A Korean Friend Teaches Me How to Make My Own Sushi!

     A few years ago a Korean student taught me and some others how to make sushi.  To be honest, making my own sushi seemed a bit daunting to me.  I had watched her make sushi at a friend's house, and so I wanted to learn.  I took notes from her demonstration, and then typed them up.  I have followed these instructions about three times so far, and it works every time!  I've always like California rolls, and so when I make sushi my ingredients are relatively simple.  I enjoy making my own variations with all the ingredients that I cut up. 


     Last weekend we made sushi part of our New Year's Eve dinner menu.  One of our students from China helped me make them. It was her first time making sushi, and it was a neat experience for us to share together.

Authentic Sushi - - for 9

1.  Prepare the sushi rice:   Unlike making regular rice, the rule of thumb for making sushi rice is to use equal parts of rice to water. First wash the rice in a colander to remove any excess starch.  Extra starch makes it harder for the vinegar to penetrate the rice.  Put 4 cups of  short white rice and 4 cups of  water into your  rice cooker.

 2.  Prepare sushi rice seasoning in a glass bowl: Mix together  8 ½ T rice vinegar, 8 t sugar, and 4 t salt.

3. Prepare the ingredients for sushi filling:

*       Avocado  - narrow slices                               * Cucumber – thinly sliced

*       Carrots – parboiled & cut into thin slices      * Spinach wilted

*      Crabmeat – canned or cooked                         *Shrimp – cook in skillet
*  2 eggs cooked like an omelet and cut in strips

3.  Prepare vinegar for moistening hands and tools:
(1)  Put 1/2  cup of rice vinegar into a small glass bowl with 1 ½ c of water (a 1:3 ratio).
(2)  You will be continually dipping your hands into this mixture so the rice doesn't stick to them!
(3)  Also put a small amount of this mixture into a glass for you to dip your knife into when you're cutting the sushi rolls. 

 

4.  Making the sushi rice:  (Make sure the rice never touches metal)

1. Put the hot rice into a large glass bowl with a wooden paddle.
2. Mix gently so the rice grains don't get  mashed.
3. Gradually add the sushi rice seasoning folding it in. 
4. As you are folding the rice, some else needs to fan it with a piece of paper to quickly bring it down to room temperature.

5.  Preparing the sushi:   

1. Put a piece of nori shiny side down on a sushi mat.
2. Put ½ cup of rice on it, press to edges leaving 1” margin at top.

3.  Put the filling end to end in the middle.

4. Holding the core ingredients, use your thumbs to slowly turn up the edges of the mat. 

5. Form into a log, gently press the ends down with a bit of the vinegar mixture and allow it to sit on a plate a few minutes before cutting.

6. Dip the knife blade into the vinegar water before slicing.

7. Put tamari or soy sauce into a small dish with a squirt of wasabi to dip the sushi rolls in.

8. I would suggest not cutting all your rolls, leave some whole on the plate, and if you don't eat them, you can wrap them with plastic wrap and refrigerate them for the next day.  Enjoy!!

Sorry for the awkward angle!

Blog update 3/27/12:  We made sushi rolls last night.  To the list of options we added smoked salmon.  I looked on line and smoked salmon is combined with avocado and cucumber.   We made several different variations, and they were all delicious! The students have shared their comments about this recipe. 



Other Japanese recipes on this blog:

Easy Steps to Make Your Own Sushi!
Outstanding Gluten Free Sukiyaki
Delicious Gluten Free Yakisoba
Incredible Gluten Free Teriyaki Chicken
Deluxe Miso Soup (Kenchinjiru)