Sushi Making 101

Not too bad for the practice run (with veggies, not the high-grade stuff)

As a person who has never liked to eat sushi I certainly never expected to find myself making it. And technically I still haven’t, although I did serve as sous chef for Ilise who made two kinds for a recent Foodie Group dinner – spicy tuna roll and salmon nigiri.

Thank goodness for the internet! There’s not much you can’t learn with a little screen time, and sushi-making tutorials abound. Ilise did her research, and we did a test run in advance of the dinner party. Having the right equipment and ingredients is key. We are lucky to live in an area with many ethnic markets nearby, and had no trouble finding what we needed. Your mileage may vary. 

• Bamboo rolling mats, covered in plastic wrap
• A hand fan
• Japanese sushi rice (we used Nishiki brand)
• Rice vinegar
• Nori seaweed sheets
• and Nanami Togarashi, a special Japanese 7-spice blend for the spicy mayo 

I use a rice cooker, but a covered pan on the stove will work just fine. 

For the practice run we used vegetables in the roll and upgraded to yellowfin tuna for the dinner party. Super-fresh, super high-quality fish is mandatory. Know your fish purveyor. In Chicago, we like Hooked on Fish and The Fish Guy. 

The basic steps are:

• Cook the rice
• Finish the rice - add vinegar mixture, fan and mix 
• Spread rice onto sheet of nori on bamboo mat
• Add filling – in this case, chopped tuna tossed with spicy mayo and avocado slices
• Roll it up tightly, using the mat to guide and shape 
• Carefully slice the roll into pieces
• Serve with soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger

​The salmon nigiri was even easier. We formed the rice into rectangles and placed a slice of beautiful sushi-grade salmon right on top. That’s it. Don’t need no more. Boom. 

Click the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.

And if you want to see the final company-ready version of our sushi adventure, please read The Foodies Get Naked. Plenty of pictures!

Here are the recipes we used:

Sushi Rice – from No Recipes – There are great photos and step by step instructions at this site
Spicy Mayo – from Secrets of Sushi
Pickled Ginger – from Foodie with Family

Tell us about your own sushi making tips, tricks and favorites in the comments.