Sushi Night at Matagi Island

A beautiful rainbow over Matagi Island

Okay - so now that I'm this great fisherwoman (lol!), I've been after my friend Kathy on Mystic Moon to give me a lesson on making sushi - something I like VERY much!  While in route to the tiny Island of Matagi (pronounced Matangi) in early June, both Bella Vita and Mystic Moon landed some fresh tuna - what better time to have a sushi night than we had a plethora of fresh and tasty fish?

After another expert lesson on how to fillet my fish (thank you John!) we soon had some great looking fillets and nice smaller pieces for making sushi - dinner was ON!  My contribution would be to teach Kathy my Mom's excellent recipe for seared Ahi coated with black and white sesame seeds - cool to look at AND delicious!

All ready to roll up our sushi - so easy!

After a day of excellent snorkeling, off we went to Mystic Moon for our big feast.  With all of our ingredients at hand, Kathy quickly set out to teach me the basics while the boys relaxed over wine.  Kathy had pre-made the sushi rice and it was perfectly sticky - excellent!  We also had carrot, cucumber, radish and green pepper to go with our tuna.  During the lesson I learned to start the rice about an inch into the seaweed then smooth out the rice (dipping fingers in water liberally to combat stickiness), until it's about 4 inches from the other end - about a 1/4 inch thick.

The finished tuna rolls - beautiful!

Next, you layer some tuna and any other items you like in your tuna roll.  When it looks like the photo above, you carefully take the sushi mat and gently start rolling the roll up.  Once you've completed the roll, lightly wet the entire end of the seaweed sheet to seal it together.  It's really important to not go too crazy on the fillings as the roll will be too big and hard to manage.  Think bite size! 

How yummy do these finished rolls look?  Even the guys got into the action with everyone making two rolls each.  They were awesome!!!

Seared tuna with black & white sesame seeds - yum!

Next we prepared the sesame crusted seared Ahi.  First you marinate the tuna for about half an hour in the following:  soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, finely chopped garlic and hot chili oil.  After you've marinated the tuna, mix about 1/4 cup each of black and white sesame seeds on a plate.  Coat all sides of the tuna in the seeds and then coat your pan in a little more sesame oil and get it nice and hot.  Sear each side for about 2 minutes - don't you dare overcook that tuna!  It should be a nice pinkish-red on the inside, just like the picture shows - yummy.  Thanks to Kathy for the beautiful presentation!

But what was the best part about our meal?  Spending time with our dear friends John and Kathy!  Since we'd be heading in opposite directions the next day - and it would be many months before we'd see them again - the time together was especially sweet.  Thanks to both John & Kathy for teaching me how to make sushi and for hosting us on your beautiful boat.  Definitely a memorable night for both of us!

Selfie of the gang on Mystic Moon - a great night!