shore.
Time slowed that week. With nothing to do most evenings but swim and write and swim again, I saw my beer belly start to recede, and I felt my muscles begin to tone. I was reminded, rather bluntly, that my breaststroke could use some work, and I felt my heart lift as it tends to whenever this crabby Cancer sign spends time in the water.
Recipe: California Rolls
On my first day, after a swim, I walked a few yards inland for dinner at Yanagi Sushi, a neon-lit haven for locals, on the recommendation of my host, Russell. I was still dripping wet in flip-flops and a swimsuit, a towel wrapped around my waist, but the kind hostess sat me at the bar anyway, giving me a front-row seat to the chefs. I ordered a couple of rolls — California and spicy tuna — and a bowl of tempura udon, washed it all down with a small carafe of hot sake and went on my way back to my hotel, sleepy and happy.
I ate a number of astounding meals that week — a vibrant mashed ’ulu dish, local fish with a tobiko-flecked coconut sauce and a bountiful supermarket poke from my friend Candice — but the bite that stayed with me was the California roll at Yanagi, with its soft, tender rice; fresh, fat hunk of perfectly ripe avocado; sliver of cucumber for freshness; and cooked snow crab, a sweet flurry of filaments bound by mayonnaise. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it was actually one of the best-calibrated California rolls I’d ever had.
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The post This Classic Sushi Roll Is a Delight to Make at Home appeared first on New York Times.
