If You’re Struggling To Make Sushi, Read This!

A recreational experience for some and art for others — we like calling our sushi just dinner. Think about it — a subtle cuisine that lets you have your fill without throwing you into a carb coma? We’d go all in! Our other favorite thing about sushi? It can be as minimal or as full of flavors as you’d like it to be! The right sushi rolls will pack subtle flavors and ample nutrients to serve as a complete meal! 

But there’s a problem — sushi can be crazy expensive, and rightly so. Sushi chefs have often spent decades perfecting their craft, which brings us to another question. Can you really make good sushi at home or is it a long shot? The answer is yes, you can make homemade sushi but it’ll require patience and practice. 

If you’ve been struggling to make sushi at home, we’re about to make things a whole lot simpler. So whether you’re into maki or uramaki, sit tight, keep reading and bookmark this page. The following tips will help you perfect your ways as a beginner.

Start by Getting the Right Gadgets

In order to come up with the perfect rolls, taste and texture, you’ll need a few tools in your arsenal. Don’t worry, they don’t cost much but will make the process a whole lot easier for you. You don’t have to own everything a sushi chef does. Just the following things would do:

• Sushi roller or bamboo sushi mat
• Sushi-grade sharp knives (a chef’s knife, fish knife and vegetable knife)
• Plating chopsticks (for eating)

Choosing the Ingredients

If you’re a seasoned sushi enthusiast, you may already know enough about the different types of rolls out there. If you don’t, you may want to start by trying out multiple kinds of sushi at different restaurants and see what works out for you, taste-wise. You can also converse with the sushi chefs — they’re well-experienced and might enjoy answering any questions you may have. 

You can alter the following ingredients as you please. We’re keeping it Philly-style and the mentioned quantities are for six pieces.

• Salmon filet (1/2 pound)
• Nori sheet (seaweed) 
• Sushi rice (1 pound)
• Cucumber
• Cream cheese

Ingredients for sushi rice:

• Japanese-style short-grain white rice (1 pound)
• Rice vinegar or sushi vinegar (1/4 cup)
• Water (2 cups)
• Sugar or honey (4 tsp)
• Salt (1/2 tsp)

Preparation

Here’s how to prepare sushi rice:

1. Rinse the rice with cold water in a fine mesh strainer. Do this for at least one to two minutes.
2. Add rice to an instant pot filled with water. Stir the rice and pressure cook for five minutes. The natural release should be 5 to 10 minutes. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you may have to boil for a little longer.
3. While your rice cooks, add vinegar, salt and sugar into another saucepan and heat until the mixture simmers. Stir it well, mix the sugar and take the mixture off the heat.
4. Once the rice is done, add the mixture to it to season.
5. Your rice is now done and will need to be cooled in a refrigerator.

Here’s how to prepare sushi rolls:

We suggest using a sushi roller to roll ingredients, instead of a mat — it looks like a syringe that can be opened and filled. You can then push from behind and a perfectly-shaped sushi roll will pop out from the front.

1. Place nori on your countertop or on a sushi mat.
2. Get your sushi roller and fill it with sushi rice, long-sliced cucumber slices and cream cheese.
3. Pop out the rolled ingredients onto your seaweed.
4. Carefully use your bamboo mat or just fingers to wrap the seaweed around your rice.
5. Once you’ve wrapped it completely, the seaweed will help build a tight grip.
6. Use a sharp knife to cut the roll into six pieces.
7. Serve your sushi with pickled ginger, soy sauce and wasabi. Enjoy as desired!

Final Thoughts

Practice, practice and practice! You’re not going to become a sushi chef in one day. We suggest trying out a bunch of sushi rolls from restaurants so you can come up with your favorite ones! As long as you’re following the aforementioned tips, you’ll have well-textured and well-shaped sushi.