~Carmen
Joe and I love Japanese food. Â Joe lived in Japan for three years so he knows his sushi. Â Hopefully, he’ll be able to take me to Japan someday soon. Â In the meantime, when I’m feeling “wifey”, I’ll make Joe sushi at home (usually he does all of the cooking). Â I must admit, it tastes just as good as what we find at any restaurant!
I learned how to make sushi about ten years ago when I was a single mom. Â My daughter and I loved sushi, but could not afford to go out to eat very often. Â It just wasn’t in the budget. Â When we could afford it, it was in the cheap eats price range. Â Then one Christmas my relatives gave me a cooking class gift certificate. I immediately knew I wanted to learn how to make sushi.
The class I took had a guest teacher, Jimmy Ishii, that night who happened to own 17 sushi restaurants. Â He gave us his sushi rice recipe and tips for making delicious rolls. Â I hope you enjoy the recipe and tips as much as I have!
| Servings | cups |
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 3 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tbsp mirin available at asian grocery stores
- 2 cups Japanese or unconverted white rice
Ingredients
|
- For the vinegar dressing: Combine the rice vinegar, sugar, salt and mirin in a 1-1 1/2 quart sauce pan. Bring to a boil uncovered. Cool to room temperature.
- Cook rice as directed-- equal parts water and rice. We use a rice cooker that I bought at Wal-mart over 10 years ago for around $30. It produces perfect rice every time!
- You ideally should let the rice cool completely before adding the dressing to it, but I am never that patient. Just keep mixing the vinegar dressing into the rice until it is completely absorbed. It may be covered and left at room temperature for as long as 5 hours.
| Servings | roll |
- 1 sheet Nori Dried sushi wrappers that can be found in most Asian sections of grocery stores
- sushi rolling mat
- plastic wrap
Ingredients
|
- Cover the sushi rolling mat with plastic wrap. This will help the rice to not stick and make clean up easier.
- Lay the nori on the mat with the rough side up. The rough side (less shiny) is easier for the rice to stick to. Depending which way you lay the nori, your roll will be thick or thin. I like to lay my nori horizontally because thinner rolls are easier for me to cut and eat.
- Evenly pat about 1/2 cup of prepared sushi rice onto the nori sheet, leaving a narrow border of nori around the edge. Keep a small bowl of water next to your work station to dip your fingers in when the rice start to stick to them.
- On the rice lay 2-3 sushi "fillings". For this roll I used tuna, avocado, and Japanese mayonnaise. Japanese mayonnaise is available in Asian markets. I like the Kewpie brand.
- Working from one end of the sushi mat, start rolling up the roll.
- Move the top of the mat as you continue to roll. Press it as you roll so that the rice and nori adhere to each other, but don't press so hard that the filling comes out. This was the hardest part when I first started making my own rolls, but with practice, I got pretty fast.
- If your edge seam isn't wanting to stay closed, use extra rice as "glue" to hold the roll together. Place the roll seam side down.
- Using a very sharp knife, cut the roll in half. Then lay your two halves beside each other and cut them into 3 or 4 pieces each (depending on how fat you want your pieces to be. If your knife seems to not cut cleanly, wipe it down with a damp washcloth. If you have any pieces that don't turn out pretty, I just eat those pieces. My taste buds don't care how it looks, and your finished sushi will still look like they were made at a restaurant!
- Optional- top pieces with sesame seeds, green onions, or roe. I love using roe. It is bright, looks fancy, and is delicious!
I like to sprinkle sesame seeds on the outside of my inside-out rolls before flipping the nori.
Inside Out Rolls
To make the type of sushi rolls that have the rice on the outside (like the California Roll), Follow the same assembly instructions except that after you put the rice on the nori, flip it over so that the rice side is facing down on the plastic wrap. Â Then fill the non-rice side with your sushi ingredients and roll it up.
My finished inside-out rolls. I haven’t mastered making them super smooth, but the practicing is delicious fun!
