How to make SUSHI rolls (For those who love it, bet never dare to make it!)

Even if sounds so complicated, it’s not.
Try it! It can be fun.

I've made it today (Nov. 17th) for a dinner, so I took few pictures for this short presentation.

Sushi is the famous dish in Japanese cuisine originated in China. Yap, China. It has a long history, which is not going to be the topic of this post.
In European countries (at least a lot of people who are not familiar with this delicious food), the first thought when you say SUSHI is a raw fish, and that is the end of the story. But, there is so much more about sushi that makes it so special and artistic.
Sushi is a piece of art that I loooove! 😍

If you want to make a sushi roll (maki sushi), and you have at least NORI (seaweed, alga) and short grained rice, it will be enough for the start until you got used on this taste. You can make it without nori too, but come on! That is a good part. 😋

One of the most important ingredients in rice preparation is rice vinegar, but if you live in a place where you can’t find it easily, improvise. Rice vinegar is giving a special touch, so don’t serve sushi without it to the people who already know the real taste.

My family and friends are not used to this sweet and sour rice, yet, so I am implementing it a little by little. They are becoming addicted. 🍣

Rice vinegar has its importance in the preservation of rice itself and the raw fish that is rolled into the rice. How the fish can be dangerous to eat raw, this was the way to keep it safe and eatable for a while. I recommend eating your rolls as fresh as possible and as soon as you make it.

You can make at least 5 sushi rolls with 500g of sushi rice. Since I am from Balkan, in general, we eat a lot. I’ve never even tried making regular size rolls because my family would always be hungry. That's why I make it oversized. ;)

The hardest part is to cook rice properly. It is easy if you have a rice cooker. In that case, just follow the instructions. But, if you don’t have it, you can face some problems.
In the last three years, I cooked over 2 tons of rice. It was a disaster at the beginning. I have no one to teach me, so I had to experience it in a harder way.
Reading a lot, practicing with different type of rice, amount of water and so on, this is a piece of cake for me now 😇

Why short-grained rice?
You can try with different types. There is a possibility to make the rice sticky enough (while the rice is still warm, or if it is overcooked, so you make a soup of it 😏), but it will get dry as soon as it gets cold – the first case, or you make a paste of it when you press it to the nori – in the second case. 😖
The texture of short-grained rice gives that sticky consistency that keeps everything together in the roll. If the centuries-old recipe says to use that one, why to try to prove it wrong? (Well, I had to do that experiment and to feel it under my fingers, to know all the reasons why to do so or not 🙄)

Rice preparation:

For the start, rinse that 500g of rice with the cold water until the water is clear (it can take 5-10 times).

Since the rice is attracting a different kind of mini-creatures, don’t panic unless there are too many of it. 😱

In many places is used a strainer, but I think it is better just to put water over the rice in a big bowl, to swirl it with a hand few times and to threw white water from the bawl easily. In this case, all the unwanted ‘proteins’ (since now they will be swimming on the top) will go out. Otherwise, they could stick to the strainer or rice itself.

When you finally get that clear water, put the rinsed rice in a pot that has a tick bottom part. Cover it with water just a finger above it. Add a bit of sugar and salt.

Next step is important! Cover the pot with aluminum foil and a proper lid that will not let steam out. The rice will absorb all the water. That’s why the amount of water is crucial. It depends on the rice quality, pot, and the fire.

Fire can also give problems. On the scale 1/min-5/max, I would recommend 2nd level.

Time – use the timer! I always put my alarm to notify me after 16 min. (Most of the rice need 15-18 minutes to cook.)

During that period, never, never, never! remove the lid. Do it when the time is up. Take a wooden (or plastic) spoon to stir the rice and to check if you did a good job or you’ll cry.

If the rice is still too moist, or need a minute or two to be ready, cover it again with the foil and lid, and leave it out of the fire.
Make sure the fire is off!
I was distracted today that I put the fire on minimum instead of turning it off, so I got a layer of brown rice on the bottom. My dog didn’t like it. 😖

Again, depends on everything I’ve mentioned above if the rice will be cooked perfectly.

Now, if you have a rice vinegar that is not already prepared, take a cup of it, mix it with a spoon of sugar and half tablespoon of salt. Mix it until everything is melted. Pour it over the cooked rice and carefully stir it so it will be equally distributed all over without braking grains.
I love the real sushi taste, with the vinegar, but as I don’t have it, I had to enjoy the poor version of it, and still, it was amazing.

Making rolls

For the beginners: it would be better to use full nori sheet to make it easier to roll (nori is usually cut in half). Check both sides. The shiny side is going to face outside. Take a full hand of rice and apply it on the rougher side of nori.

There is no need to put too much rice since the taste should be balanced between all the ingredients.
(today’s maki had a lot of everything so my family was full from one sushi roll for each :)!

Distribute rice over the nori pressing it gently. It should stick together, but don’t try to fill every hole you see. Grains should stay in their full shape, not broken. (I am pointing on this because I saw this kind of violence over the rice. It doesn’t look nice, and it doesn’t have a puffy appearance.)

For the inside, basically, you can put whatever you find in your fridge.

What I had today, were these ingredients:

• shredded carrot,
• julienned cucumber and paprika,
• avocado,
• arugula,
• surimi (for the fish part),
• and cream-cheese (which is definitely far away from the traditional sushi ingredient).

It can be difficult to make a nice roll, at first.
Keep practicing for the better presentation. 😉

Cut it into 8 or 10 pieces, take some soya sauce and wasabi if you like, and enjoy the Asian food made in your own style.

Have fun making your sushi rolls! 🍣 🍣 🍣
Healthy for the body and soul. 😇

👀 Thanks for reading