Sushi making

spicy tuna roll

my family had many dinner celebrations in which my aunties would bring tupperware containers full of fresh sushi.  oh gosh, it was such a treat to feast on all the yummy japanese food.  my aunties almost always brought the sushi so, my mom rarely made it. I know how to make some japanese food, but i have very little experience making sushi.  one christmas, my husband gave me a gift certificate for a sushi making class, but for whatever reason i didn’t attend.   in the meantime, i would watch the sushi chefs at restaurants and try and learn their techniques. the roll that i’ve posted here isn’t too difficult, probably the kappa maki is the easiest, it only has a fresh slice of cucumber in the middle.  this roll will have two things in the middle, fresh ahi and baby romaine lettuce leaves.  so normally, sushi is made with the rice and other ingredients on the inside and it’s surrounded by seaweed or nori.  this roll is made with the tuna and lettuce still on the inside but it is surrounded by the nori with the rice on the outside.  so, here goes….hopefully my directions and photos make sense.  thanks for stopping by… 

ingredients:

1 cup uncooked japanese short grain rice.  if you want the sushi rice and can’t find it in your local grocery store here is the prime link on amazon:  sushi rice

2-3 sheets of seaweed (nori), here is the link:  nori

5 ounces fresh Tuna (Ahi) roughly 2/3 cup when diced

baby romaine lettuce (use this if you like a little crunch in your sushi) cut in strips

sauce for the rice:

1/2 cup rice vinegar ( i also use regular white vinegar since my husband is allergic to rice vinegar)

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

spicy sauce for the tuna:  

1 tablespoon mayonaise

1 teaspoon for Sriracha sauce

first, cook the rice according to the package.  i cheat and have a rice cooker which makes cooking rice so easy.  here is a link to buy one, amazon has a few and the smaller one is out of stock.  this one got great reviews:  rice cooker

but if you don’t have a rice cooker here is what you do:  

1 cup of dry uncooked rice equals enough rice for 3 rolls.  to clean the rice, place rice in a medium sauce pan (you might prefer a sauce pan that has a clear lid so you can see the rice cooking) and run cold water over the rice. with your hands, stir around the rice in the water and then drain the starchy water. next add fresh water again and stir and drain.  do this process until the water comes out clear, something like 4 times. when you are done washing the rice, add 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of water. now over high heat, bring the covered pot to a boil. this will take about 3-5 minutes.  i hear the important thing about making rice on your stove top is not to open the lid.  so refrain from doing this at this point.  :o)

ok, reduce the flame to low and cook for 5 more minutes, or until the water is absorbed by the rice. then after it is done take it off the stove and let it sit for 10 minutes, i usually make mine in the rice maker and it dings a bell when it is done.  if i were to open the rice maker at this point (yes, i have done this) the rice is not ready yet.  so, it must be the same for the both ways of making rice.  this step kind of steams the rice and the it gets fluffy.

let the rice cool down to room temperature. 

 so, next you’ll want to prep everything before you start making the sushi.  

note the rice paddle.  this is an awesome plastic rice paddle that rice really doesn’t stick to!  you have to get one, you’ll be so happy with this purchase if you cook a lot of rice.  also, the plastic doesn’t damage the rice and also, doesn’t react with the vinegar when you make the sushi portion of this project.  if you don’t have this rice paddle a wooden spoon will do, but a metal spoon will react with the vinegar.  here is a link for the rice paddle:  rice paddle

here is something that i saw them do in the sushi restaurants, they covered the bamboo rolling mat with plastic wrap.  this keeps the sushi from sticking to it.  i’m kind of a hack when it comes to small details, so my plastic was very tight and i did a sloppy job.  :o)  here is a link for the bamboo mat:   sushi bamboo mat

i trimmed the baby romaine lettuce into little strips that will be placed in a line when making the sushi.

at this point you’ll want to make the vinegar sauce for the rice.  place the vinegar, sugar and salt in a small sauce pan over low heat and mix until the ingredients are dissolved.  take off stove top and let it cool down a bit.  once the rice is at room temp, you are now ready to add the sauce to the rice.  just drizzle it over the rice in small increments, don’t toss the whole thing in at once.  after each installment, mix in the sauce well with the rice.  you’ll want the sauce to coat the rice, but not make the rice fall apart into separate grains.  i’m pretty sure i only used half the sauce, so if you want to save it for another batch you are ready! 

dice the tuna into small pieces.

here is what the sriracha sauce looks like and here is the link if you can’t find it in your local grocery store:  sriracha sauce

then mix the mayo and Sriracha sauce together.  

just had to include this nice photo.  :o)

here is what the tuna mixture should look like.  it is somewhat mushy.

ok, there is a funny story that goes along with this photo!  i like to toast the nori a bit on my stove top burner.  this is optional, it just kind of brings back the packaged nori to life!  well, in order to get a photo of this, i had to hold the nori over the flame….so of course it caught on fire!  so, if you choose to do this step, you just kind of quickly (very quickly) run the seaweed over the flame and do it to both sides to lightly toast it.  you’ll notice the sheets are now crisp rather than soft. the package of nori will probably say that it is toasted but you’ll notice the sheet are kind of soft.  but again it is your choice whether you want to do this step. 

once the sushi rice is made you have all the above steps complete, you are now ready to start. oh yeah, you’ll want a bowl of water for dipping your hands in so that the rice doesn’t stick to your fingers.

place the nori on your bamboo mat.

then cover the rice onto the nori sheet and spread the rice around with your wet fingers. see the wet fingers come in handy?!  :o)

you’ll want to cover the nori with a somewhat thin to medium layer of sushi rice.

so, since we are going to make an inside out roll, you’ll want to flip the rice and nori over on the mat so that the rice is now on the bamboo side.

so now you can’t see the rice and you have the nori facing you.  next, you’ll want to put a line of the tuna mixture the length of the nori.  note in the photo, my tuna line is incorrect…it should be lined up with the bamboo sticks, in the photo i’m going at a 90 degree angle to them.  this is important since you’ll want to roll the line of ingredients with the bamboo mat.  you’ll see what i mean in the next photo.

so place a line of romaine lettuce leaves and start rolling.  see how i’m rolling the sushi with the same way the bamboo sticks are lined up? 

you’ll want to squeeze the bamboo up against the sushi to get it tightly wrapped.  just keep rolling….

once you have it rolled the sushi up, place plastic wrap or waxed paper around the roll and then cut it.  the plastic or wax paper keeps the sushi from falling apart with you cut it with a serrated knife.

  

once cut, unwrap from the plastic or wax paper and now you are ready to place on a plate and eat!  if you like fresh black or white sesame seeds you can sprinkle a few on the outside.

don’t forget you wasabi and fresh ginger! thanks again for stopping by!!!

tada!  i hope i didn’t lose any of you in this sushi making 101!!!!  also, if you want to make it easy and don’t want to attempt inside out roll, just place a line of fresh sliced cucumber in the middle of the rice and nori. this is called a kappa maki roll! yummy, this is my daughter’s favorite roll, it is simple and fresh! enjoy…