Life Through Food: Sushi Dinner

For dinner, on Mother's Day, we decided to have sushi! Yay!!

Smoked Salmon, Cucumber and Sushi Ginger sushi with light soy sauce

Before we could begin, my cousin and I decided to whet our appetites with a glass of red wine each :)

The way one makes sushi is so fast and requires one to have one's ingredients to be conveniently on hand.

Sushi Rice "Shari"

So first all I made the sushi rice. Sushi rice is round and can be bought at most supermarkets like Spar or Fruit Lover's Market in Windhoek. The "shari", as the Japanese call sushi rice, I used was bought by my cousin in the Czech Republic.

To make the rice, measure out the rice (1 cup makes 3 rolls) that you will require. Then wash it with running water for about two minutes until the water runs clear. You then place it gently in a pot, add some water (1 part rice to 1.5 parts water). Be sure not to use too much water or you will get a clumped mess. Cook the rice on high heat, stirring after one minute intervals until the water boils. Then reduce the heat to minimum and cover the pot and allow to cook without stirring. Check the rice occasionally to see the water level - if there is no more water, and grains in the pot are bigger, then the rice is done.
Using a wooden or plastic spoon, as the rice as it is very delicate, remove the rice from the pot and place into a plastic or wooden bowl. Make sure to only take out the rice that comes out easily because the rice stuck to the bottom is dry and won't taste good.

To get your rice to taste like sushi rice, you will have to season it immediately after taking it out of the pot. To make the seasoning for 3 cups of rice you will need: ½ cup rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons salt that you will mix together in a small pot on medium heat until all the solids have dissolved. Then just pour the mixture onto the rice, stir well and allow to cool to room temperature.

The rest of the ingredients

Sushi ginger

Sushi Nori (Roasted Seaweed), this was also bought in the Czech Republic but you can get nori from Spar or Fruit Lover's Market or the market in Klein Windhoek.

Soy Sauce

Smoked Salmon

Cucumber

I've decided not to use wasabi this time. But next time I shall use it.

The Method

So first you lay out your mat . Then you feel the nori sheet on both sides and place the nori on the mat with the rough side facing upwards. Since I was making a thick roll, with more than 1 ingredient (Futo maki) I used the entire nori sheet without cutting it.

Next, you wet your hands, and with one hand take a handful of rice and gently shape it like a ball. Gently place the rice ball in the middle of the nori sheet and spread it equally on the nori.

You then place a two slices of cucumber, a few slices of sushi ginger and a few slices of smoked salmon on the edge of the nori. If you put too much filling on, the sushi might be unrollable.

Starting from the closer edge of the rolling mat, close the filling with the nori to make a rectangular shaped hill and tighten it from above. Move forward and continue rolling, keeping it tight with every move until you reach the end of the nori. Put slight pressure on the roll from all three side at all times going from the edges to the centre as you go.

When you open the rolling mat you should find the sushi roll is sealed and ready. If the nori didn't stick properly to close the roll, you should use a bit of water to close it with your fingers.