Make-Your-Own-Sushi Shabbat
Hosted by: Ally I. North Hollywood, CA

I told my guests to come dressed as something that begins with an "S" (I was a Sushi Shabbat Sorceress). One of my friends was somewhat of a sushi-rolling expert, she even brought her own bamboo roller! So she ensured that everyone was able to successfully roll at least 2 rolls. Aside from all the sushi-making ingredients (salmon, tuna, eel, shrimp, mushrooms, carrots, spicy tempeh, fish roe, cucumbers, sticky brown rice, sticky sweet rice, seaweed, gobo root, etc.), I also had prepared some homemade miso soup (a much heartier version than you're used to from restaurants), edamame, seaweed salad, wasabi peas, a few rice snacks and 4 flavors of Mochi for dessert. We had a short conversational debate about whether or not we could make kosher sushi with the ingredients I had available. We decided that, yes, we could. Everything was delish and everyone had a blast, and that's not just the ample amount of Saki talking! All in all, a very fun, messy evening that could not have happened without the endlessly generous people at Birthright Israel NEXT. My only complaint is that I didn't know about this Shabbat Dinner program sooner!