I am going to make my own sushi...need ur tips

ilovemylife ↓

Sun, Nov 21 2010, 10:54 am

I finally decided that in the name of saving money, I am going to learn how to make sushi myself. I am just starting with this so I need ideas, tips, recommendations from all of you who are pros at making your own sushi. I've already started watching some youtube videos so I have some idea of what to do but if you have any really great tips, please share. Also, I am wondering where I can buy the stuff for sushi (mat, rice, seaweed), I live in Monsey, would Rockland Kosher sell it? Please help a sushi making beginner...thanx!

chanahlady

Sun, Nov 21 2010, 11:04 am

Here's some notes I wrote to myself for a sushi-making class I once conducted. Sorry for the choppy words. Let me know if you have any questions.... I don't know anything about using fish, because we don't eat fish.

Nori (seaweed sheets), cut it in half with a sharp knife. Put it on the sushi mat shiny side down. Line the bottom of the nori up with the bottom edge of sushi mat.

Sushi rice – short grain. Can use white or brown. Brown takes twice as long to cook, and is moister. Rinse rice until water runs clear. Cook according to package directions. About 20 minutes or so, until water is gone. When finished, transfer to non-metal bowl and sprinkle rice vinegar on top. I usually don’t measure – I give it a sniff, make sure it smells nice and vinegary. Wait until it cools. You don’t want to burn your hands.

Assembling the sushi
Line up bottom of nori with edge of sushi mat. Shiny side down.
Wet your hands, but not too much. Put a small amount of rice on nori. Not too much. You want a thin layer. Press down with your hands. Make sure to go all the way to the edges. Leave about ¼” of nori exposed at the top. If your hands are sticking, wet a little more. But try not to get the nori wet.
Put filling on rice about 2/3 of the way down from top. Small amount. Hard stuff (cucumber, carrot) toward the top, softer stuff at the bottom. Put it off center, toward you.
Roll. Using mat, roll mat and nori up and over filling. Keep it tight, and tuck your fingers in so you’re encircling the filling. Then, pull up mat a little bit, and keeping it tight, keep rolling. Roll all the way until you have all the nori rolled up. Now, with mat still over everything, make it all square. Grip the sides of the mat, and push down with your other fingers on the top, making a square. Squeeze it – you want it to be firm and hold together. Give it a little roll if you are not sure it’s going to stick together.
Cut roll in half. Then put the two resulting rolls together one next to the other and cut through both at the same time in thirds to make six rolls total.

mama-star

Sun, Nov 21 2010, 1:45 pm

when you are cutting the roll, use a very sharp knife and keep dipping the knife in water to get clean, nice cuts. otherwise you'll get messy, sticky cuts.

when you prepare the other ingredients for the roll, cut them into strips so you can assemble them onto the nori square. (think strips of carrot and cucumber and avocado). I would use the kosher fake crab meat that came in the strips, I would cut them lengthwise in half and make a "line" and put it in the nori roll.

also, it is VERY time consuming, so find a quiet time for yourself when you won't be interrupted, it's a very long and tedious task. good luck!

yOungM0mmy

Sun, Nov 21 2010, 2:35 pm

Made it for the first time last week, really didnt find it so complicated, just over half an hour to make 7 or 8 rolls.

sushi rice - found video online - basically 3 cups sushi rice to 4 cups water, bring to boil, lower and cook till soft, 15-20 mins. spread out to cool, sprinkle with mixture of 1/3 c rice vinegar, 3 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp salt. gently turn rice to mix with syrup. I used tinned tuna mixed with a bit of mayo, smoked salmon or fake crab as fillings, with cucumbers, carrots, avocado and red pepper. check out videos on line (videojug) to see how to make rolls, quite easy once you get the hang of it. First roll was a disaster Wink

after that actually quite impressive. at the end had no more nori sheets, so just make a log of rice squeezed in my hand, put a bit of wasabi on top, and lay on a piece of smoked salmon. At first I cut the sheets in half, but then I found that I could not close them, so I used whole sheets, and just cut off the edge if it was too much, after I rolled them closed.

Mrs Bissli ↓

Sun, Nov 21 2010, 4:12 pm

* Rice can make much difference to the outcome. Make sure you're using correct type (sushi rice, short grain rice, japanese rice. Never use thai, basmati, jasmin rice). I find brown rice to be less sticky, and far more difficult to handle. Trick for successful rice is rinsing till the water is clear(ish), soaking for 30min, not removing the lid while cooking and letting it steam for 15min. Season while the rice is still hot, and don't refrigerate the rice (which makes the grain stiff and hard to manage).

