Sushi Night

Katie D.

February 9, 2011 - 9:47 PM

Tonight was sushi potluck night in the Danger Zone! We had almost thirty people here during the evening, making sushi and hanging out.

Claire, the newest roommate, thought up the event and worked through the details. The roommates contributed sushi rice, nori (the seaweed wrappers), ginger, and wasabi. Everyone who came brought fillings and toppings for the sushi, which we took turns hand-rolling.

I love having gatherings at my house. Since many of my friends graduated in the spring, we had a really different crowd here for the evening. We suddenly have lots of Outdoor Program people around all the time, who not only have great stories to share, but also have amazing taste in sushi.

We had high quality fish, shrimp, crab, vegetables, and toppings for the sushi. My friend Sam, who's in school to be a pastry chef, brought a homemade cake. We even had tempura batter to fry sushi and zucchini in. We had three rolling mats, and my roommate Lesley showed everyone the proper sushi-making technique: spread a thin layer of rice on the nori, then add a line of filling material (my favorite was tuna, cucumber, avocado, and cream cheese). Then you roll the sushi like a burrito, but use pressure to help the roll stick together. Since each roll was cut into about eight pieces, we would have a few "cooks" rolling sushi while the rest of the party sat around talking and eating. Then we would switch the sushi makers and the party would continue.

I love sushi. I have eaten some delicious sushi in my time and have even come to like the varieties that used to creep me out (particularly the kind with raw eel, unagi). We had some amazing sushi tonight, on par with some of the best I've had in restaurants. 

Potlucks are amazing for community building. It's wonderful to have so many people come and be excited about the food they brought and the food everyone shares. Sushi was particularly wonderful since we also shared in the preparing of the meal, and took turns cooking and eating. Eugene is a small community in many ways, and people are very willing to come together to eat and spend their time. This is one of my favorite parts of college life: that it is so easy to bring together a large group of people for a short evening, and then plan to see folks again later for movie nights, class, or weekends. With the outdoor folks, there's always a story about a backpacking trip or endless discussions of climbing gear. With the roommates, we maintain a constant banter and jokes. With Ben, the last of my core group of undergraduate friends, I share a whole history of stories, jokes, and a terrifyingly in-depth knowledge of the sci-fi world.

And with everyone, I could share sushi and laughs, and keep eating until I was frankly uncomfortable. And that's the joy of a potluck: everyone shares and everyone goes home happy.