Photo by Greg Bailey

Soft-Shell Sushi YIELD: 4 FULL ROLLS, OR ABOUT 16 SUSHI PIECES Sushi Rice: • 1 cup Japanese-style short-grain rice • 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar • 4 tablespoons sugar • 1 teaspoon salt

Soak rice in a bowl of cold water, mixing with your hands. As water becomes cloudy, drain and rinse again. Repeat process until water remains clear. Drain rice undisturbed in a strainer for 30 minutes.

Add drained rice and 1 cup plus 3 teaspoons cold water to a heavy mediumsized saucepan. Cover tightly and do not lift the lid at any time during the cooking process. Place over medium-high heat until the rice boils. Turn heat to high and boil for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and let stand, covered for 15 minutes. Remove cover, wrap cover with a dishcloth and return cover to pot. Let stand another 15 minutes. (These instructions are for a gas range. If using an electric stove, change burners instead of attempting to regulate different temperatures.) While rice is cooking, bring rice wine vinegar to a boil in a small saucepan and remove from heat. Add sugar and salt, stir until dissolved, and cool to room temperature.

Place cooked rice in mound in a bowl (preferably wooden) and gently "cut" the rice into sections with a wooden spoon or paddle. Pour vinegar mixture over rice and continue to cut into sections, evenly distributing the vinegar mixture. Cool to room temperature.

Sushi Assembly:
• 4 sheets toasted seaweed (Yakinori)
• 1 avocado, sliced lengthwise in 1/2" x 1/2" batons
• 2 small pickling cucumbers, cut lengthwise in 1/2" x 1/2" batons
• 3 tablespoons finely sliced green onions
• 2 tempura-fried soft-shell crabs, cut into eighths (see preceding recipe)
• 3 cups sushi rice
• Soy sauce
• Wasabi

Spread seaweed on a rolling mat and cover with about 1/2" of prepared rice, leaving space along one long edge. With your finger, make furrows in the rice, into which you will place strips of cucumber, avocado and scallions. Arrange soft-shell pieces lengthwise and roll gently. If the roll does not stay closed, wet the finishing edge. Slice and serve with soy and wasabi.