Before we start I decided that since I always put the music on first before cooking I'm going to post the track of the day before we get into the recipe. I'm feeling some Hip Hop tonight so I'm going to introduce miss Sa-Roc from the southeastern part of Washington D.C. Mega fly and full of great content. I collaborated with NEIU Hip Hop Club to fly her up to Chicago last year for a great show. Enjoy......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYJVbJ9Vm_w
There's a few steps in preparation. Quality comes from how well you prep. From cutting the veggies, to getting the fish, what kind of rice you get, and especially the freshness of the ingredients, this will all factor on the quality of the sushi you make.
Here are the necessary ingredients:
1.) Rice Vinegar
2.) Sushi quality rice (most packages will that on the front "sushi rice") available at most Asian markets. Google it!
3.) Seaweed wraps
4.) whatever fish you choose
5.) Seedless cucumber
6.) cilantro
7.) Rice cooker
8.) Bamboo sushi wrapper (Sorry I don't know the technical name)
9.) Any other veggies you may like to add (green onions, tomatoes, lettuce). Be creative.
BUYING THE RIGHT RICE
Nishiki Rice is one of my favorite brands of Sushi quality rice. The grains are medium sized and roundish compared to jasmine and basmati rice. They hold more moisture and the thickness gives it great texture for sushi.
SELECTING THE SEAWEED WRAPPER
The seaweed wraps come in the following packages. They are not expensive at all. The ones specifically made for maki rolls have a thicker feel versus the seaweed that is made for dipping or to eat with steamed rice.
GETTING THE SUSHI BAMBOO WRAPPER
The sushi wrapper can be bought online or at your local Asian market. You should always keep it dry and stored in a room temperature area.
CUTTING THE VEGETABLES
Prepare your veggies by chopping the cilantro, green onions, cutting the cucumber into long slices as well as the jalapenos, and placing them all in small bowls so they are organized and ready to go. When cutting the cucumbers first cut it half so each half is around 4 inches long. Then you slice them into thin slices length wise almost like sandwich sliced pickles. Lastly you stack the slices until you can hold them down comfortably and slice them down length wise again to get the results below. Be careful to stop slicing once you get towards the center of the cucumber to avoid the seeds. The seeds are a little bitter so they are not used.
COOKING THE RICE
The rice should be cooked in a rice cooker with an inch of water above the rice. Be sure to rinse the rice a couple of times before filling it up with water by squeezing and shuffling the rice in water with your hands. Drain water and repeat about 2 more times. Put that in the rice cooker and press cook. Once the rice cooker clicks over to warm let it sit for about 15 more minutes so most steam clears out. Grabbing the rice immediately after it cooks still leaves it very soggy and mushy.
PREPARING THE RICE
Scoop the cooked rice into a non metal bowl or pan. The reason is because when the hot rice touches cold metal it instantly loses its heat. When the rice cools to room temperature it has to be aired out via fanning or else it ruins the desired texture when adding the rice vinegar. Slowly sprinkle the rice vinegar over the rice until you can see a light glossy layer over each grain. Fan out the steam with a hand fan or anything similar. While you are doing this you mix the rice with a ladle to help even out the vinegar. Be sure you are mixing carefully to even out the vinegar only and not mash the rice. Oh yeah please excuse the Christmas theme trays. The were the only clean ones at the time. LOL.
PREPARING THE SUSHI WRAPPER
Wrap the bamboo wrapper in plastic film for sanitation purposes and to give it an even roll. You can discard the plastic once you are done and the bamboo wrapper stays clean. Using it without the film will give it and uneven roll and eventually cause your bamboo wrapper to get dirty.
WRAPPING THE SUSHI
Once the rice and wrapper are ready you can start with a sheet of seaweed. Keep a bowl of water next to you to constantly keep your hands wet. The wetness will cause the rice to not stick on you as much. Spread the rice evenly across the seaweed and leave about an inch and a half of bare seaweed towards the top. Once you roll it you will wet the upper edge of the bare part. This will seal the roll. Add fish and then the cucumber slices. After that feel free to add whatever you like and get creative.
ROLLING THE SUSHI
This will be the hardest the get. You will roll the bottom part up with the bamboo wrapper. First roll you will seal in the contents. Make the roll tight as you can without ripping the seaweed. Once the contents are covered you should still be able to see the bare part of the seaweed. You will then give the roll a squeeze to make it tight. After that you wet the top edge of the bare part of the seaweed with water. Continue rolling it up and squeeze again to make it tight. The finished roll should look like the bottom picture. Note that the contents will stick out the sides. That's ok.
CUTTING THE SUSHI
Make sure your knife is sharp. Wet the blade so that the rice won't stick to it. Cut the sushi with the knife from one end to the other. The technique is to keep the knife wet so it doesn't stick and also cut the sushi at an angle so that you utilize the maximum sharpness of the blade. Once you slice into the roll use small and quick cuts kind of like sawing. Serve the sushi on a tray and use your imagination to give it a beautiful display. Serve with soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger. Wasabi is a Japanese horseradish that when added to the soy sauce it will give it a horseradish type zing. The ginger is to help clean your palette between rolls so you can get the full taste of each roll without leftover taste of the last roll you ate. Here's a hint: If the wasabi goes up your nose it will burn your sinuses and eyes. To stop that you should plug your nose until the heat goes away. This will block passage into your nasal area.
I hope you enjoyed this lesson. Sushi 101 in a nutshell. Remember you will make mistakes. Keep trying until you develop the technique. You will never get it if you don't try. Good luck. Also enjoy your sushi with a cold beer or hot sake. Both will enhance the flavors of the fish. Enjoy!
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This looks like something I can do. I am actually making your chicken recipe right now that you put up in August.
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