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Homemade Sushi

Introduction & method

Sushi is very popular in Japan, and has been for centuries. It provides a nutritious and healthy meal, easily eaten with the fingers. And it's quite easy to make.

 Homemade Sushi Recipe

Cook the Rice


Rinse the rice in 5-6 changes of cold water until the water is no longer cloudy. Drain the rice and add it to a pan. Add the water and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat, put a lid on the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Leave to cool with the lid on for 15-20 minutes.

Season the Rice


This vinegar-based seasoning is very important to the flavour of sushi, so don't skip it. Mix together the rice wine vinegar, mirin, sugar and salt. Stir briskly until the sugar and salt dissolve. Scoop half of the rice into a bowl and stir in half of the seasoning. Then add the rest of the rice and the remaining seasoning and stir thoroughly. Put the bowl in the fridge to cool completely.

Assemble the Sushi


What you fill your sushi with is entirely up to you, but it's usually something seafoody, something crispy and veggie, sometimes something creamy and sometimes something sinus-bustingly hot like wasabi paste. You'll need a flexible bamboo mat lined with cling film. Place a sheet of nori seaweed on this, and then spread out some rice in a thin layer, leaving 2cm (about an inch) margins at the top and bottom. The rice is sticky, so use the back of a spoon or a spatula to spread it. Have a bowl of cold water on hand to rinse things if they get too messy. Arrange your fillings in a narrow strip about 5cm (2 inches) up from the bottom of the rice. Now to roll it, pick up the bottom edge of the mat and push it away from you. You're trying to lift the rice layer onto the top of the filling. Continue pushing and rolling and wrap the bottom edge of the nori onto the top edge of it. The stickiness of the rice should hold it all together.

Chill the Sushi


Use a sheet of cling film that's somewhat wider and longer than the nori sheet. Arrange it diagonally and place the sushi roll horizontally in the centre. Wrap the 2 middle corners of the cling film diamond over the ends of the roll, then wrap the bottom corner over the roll and finally the top corner. Place in the fridge for at least half and hour to chill. When ready to eat, slice the roll of sushi into medallions about 2cm (three-quarters of an inch) wide. Serve with soy sauce and wasabi paste for dipping.

Suggested Fillings


Smoked salmon spread with minced ginger and wrapped around spring onion.
Cooked prawns (defrost them if they were frozen) mixed with mayonnaise and a small amount of wasabi paste, surrounded by thin slices of avocado.
Canned tuna mixed with red chilli flakes, surrounded by strip of red bell pepper and cucumber.


The video above is from the Keef Cooks YouTube channel. Click here to see the video recipe of Homemade Sushi on YouTube.

 
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Homemade Sushi

Ingredients & Info


SUSHI ROLLS
 250 grams sushi rice
 330 ml water
 3 sheets nori seaweed
RICE SEASONING
 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
 1 tbsp mirin
 2 tsp caster (powdered) sugar
 1 tsp salt

PLUS

Ingredients for fillings, see the end of the recipe.


UNITS:
Metric
US Customary/Imperial

Makes 3 rolls (8-10 slices each)
Prep time: 15 minutes.
Cooling time: 1 hour.
Cooking time: 10 minutes.
Total time: 1 hour 25 minutes.