When you have a yen for sushi, but not the dollars... One of life's little treats is sushi.  Now, I realize a statement like this will quickly separate the Samurais from the Geishas.  Some people will nod and start looking for the wasabi, while others begin battling an instictive gag reflex.  For the latter group, I give you my word that it's tasty and safe, but is something of an acquired tasted.  For the uninitiated, sushi is a bite size Japanese delicacy that's redominantly rice, with a few other things in it.  It's one of earth's few healthy addictions.   Don't be put off by the thought of things like seaweed, pickled ginger, raw fish and so on; sushi involves a broad range of ingredients that range from carrots to squid, but I do think the raw fish is kind of cool.  Really.  If you want to try sushi, though, you'll find it's not cheap; Target's deli charges $5.00 for a half-dozen rolls!  The Sushi House, just behind Carlos O'Kelly's on Edgewood NW is superb, and the atmosphere is perfect.  The best sushi bargain in Cedar Rapids, however, is at the Metro Buffet on 33rd, where you can enjoy all you can eat (along with cracked crab, steaks, etc.) for $9.95.  I asked the fellow who operates this place (on 33rd)  how he manages to turn a profit  and he answered simply (with the coolest accent) "Very low profit margin."  Then I took his picture.   But to get back to this sushi thing, it just seemed to me that there ought to be a way to make your own for a lot less Yen.  I mean, we're talking about mostly rice here.  To learn the proper terms, and get a flyover on the subject, visit http://www.rain.org/~hutch/terms.html.  Here today, though, I'll explain a simple way to make a decent simple sushi roll, known as a Maki Sushi Roll.     You'll need: Seaweed sheets (nori) Pickled sushi ginger Jasmine rice Ripe avacado Raw salmon (be brave) Vinegar, sugar, salt and (optional) Accent Wasabi paste Soy sauce Toasted sesame seeds Make some sticky rice (not minute rice, not brown rice).  Typically, sushi uses a special short grain rice, but Jasmine rice works fine, and what we've used; it's inexpensive and available in the Asian foods section of any grocery store.  Make it as you would normally make rice: equal parts rice and water, etc..  Make some sushi vinegar: mix 1/3 cup of white vinegar (rice vinegar is perfect), 2 tablespoons of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a dask of MSG (Accent) and heat it up until the sugar and salt dissolve. Drizzle a couple tablespoons of this vinegar solution over a cup of this hot, sticky rice, and then lay the seasoned rice out on a cookie sheet to cool.  Mix it up and pat it down. Lay out your seaweed sheet (nori), shiny side down, on a cutting board and wet it slightly with the vinegar solution to soften it up.  Keeping your hands moist with the vinegar, squeeze down a 1/4 inch layer of rice on the nori.  Leave a good sized margin (maybe an inch) on the top; you'll be rolling up this little fellow in a moment - that margin will help you seal it, a bit like the flap on an envelope. Now horizontally, place a thin line of avacado and raw salmon (1 oz. of salmon is probably enough for 30 sushi rolls) across the nori.  Top that line with a very small line of wasabi (be careful, it's spicy!).  You can also put lines of cream cheese, mayonaise, carrots, cooked (or raw) shrimp, crab and just about anything else that might be interesting with rice.   Keeping your fingers moist, roll it all up as tight as you can from bottom to top, as you would roll a cinnamon roll.   Let it form a spiral in the middle and, again, try to keep this roll TIGHT, but without tearing the nori.  There's a bamboo mat professionals use, but you can do well without one.  The vinegar will help you "seal" the margin of nori at the top.  Set it aside for a few moments until it's dry enough to stay together when you slice it into one inch, bite sized pieces.   Use a VERY sharp knife, and wet the blade with the vinegar before you try to cut.  Sprinkle a few sesame seeds over top of your lovely creations. With a bit more wasabi, a little soy sauce and slice of pickled ginger, put the entire morsel in your mouth...and enjoy!  That's Maki Sushi. You can learn about the various kinds of fillings and shapes, each with its own name and set of avid followers.  There's a broad, sophisticated SUSHI CULTURE out there, and to those experts, what I've just described is probably a bit like Gomer Pyle explaining nuclear fission.  (Something like: "Whooey, Sergeant!  It's simple!  Y'all just smash those atoms into little bitty pieces, and purdy soon it's just like the 4th of July!")  Have a great day in the Lord, Phil