* Fish: tell your fishmonger you want sushi quality. Use within the same day, never leave overnight. If you're concerned, you can use smoked salmon, cooked salmon, or even gefilte fish cut in strips. Otherwise use non-fish things like avocado, sauteed portbello mushrooms, roasted red peppers, omlette strips, cucumber sticks.

* Seaweed: if you look carefully there is a shiny side and a rough side. Put the shiny side down, rice/filling goes on the rough side. Don't overload, otherwise it gets hard to roll. Roll tight to avoid breakage once sliced. I like using a serrated knife, and keep a small dish with water handy to clean the knife.

shaini ↓

Sun, Nov 21 2010, 8:46 pm

Can someone solve my sushi rice problem. Being that I only need to make small quantities of sushi at one time (ie I only want to make about two maybe three sushi rolls before they're cut up into small pieces) I find my rice always sticks to the saucepan, absorbing all the water they say before it is fully cooked, is it becuase I use a saucepan that's too large? I do use the proper sushi rice. Any ideas, thanks.

KosherCook

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 8:11 am

Here are some tips for home made sushi
- I use 3/4 of a sheet of nori per roll - 1/2 is not enough and a whole one is too much
- Before starting, cover your rolling mat with cling film/saran wrap. It makes clean up much easier.
- Have a small bowl of water and towel on hand to rinse the sticky rice off your fingers before rolling.
- Use a very sharp knife for cutting, cut in half then cut each half into 3 or 4 pieces
- I use the following mix to season the rice - 4 tbsp rice vinegar, 1 tbsp sugar 1 tsp salt. Mix it together until the sugar and salt dissolve. This quantity is enough for 8oz uncooked rice and should be put on the rice once it is cooked.
- In general I follow the cooking instructions on the package of sushi rice.

Good luck

↑ Mrs Bissli ↓

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 9:42 am

shaini wrote:

When you say "absorbing all the water before it is fully cooked", do you mean the rice has undercooked/crunchy centre? If so, I'd suggest you soak the rice before cooking. Also you can use fairly robust flame till the liquid starts to boil, but I lower the flame to the lowest once this state is achieved.

BTW, you can cook rice in batche, and freeze for future. All you need is microwave till it's hot then let it cool down.

↑ shaini

Mon, Nov 22 2010, 4:47 pm

Thanks Mrs Bissli for your suggestion of making a larger batch of rice and freezing the cooked rice and/or soaking it before cooking. Yes, I did mean that the rice is undercooked/crunchy in the centre with no water left in the saucepan for it to absorb and if I were to leave it to continue cooking it would be all stuck to the saucepan. I find sushi is a great food to take to work for lunch in the hot weather.

↑ ilovemylife

Tue, Dec 14 2010, 11:18 pm

OP here- I finally made my own sushi today. It was great! Looked and tasted almost exactly like the stuff I buy but a fraction of the cost, I think I'm hooked! Dh loved it too. Thanx for all ur suggestions. Now I'm looking for some cool creative ways to make sushi, and interesting fillers and sauces if anyone has suggestions. I also reallyn need to get a better knife, my knives are not so sharp and I definitley need a better one if I'm gonna be doing this often. Can anyone recommend a good sushi knife?

↑ Rubber Ducky

Sun, Jun 23 2013, 9:01 am

Homemade Pickled Ginger recipe:
1 or 2 large pieces gingerroot
4 Tb rice vinegar
4 Tb sugar

Peel the gingerroot.
Slice lengthwise into very thin strips.
Place in pot with sugar and rice vinegar.
Bring to a boil.
Simmer (LOW simmer) for 10 minutes. Stir a few times while simmering. Make sure you still have some liquid in the pot when finished.

Keeps very well -- 2 or 3 weeks refrigerated.

Culturedpearls

Sun, Jun 23 2013, 9:28 am

I use a rice maker. 2 cups of sushi rice to 3 cups water. Once ready I add 2 tbs sugar & 4 tbs rice vinegar. Mix well.
To keep rice moist (great for 2 day yom Tov ) I place a damp towel on top of the rice & replace lid.
I like to use full nori sheets. Grated carrot works better for us than strips. I also use lox, tuna, avocado, cucumber , romaine lettuce in different variations.
Serve with soy, sweet chili sauce mixed with mayo, wasabi mixed with mayo.
I have also made tempura which my kids adore but it's pretty fattening & time consuming.
Sushi is our Shabbos table staple!