How to Make Sushi

I look forward to Sushi Sinatra Saturday every week. Making sushi at home rather than going out to a restaurant can save you time and money. It all looks real fancy, but once you get the hang out it, it's really very easy. 


Two kinds that are on high rotation for us are sweet potato and spicy shrimp. I use a rice cooker, so it's effortless really. You will need a sushi rolling mat (available at Asian grocery stores for about 2$). Make sure you rinse it every time you use it, and if you are doing inside out rolls just use cling wrap to cover the mat. You will also need a small bowl of ice water for you hands while you are rolling. 


Ingredients: 

• Sushi mats (nori mats) 
• Sushi rice 1.5 cups 
• 2 cups Water
• 1/3 cup of Rice Vinegar 

• One medium sized sweet potato 
• canola oil (for cooking sp)

• Cooked Shrimp (half of a 500g bag usually works)
• Spicy Bento Sauce (avail superstore near sushi) 
• French Fried Onions (near the croutons) 

Directions: 


Rinse 1 1/2 cups of rice, and place in rice cooker with two cups of water. Cook. 


Once the rice is cooked it will need to be cooled before you can handle it (ouch). Do not put it in the refrigerator directly after it is cooked because if rice goes from hot to cold too quickly it can grow bacteria real fast. Before you cool the rice, toss cooked rice with 1/3 cup of rice vinegar, and set aside. 


While the rice cools you can thaw your shrimp by placing it in a bowl or colander under running cold water. Once it is thawed out, pull the tails off (sorry little guys) and toss with the Spicy Bento Sauce. Refrigerate. 


Wash and peel the sweet potato. Continue to use the vegetable peeler and peel the sweet potato into small thin strips. Add pepper. 


Heat canola oil in a large skillet, and cook sweet potato until tender. Once cooked simply set aside to cool for rolling. 


Now, if your rice is cool enough to touch you can start rolling. 

To Roll Your Sushi:

Place the nori sheet shiny side down

Place a nori sheet, shiny side down on the sushi rolling mat. Try to get the edges of the mat and the sheet to meet. 

Place rice on one half of the nori sheet

Place rice on one half of the nori sheet (closest to you). Using the bowl of ice water dip your hands into the cold water, and then press down the rice, so you have a flat surface, and the rice reaches the outer edges of the mate. The cold water helps to prevent the rice from sticking to your fingers; it is called sticky rice for a reason. 


For Sweet Potato Sushi Roll

Make a line down the centre of your rice   

Now make a line of filling down the centre of your rice. Don't be stingy with the sweet potato is packs down quite a bit, so if you think you have enough add more.


For the spicy shrimp sushi roll: 

Add french fried onions then a row of shrimp 

If you are making the shrimp, just crumble up some of the french fried onions, and then place a row of shrimp down the centre of the your rice. 


To Roll Sushi:
Using both hands roll the sushi away from you, making sure to tuck everything inside. Use the mat to guide you, so you keep it straight. You end up with what looks like a little sushi log. So what you do is tuck your thumbs under the sushi mat, and use your top fingers to combat everything in to move the sushi roll away from your body. 


Once you've rolled it, use a really sharp cold knife (run under water) to cut your sushi into rolls. Cut to desired thinkness; I like them teeny so we cut them accordingly, but it's just personal preference. 

Happy Suhsi Sinatra Saturday!! I'm off to go see one of my girls get married today in beautifully quaint Lunenburg. I'll see what I can do for pics 


much love, 
sp