How to make Sushi

Sushi traditions

I love making sushi at home and the best part is beyond the rice, there really is no recipe. You just need to know that you will enjoy whatever you make.

We used to make Sushi at home fairly often when I was growing up but with the incredibly inexpensive option of all-you-can-eat sushi, I admit that it was nearly 15 years between making sushi at home with my family and doing it at home as an adult. I figured making sushi would be quite similar to riding a bike and, well, if riding bikes is akin to tightly rolling nori around [just enough] rice and basically whatever else we could imagine (fish, egg, mango, cucumber, carrot, mushroom, etc.), that was definitely the case.  That particular night we went all-out. [photo above]

Eating sushi has a deep rooted history in Japanese culture (and perhaps east-Asian in general) dating back anywhere between the 4th and 9th century. However, for the purposes here, let’s focus on how you can make your own and impress your guests! 

Starting with the Rice

Sushi starts with good sushi rice. In fact, sushi is actually the rice itself, not the roll or fish. Many first-timers erroneously confuse sushi with sashimi (raw fish), although they do go together very well together. 

Two main types of sushi are maki (rolls or cone) and nigiri (little rice ball served with sashimi or other ingredients on top). Koreans make similar rolls called kimbap where ingredients are culturally different, but rolling process is nearly identical.

From your foundation of perfect sushi rice, only your imagination is your limit and your “sushi recipe” is all up to you. Dress it up, dress it down or stir it up into a bowl and include or omit anything you find to be tasty. Ingredients-wise, similar to my explanation in “Stir Fry”, you can put literally anything you want and you will likely have satisfying results. 

Common vegetable ingredients for maki include: 

• Cucumber
• Avocado
• Sauteed Shiitake
• Egg Omelette
• Carrot
• Yam
• Mango
• [anything else you can imagine]

For simplicity sake, I kept this one pretty simple, but you can easily elaborate by “using your creativity” and, as I’ve said before. As long as it tastes good to you, you’re golden. I’ll go over some really basic cucumber avocado maki and salmon sashimi. 

Here are some pretty simple and straightforward instructions on how to make your sushi feast right at home. Get started here with Sushi Rice Cooking Instructions and let your creativity run with it after that!

Sushi “Recipe”

I denote "recipe" because after you have the rice, your imagination is the limit! Rolling takes a little practice, but once you get it, you will have so much fun.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 35 mins

Total Time 50 mins

Course Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine Asian, Japanese, Korean

Servings 4

Equipment

• Sushi Mat
• Big Sharp Knife

Ingredients

  

• 2-3 cup cooked sushi rice
• 10 sheet nori
• thinly sliced vegetables, fish or toppings you choice!
• sesame seeds for rolling or garnish
• fish roe optional – for rolling or garnish
• picked ginger (gari)
• wasabi

Instructions

 

Maki sushi

• Lay nori sheets out on a flat surface
• Wet fingers and distribute cooked sushi rice across nori sheets, about a half-centimetre thick on the front half of the nori sheet. This is one of those personal preferences. I like my rolls a little thinner, but depending on the size of the roll you prefer, you can do however you like. Run rice as close to edge of the nori sheets as possible.
  
• Once rice is spread out, place toppings (veg, fish, etc) about 2 cm (1 in) from the close edge (rice side).
• Wet fingers and roll from rice end up, making as tight as possible, going from bottom to top, sealing off top side with a bead of water (effectively glueing two layers of nori together with natural adhesion).
• This step can also be done using a sushi-rolling mat, but for smaller rolls, this is totally optional.
• Slice into rolls of desired size using wet, very sharp knife.

Nigiri sushi with sashimi

• Wet fingers/palms of your hands, grab a small ball/small spoonful worth of cooked sushi rice. Warm rice helps slightly to keep everything together.
• Optional: small bead of wasabi along top side of nigiri.
  
• Place sashimi or other ingredeint on top of nigiri ball.
• Serve with wasabi, soy sauce and picked ginger
  

Notes

Rolling tips:

Of course, rolling with a mat is the nicest option, but I’ve even done with parchment paper, plastic wrap or with just nori. Either way, make sure your fingers are wet (I keep a small bowl of room temp water next to my rolling station at all times) in order to avoid rice sticking to your hands.

 

Load with wet fingers; cut with a wet knife!

For nori, large sheets are nicer to roll with (fewer finicky ends to chop off) but half-sheets are fine too. 

The key message here is do whatever you think tastes good! 

Keyword easy sushi, easy sushi rice, japanese sushi, kimbap, korean sushi, make sushi at home, simple sushi rice, Sushi

Making sushi at home is something that you can have a ton of fun with. Since my personal reunion with making sushi at home, I have again made it several times. I love the taste of sushi rice and this is one of those feasts that really impress your guests.

Simple substitutions and tips:

• Sharp knife! Use a large, sharp knife and wet it with some water between cuts to keep contents from sticking.
• Cut fish while frozen – cutting the fish while it is still somewhat frozen you helps keep everything together! Lucky you have a frozen fish
• Rolling mat – Of course, rolling sushi is quite the laborious process and there are ways you can speed it up, including by using a sushi rolling mat – buy one here 🙂 If you don’t have one though, you can easily get by without – substitute for parchment paper, plastic wrap, or simply roll it right into the nori!
• Rice variations – as we highlighted in sushi rice post, feel free to use brown rice or other types or rice, but just keep in mind sugar content and stickiness.
• Inside out rolls – this is next-level I made an attempt and, well, admittedly didn’t look amazing, but definitely worth the add challenge! This would definitely benefit from a rolling mat, but again, definitely doable without.
• All in the presentation: I got this presentation/mini-charcuterie board from Knotted Wood Designs right here in Calgary. These guys are awesome.
• Elevate even more! Try some sriracha aioli (dragon sauce) or instead of sashimi, use tempura/deep-fried shrimp and fresh garnish (then you can be as chefly as my brother)

If you’re just looking for a sushi rice recipe or regular rice techniques, we’ve got those too! 

With 13 centuries of documented sushi, I know there are tons of family tips and tricks out there….give them to me.

We’re looking forward to hearing how your #homecookedfeast #sushifeast turns out! Please subscribe (on the sidebar) and follow on Instagram @homecookedfeast!

As always, If you can dream it, you can cook it.

Enjoy food; enjoy life! – HCF