Sushi: How to make maki sushi at home? Follow these guidelines

Sushi Special: How to make sushi at home?

Aurélie Buhagiar

28 May 2014

updated the 14 July 2015 à 18:35

We know it takes ten years to train a Japanese master chef to make sushi, but we promise it won’t take that long. Just read on…

COOKING THE RICE:

Place rice in a bowl and cover it with water. Filter and stir the grains to release the starch. Repeat the process until the water runs clear. Soak for at least 1 hour (this will reduce the cooking time).

Put the rice in a pot with an equal weight of cold water (500g to 500g. If the rice is not soaked, add 1/3 of liquid), cover and heat gently for 5 min. Bring quickly to a boil. Reduce again and heat very gently for 3 min.

Switch off the fire, place the pan in a cloth and allow it to rest for 20 min. Deposit the hot rice on a dish, then pour over the vinegar for sushi (200 ml per 900 g of rice). Cool off with a fan, stirring it all together with a spatula. (we prefer using a hairdryer, set on cold air mode…ssshhh!).

SHAPING THE SUSHI:

Form the rice (approx. 20g) into a ball, place a dot of wasabi and a slice of fish on top by pressing lightly. Easy as A-B-C! Remember to regularly wet your fingers and palm so as not to end up with grains of rice stuck everywhere.

MAKI:

We think that these are the easiest to do because all it takes is to, with the help of the special mat, roll the rice in a nori sheet and then cut it all into sections.

Except…how do we not roll it with the mat? There is a trick – position the sheet on the lower edge of the mat. Then, draw a line of wasabi down the middle with the finger. Put on an even layer of rice, leaving a margin that we then moisten; then down the line, place the ingredients. Roll upwards, 3/4 of the full turn.

When the top and bottom of the nori edges meet, pull down the sheet of nori to the edge of the mat to be able to give it the last quarter turn. Then cut the maki roll into 6 even pieces with a wet knife.

PARTY SUSHI:

In Japan, as everywhere, women cannot spend too much time on all things culinary. They therefore often allowed everyone to cope with the ingredients laid out on the table themselves.

Seasoned rice, nori seaweed diagonally cut into triangles, thinly sliced fish, shrimp, julienned cucumber, avocado slices, strips of omelette; and in individual bowls, wasabi, soy sauce. Everyone chose his own garnish and made his own roll.

WHAT TO DRINK?

Green tea.
Japanese beer. Asahi brand is widely distributed in Asia.
Spanish white wine, developed by a Japanese winemaker. Its apple-citrus aroma and slightly bitter hints agree to both flavours of the fish and the sharpness of wasabi.