HOW TO MAKE MAKI SUSHI

A sweet reader recently asked me if I could create a guide on how to make Maki Sushi.
-So here it is.

What you need/also called ingredients

• Thinly sliced and washed fresh vegetables (I like to use carrots, cucumber, avocado and spring onions)
• Fish, shellfish or other topping. You can use all kinds of meat that you like (I like to use salmon, tuna, crab and thinly sliced pre-fried chicken breast)
• Rice wine vinegar
• Unsalted dried seaweed – Nori (You can buy them in layer sheets ready for making sushi)
• Sushi rice
• Sugar
• Salt

Optional ingredients

• Fresh Creme cheese
• Sesame
• Wasabi paste
• Wasabi nuts
• Marinated ginger (I marinate the ginger myself, by slicing the ginger in thin strips. Add 1 tbsp of rice wine vinegar and 1 tsp of sugar, and leave it to marinate for minimum 1 hour)
• Soy sauce (Also available in Gluten-free)
• Edamame beans

Tools I use
A sharp knife, a chinese rice cooker or a normal pot, plastic rice spatula, bamboo mat and a good portion of patience to make the rice.

How to make the Sushi rice
Ingredients

• 3 cups Japanese sushi rice
• 4 cups water
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 3 Tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt

Preparation
Put the rice in a large bowl and wash it with cold water. Repeat washing until the water becomes almost clear. Drain the rice in a colander and set aside for 30 minutes.

Place the rice in rice cooker and add water. Let the rice soak in the water at least 30 minutes. Start the cooker. When rice is cooked, let it steam for about 15 minutes.

Prepare sushi vinegar (sushi-zu) by mixing rice wine vinegar, sugar, and salt in a sauce pan. Put the pan on low heat and heat until the sugar dissolves. Cool the vinegar mixture. You can also use a deep plate and spin it for 3-4 minutes until the salt and sugar dissolves.

Spread the hot steamed rice into a large plate or a large bowl. Please use a non-metallic bowl to prevent any interaction with rice vinegar. It’s best to use a wooden bowl called sushi-oke, if you don’t have that, which I don’t have,  you can also use a normal plate or bowl (non-metallic).

Sprinkle the vinegar mixture over the rice and fold it into the rice with a plastic rice spatula in a spiral pattern, starting from the outside. Be careful not to smash the rice. Continue in this fashion until all of the vinegar is used.

Now the rice has to cool. I like to “fan” the rice by folding the rice frequently to cool it and remove moisture from the rice. This process gives sushi rice its signature sticky texture and glossy shine.

When the rice has cooled, you can keep the rice at room temperature (not more than 2 hours), covered with a clean, damp towel.

Do not refrigerate the rice, as it will harden.

Fif
If you make more rice than you can use, then its okay to freeze it for another time.

Now you are ready to make your sushi rolls
Put a half-size nori on top of a bamboo mat (makisu). Spread some of the sushi rice on top of the nori.

Then place a mix of the thinly sliced and washed fresh vegetable sticks and add the meat you have chosen and place it horizontally on the rice.

Then roll up the bamboo mat, pressing forward to shape the sushi into a cylinder. Press the bamboo mat firmly with hands and then unwrap the bamboo mat.

Make more rolls, – and remember all fresh ingredients taste good in a fresh well made and homemade sushi roll.

Fif
Wipe a knife with a wet cloth before slicing sushi and cut the sushi roll into bite-size pieces.

Serve and enjoy with a nice cold beer, a ginger beer or perhaps a glass of cold temp. white wine.

食欲 = Bon appetite in Japanese!