It’s a common misconception that sushi is simply raw fish on top of regular white rice but this is not the case. The preparation of the rice is just as important as having fresh, cold fish. I’m by no means a sushi chef (it takes 2-3 years to become one in Japan!), but in this recipe I’ll show you how easy it is to make sushi for your friends at home.
One key point is that the sushi rice needs to be cold, but don’t put it in the fridge or it’ll get hard! This is my first video how to – if you have any requests, drop me a comment below.
Ingredients (20-30 pieces)
5g salt
16g sugar
36g vinegar
2 cups rice (2 cups is measured when the rice is uncooked)
100g raw salmon
Step 1
Add the salt, sugar and vinegar to a bowl (I like to rest a bowl on a set of scales so I can see each amount as I add it). Stir well to dissolve, then pour over some cooked rice and ‘chop’ using a rice paddle (shamoji) It’s important to use rice that is still slightly hard so the vinegar mixture doesn’t make it too mushy.
Step 2
Slice the raw salmon with a sharp knife, being careful to use only one long, smooth motion to avoid flaking the flesh. In Japan, to become a sushi chef you have to know how simply slicing the fish in a different way changes its flavour!
Prepare the wasabi, then after wetting your hands in cold water, create a small fat sausage shape of rice in your palm. Then add a spot of wasabi to a piece of fish, lay on the rice and using inner thumb and forefinger, squeeze to shape.
Many thanks for a great page and lots of very helpful and inspiring tips!
I’m surprised to read you don’t have to heat up the vinegar mixture. I always did so, which made my kitchen smell not so nice … I’ll try the “cold version” next time!
Maybe I just didn’t find it yet in “sumokitchen”, but some hints on how to prepare sushi rice would be great! I had a hard time learning myself, until I found that washing the rice (a lot) and soaking it some 20 minutes before cooking improves the taste significantly.
After mixing the vinegar in, it is maybe a good idea to cool the rice with a fan or so to get the moisture out a bit … the sushi-oke I brought last year from Japan does a great job, the rice can be nicely stretched out in thin layer, and the wood adds a fantastic smell!
Thanks for the great comment! If you use sushi oke, make sure you ‘chop’ it through the rice-it’s different to mixing as doesn’t make the rice release starch. Then just wet a clean linen cloth and lay over the rice to keep it moist until you’re ready to prepare the sushi.
Soaking the rice is definitely a good idea – I sometimes soak for as long as an entire day before cooking.