Popular Roll Ingredients
California Roll-Â
- prepared sushi rice (see previous recipe)
- nori (seaweed wrappers)
- cucumber, cut into matchsticks
- avocados
- crab meat
- roe or toasted sesame seeds
Spicy Tuna-
- prepared sushi rice
- nori
- tuna cut into long strips
- avocados
- cayenne pepper to taste
- cucumber, cut into matchsticks
- Japanese mayonnaise
Crunchy Shrimp-
- prepared sushi rice
- nori
- boiled or steamed shrimp
- cucumber, cut into matchsticks
- Japanese mayonnaise
- panko bread crumbs or fried tempura batter
Ingredients that we use for fillings
This is what we usually cut up when we make sushi. Â We usually make it a family affair with all of the ingredients all cut up, then everyone takes turn making their own rolls in any combination they want. Â I’ve also had sushi dinner parties at home where everyone gets to pick and choose their own roll.
Fish-
- tuna (ask the grocer for sushi grade)- Â It is easier to cut if you leave it a little frozen before slicing it. Â Other deep water fish are fine, too. Â The cold ocean keeps it safer to eat uncooked.
- salmon- Get farm raised. Â Since it lives in shallower water, wild caught has too much bacteria to eat uncooked. Â Farmed raised salmon have antibodies to reduce bacteria.
- shrimp- Â If uncooked, steam or boil it first.
- crab meat- Â fake crab sticks are fine. Â Jimmy told us that most sushi restaurants use crab sticks.
Veggies-
- cucumber
- carrots
- green onions
- avocados
Extras-
- Japanese mayonnaise- Japanese mayonnaise is available in Asian markets and is sweeter than regular American mayonnaise. Â You can substitute a salad dressing type mayonnaise, but we love the brand Kewpie and use it on sandwiches, too!
- cream cheese- Tastes great, especially with salmon.
- roe- Just delicious and pretty!
- black sesame seeds- Gives a slight crunch and the black color looks really nice with the white rice.
- panko bread crumbs- Great texture for “crunchy” type rolls. Â Some people fry up then crumble up tempura batter. Â To me, panko give a similar texture and is a whole lot easier to use.
- wasabi, pickled ginger, and soy sauce- Â Wasabi and pickled ginger is suppose to be used to clean your palate in between different types of sushi. Â Some people mix wasabi or ginger into their soy sauce. Â Jimmy told us to never do this because when you dip your sushi (dip, not soak) into your soy sauce, wasabi or ginger would overpower the flavor of the fish.
Our latest feast!
Have you ever tried making sushi at home or ever wanted to try? Â Please share by commenting below! Â
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~ Carmen
Please pin me!
Chrissy
December 1, 2016 1:24 pmWe love sushi and I could eat it on a daily basis, but I have never tried making our own! I might have to, it doesn’t look so hard, I might get the hang of it as well!
Pack Your Baguios
December 1, 2016 1:40 pmThe sushi rice is what really makes the sushi delicious. Even if your rolls don’t turn out that pretty, they will certainly taste good!
Sabrina @ Pink Little Notebook
December 1, 2016 6:27 pmI love your step by step instructions. I may just have to give this try…pinning for later!
Pack Your Baguios
December 3, 2016 9:34 amThanks for pinning! It really is easy to make after you get use to the rolling.
Vincent Carabeo
December 2, 2016 3:49 amI absolutely love sushi. You were so thorough about this post – thank you for the beautiful pictures, recipe and instructions. This made me so hungry.
Pack Your Baguios
December 3, 2016 9:37 amYou’re welcome. I learned from a very good teacher!
Roxy
December 2, 2016 10:40 amYour feast looks soooo good! I love sushi and would love to make it at home. You’ve made it sound so easy!
Pack Your Baguios
December 3, 2016 9:39 amThe hardest part for me was learning to make tight enough rolls without all the fillings spilling out. I still have some that turn out lopsided. I just eat those and save the pretty ones for company!