I went along on Saturday morning ready to learn what makes good sushi and I can tell you that the following are definitely required:
- sushi rice - cooked properly (I still need to pin this one down!)
- fresh fish
- fresh nori
- sushi rolling mat
- lots of practise in making!
Once you've cooked your sushi rice you need to spread it out and let it cool and then season with vinegar (or prepared rice seasoning you can buy in the supermarket).
Then for thin rolls (maki) you need half a sheet of nori and 80g of rice. Spread the rice evenly over the sheet from one edge, leaving a few cm uncovered on the other long side:
Me with nori sheet and sushi rice - you need to spread it out evenly... (this helps when the rice is cooked properly!)
When your rice is done, you add the filling eg. cucumber, down the centre of the rice (not the centre of the nori else it rolls off centre) and using the sushi mat roll the rice covered edge away from you to the uncovered edge.
The uncovered nori then acts as a seal - once your roll is formed like this increase the pressure to ensure the rice and filling is compacted and then shape - for beginners square is best as its easier to cut neatly.
The finished article - with classic beginner mistakes (the cucumber is off-centre and none of the rolls are in the 'right' shape).Fillings you can use - cucumber in maki, but also tuna/salmon avocado etc
For larger rolls e.g. california inside out roll, this classically uses crabsticks, avocado, mayonnaise and sesame seeds, with the twist being that the rice is on the outside of the roll, rather than being inside (the stickiness of the rice ensures that it stays on!)
When I've had a chance to practise these and the very pretty hand rolls I'll post some more photos so you can either a) marvel at my progress b) spot the mistakes!
The Camden Road Cook
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