Sushi- Make Your Own - by Dario

Sushi is an expensive food to order. Try making it yourself!

You will need some ingredients and materials that can easily be found at an Asian grocery store:

• Dried seaweed sheets (I use 7" x 8")
• Sushi Rice
• Folding mat

Preparing Other Ingredients

You can put just about anything in your sushi. On your first try, I don’t recommend raw fish, unless you are sure you know how to fillet. Vegetables like carrots and cucumbers are ideal, as they can be cut into thin, long strips. Mushrooms, shrimp, and egg can be cooked before hand, and then also chopped and used.

Making the Rice

This is the most important part of the sushi. If you have a rice cooker, it should be

straightforward and easy. However, it can be trickier on a stove, because the rice on the bottom tends to get overcooked. For the stove, the best recipe I found (many can be found on the Internet, and on your bag of sushi rice) is to add 1 cup of water for each cup of uncooked rice. Then, get a heavy pot with a tight lid, and bring rice to a boil over medium heat. After it starts to boil, turn the heat down to low. 15 to 20 minutes should be enough time for the rice to cook, but try some of the rice to make sure it is fully cooked. While it is cooking, prepare the seasoning mixture (see below). After the rice is fully cooked, turn off the heat, and let it sit undisturbed for 15 minutes. If you do not have the time, you don’t have to wait.

Seasoning the rice

The seasoning mixture is a combination of sugar, salt, and vinegar. Here are the ratios:

Cooked Rice	Sugar	Salt	Vinegar
5 to 7 cups	1 tablespoon	1½ teaspoons	4 tablespoons
8 to 9 cups	1½ tablespoons	2 teaspoons	6 tablespoons
10 to 11 cups	2 tablespoons	2½ teaspoons	½ cup

Stir the seasoning together until it becomes clear. After cooking the rice, transfer the rice to a large bowl, and stir it while slowly pouring the mixture on the rice. Continue to stir the rice for a few more minutes.

Making Sushi Rolls

Unless you are making a very large roll, cut the dried seaweed in half. Make sure you get your fingers wet before handling the rice, otherwise it will stick. Lay the bamboo mat out in front of you, unrolled away from you. Place the seaweed sheet along a straight edge of the bamboo mat closest to you. Then, spread the rice on the seaweed sheet, making sure you are not adding too much, because then you will not be able to close the roll. Also, leave a quarter-inch of space along the top side of the seaweed sheet furthest from you. Next, place your desired ingredients in the middle of the roll, and then, using the bamboo mat to carefully roll the seaweed away from you, up to the quarter-inch of space. Unroll the mat, leaving the seaweed and rice rolled up only to the quarter-inch space. Bring the sushi roll down to the bottom of the mat. Roll the sushi in the bamboo may again, but this time all the way, so it is closed. If the seaweed starts to unroll, you can use a little water on your finger as “glue”. Finally, you can cut the sushi, but remember to wet the blade of your knife before cutting, and to use a sharp knife to prevent tearing the seaweed.

Making Chirashi Sushi

If making Sushi rolls becomes tedious, or you run out of dried seaweed sheets, making Chirashi Sushi is another option. These are basically rice bowls with the ingredients on top. First, find a small bowl, and fill the bottom part with rice. Then just add ingredients to the top. Bonus points if you arrange it neatly!

Etc.

• Sushi rice can become very sticky, so make sure to wash any pots and bowls you use right afterwards.
• Eat with soy sauce if you have some of it.
• Making sushi is very hard. If you mess up the first time, make sure to try again.