Homemade Sushi (hoso maki zushi) 30.03.08
Having never made sushi before I’m not sure I’m the best person to write a “how to make sushi” style post. However lack of experience, success or ability didn’t stop Steve McClaren becoming England manager so it’s not going to stop me writing about making sushi.
For my first foray into sushi creation I thought it would be best to start with something at the simpler end of the sushi spectrum. With this in mind I decided to make hoso maki zushi (thin rolled sushi) with tuna, cucumber and takuan (a Japanese yellow pickle) fillings.
How to make sushi
First wash 300g of sushi rice and put it in a saucepan with 330ml of water, cover and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Then leave the rice to simmer for about 15 minutes.
Remove from the heat and leave to stand for 10 minutes. Next up add 3 tablespoons of sushi vinegar mixture and stir into the rice. That’s the rice sorted which can then be left at room temperature whilst you get on with the next steps.
Take your sheets of nori and fold in half across the grain to break into 2 pieces.
Slice the tuna, cucumber and takuan into 1cm wide strips
Mix the sushi vinegar mixture with some water in a bowl. Use this dip your hands to prevent the rice sticking to them. Then take the rice and spread it over the nori leaving about a 1cm margin of nori along the top.
For the fish fillings you can put a bit of wasabi across the centre of the rice and then arrange the filling on top of the wasabi.
Using the sushi rolling mat you can, as the name suggests, roll your sushi.
Finally moisten a knife with the vinegared water and slice the long sushi roll in bite sized pieces.
The verdict
Whilst my hozo maki zushi look a bit on the scruffy side they were pretty tasty. I was a little bit over enthusiastic with the wasabi making the tuna rolls a bit on the eye-watering side, but all in all it turned out better than my very low expectations which sadly was not the case with Steve McClaren’s stint as England manager.