Making Sushi at Home

As you know, I am loving spending time with the grandkids this summer. While I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner one night this week, my wonderful, creative, nine year old Tim came up with a great idea. Let's make sushi!  Challenge accepted and (back) to the store we went!

Before I start with the recipe and pictures, let me say that this is really easy to do and great for different age groups. I had a 5, 9, and 11 year old make their own sushi and it was Super Simple! 

Here is what you will need. I found everything at Wegman's and I'm sure Whole Foods or Trader Joe's would readily have this stuff too.

• Bamboo rolling mat. I found these in the Asian food aisle at Wegmans. They were only  $1.49 each.
• Two packs of 10 toasted nori sheets. Found in Asian food aisle as well.
• One box of sushi rice - be sure it says sushi rice.
• Rice vinegar
• Sugar
• Salt
• Fillings of your choice - here is where you can get creative. We used cucumber, carrot, red pepper and imitation crab legs. 

Step 1: Make sushi rice

The key to making sushi is to be sure you get the correct rice. You will need sushi rice. Look in the rice section. I found a 3 cup box there for $3.99. (I know, seemed pricey to me too until I realized it makes ALOT of sushi).

I followed Alton Brown's recipe for cooking sushi rice.  Here it is:

Ingredients

    3 cups sushi or short grain rice
    3 cups water, plus extra for rinsing rice
    3 tablespoons rice vinegar
    3 tablespoons sugar
    1.5 tablespoon kosher salt

Directions

Place the rice into a mixing bowl and cover with cool water. Swirl the rice in the water, pour off and repeat 2 to 3 times or until the water is clear.

Place the rice and 3 cups of water into a medium saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, uncovered. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.

Combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl and heat in the microwave on high for 30 to 45 seconds. Transfer the rice into a large wooden or glass mixing bowl and add the vinegar mixture. Fold thoroughly to combine and coat each grain of rice with the mixture. Refrigerate for several hours until completely cooled.

 

Step two: Matchstick cut your veggies and get your stuffing in order

 

This step was the most labor intensive (because I was doing it by myself). You want these to be matchstick thin so they fit nicely into the roll. I used imitation crab legs for the main component which was great because it was the right shape, albeit a tad bit short for the wrapper. It really made it easy to roll and wrap.  If you were doing this with other adults, you could have everyone cut up something specific and that task would be done in 10 minutes.

 

Step three: Set up your work space

 These are the nori sheets.



 These are the mats.

 

You will also need a bowl of water to put your hands in before you handle the rice (so it doesn't stick).

 

Construct your sushi

 

Place one sheet of nori and put it smooth side down on the bamboo mat. Wet your hands, pick up some rice and spread it on the lower 1/3 of the nori. With your fingers, press it down gently.  Don't overstuff or it will all fall out when you start to roll. You want it to be firm but not heavy. The rice should be about 1/4 of an inch in height.

 

Add your fillings in the center of the rice and gently press down.  Always put down the biggest fillings first. In our case it was the crab leg. put smaller fillings on top or on the sides.  It will seem like you don't have enough in there but, trust me, this is plenty.

 

 

Now comes the fun part. Rolling! Lift the end of the bamboo mat that is nearest to you and fold it over the ingredients. Make sure not to roll the mat up into your sushi roll! After you have rolled at least one full rotation, dip your fingers in the water and lightly moisten the top end of the nori sheet that is furthest away from you. Gently fold the roll into the end of the nori (the part you just moistened) and seal the roll. Squeeze the roll gently with your hands and with the palms of your hands, roll it back and forth between the fold of the bamboo mat to make sure the roll has sealed and to help shape it.  (I found this to be the part the kids had the hardest time with; to make sure they don't press too hard and force everything out).

Ta Da! Here's our sushi!  What a sense of accomplishment! We had PLENTY of extra rice and veggies (ran out of crab). While we made 10 sushi rolls, we easily have enough for 20. I put the extra ingredients in the fridge and we will get more crab today to make again.

 

I put the whole rolls in the fridge for about an hour to set up before I cut them. It really is that simple! For some reason I always thought sushi would be hard to make. Turns out, I was wrong! 

Now slice each sushi roll into 8 pieces. Use a sharp knife to get a clear cut. Serve with sauces (soy, wasabi, yum-yum, whatever you want).

While I am not a huge fan of sushi, I will admit this was really good. I had to use quite a bit of sauce to make it palatable for me but it was the best sushi I've had!

This would be a neat project to do with adults too. We all felt we really accomplished something by making sushi. I am sure adults would enjoy this as well.

Hope you enjoy this Super Simple Recipe!