Despite the fact that the peak of popularity of sushi and rolls is behind, many continue to order this dish and are glad to see it on the table. At the same time, fans of Japanese cuisine are still afraid to cook sushi at home - the recipes seem complicated and expensive to them. But this is far from the case.
All products for self-cooking can be found in the nearest supermarket at affordable prices. And if you practice a little and “get your hand”, then the cooking steps will seem very easy over time, and the whole process will not take much time.
This article contains all the necessary information, secrets and tricks with which each housewife will understand how to cook sushi and rolls at home step by step.
Tools You May Need
Of course, the Japanese in the kitchen have many tools that they use in the cooking process.
We need only a few of them:
- Sharp knife. A very important tool, its severity is especially important. Insufficiently sharpened knife can break the shell of the roll or crush the roll.
- Bamboo rug (makishu mat). You can’t do without it when preparing rolls.
- Rice cooker or slow cooker. This device is optional, but its availability will greatly simplify the process of cooking rice (the main ingredient of sushi), as well as improve the taste of the dish, and you will be able to prepare sushi at home as in a restaurant.
Standard set of products for cooking
The first and most basic ingredients for sushi rolls are special Japanese rice and nori sheets. The remaining components of the dish are selected solely from preferences and financial capabilities. Red fish, cucumbers, avocados, cream cheese are usually added to the dish, many people like rolls with shrimp, eel, crab sticks or mussels, and there are gourmets who prefer to taste bacon, chicken and even beef in sushi. But still, basically the taste of the appetizer depends on how rice is prepared for sushi. At home, it can be boiled in two ways: in a slow cooker (rice cooker) or on fire (recipe below).
Rice preparation
Rice for making sushi should be fresh, round-grain and preferably a Japanese variety. First of all, it should be thoroughly washed (about seven times) under cold running water, then thrown into a colander, left to dry for about an hour.
We start cooking: pour rice with water (in a proportion of 200 g of cereal - 250 ml of water), bring to a boil over high heat, cover with a lid and cook for 14 minutes at low heat. After the fire is turned off and leave the rice to infuse in a closed pan for 15 minutes.
In a slow cooker, grits are cooked similarly, while using the "Rice" or "Buckwheat" mode.
After the rice is infused, we do as it is said in almost all step-by-step recipes "how to make sushi at home", namely: carefully, using a wooden spatula, knead the acid dressing in the rice.
Cooking dressing:
We warm rice vinegar a little and dissolve salt with sugar in it. Pour lemon juice into the same mixture. For 60 grams of vinegar, you need 2 tbsp. l sugar, 1 tsp. salt and 1 tbsp. l juice. Some add a spoonful of soy sauce to the dressing. After the rice has been seasoned, it must be allowed to cool completely.
How to cook sushi at home? Step by step recipes
Nigiri sushi with eel. After the rice has cooked and cooled, we proceed to the formation of sushi:
- cut the nori into thin strips;
- cut eel lengthwise into pieces and grease them with wasabi;
- take a handful of rice and roll it into an oval, but do not ram;
- on the rough side of the nori strip we put eel perpendicularly and rice on top, twist the filling with a strip, pour sauce on it and sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired.
Gunkan with Chukka Salad:
- we roll the rice, as for nigiri, wrap it with a strip of noriya, so that the ends of the algae stick together, wet them with water;
- put salad on top in the resulting basket and pour with nut sauce;
Now preparing sushi at home according to the photo and instructions presented above will not be difficult for you.
Rolls and their difference from sushi
First of all, rolls and sushi differ from each other in appearance and composition. The main place is everywhere occupied by rice and algae, but the rolls begin with a richer filling. They add a lot of different goodies, they can be baked or fried during cooking. During the preparation of the rolls, they are rolled up into a tight roll, and then cut into several portioned pieces.
Despite all these differences, rolls are still considered a kind of sushi, therefore, sushi is not always rolls, but rolls are always sushi.
How to cook rolls at home
First, we need nori sheets and rice cooked according to a standard recipe. As a filling, it is usually used: red fish (salmon, trout, tuna), eel, avocado, cucumber, various types of cheese (tofu, cream, Philadelphia), omelet, caviar, various seafood. All these components can be combined or used separately, it all depends on individual preferences.
When the rice is boiled, and the fish and all products are cut into small strips, the next step in the cooking process begins - the formation of rolls. To do this, lay on a bamboo mat nori (shiny side down). ½ cover the sheet with rice, grease the rice with cheese on top and spread the filling. Then we turn the nori with the help of a mat into a tight roll, cut it into portions.
Serve rolls with pickled ginger, soy sauce and wasabi.
Roll-ups
Such rolls, in fact, do not differ from simple ones, except for the folding principle. They are twisted so that the rice is obtained outside the roll, and not inside. They also require greater accuracy in cooking.
The initial stages of cooking a changeling are one-on-one, like closed rolls, but after laying out a sheet of nori, you should slightly change the tactics.
Rice must be distributed over the entire surface of the sheet so that it completely covers the nori. Then you need to turn the sheet so that the rice is on the surface of the mat. Now put the filling on the nori and turn the roll into a very tight roll.
Changeling after cooking is usually sprinkled with sesame seeds, caviar, flying fish or capelin. You can put caviar or sesame seeds on the mat and roll the roll, giving it a square or triangular shape.
Fried sushi
How to cook sushi at home? A step-by-step recipe for making fried sushi (rolls) differs from the above recipes only in the final stage of preparation. Namely - hot.
You can fry almost any roll, for this it is only necessary to prepare the batter and perform several manipulations.
For batter we need:
- tempura or wheat flour (a mixture of different types of flour is possible);
- eggs
- ice water;
- breadcrumbs.
Cooking:
All the ingredients for batter need to be mixed, add salt and beat well. By consistency, the batter should resemble thick sour cream.
Frying:
- For convenience, we cut ready-made rolls into two parts, roll in flour, dip in batter and roll in breading.
- We place the rolls in boiling vegetable oil, fry on all sides for literally half a minute until the crust forms.
- We spread the rolls on a paper towel to remove excess fat.
- Cut the rolls into portions.
To such rolls it is very convenient to serve creamy sauce.
Baked rolls
When regular sushi or fried is already tired, you can cook baked rolls. They have an unusual taste, they must be liked by all family members. We will present you one of the simplest recipes for baked rolls (you can take any filling).
Baked salmon rolls. Components:
- 300 grams of finished rice;
- 4 sheets of nori;
- 200 grams of slightly salted salmon;
- 150 grams of cheese (hard variety);
- cucumber;
- mayonnaise.
Cooking:
- Cut the skin from the cucumber and cut it into strips.
- Grate the cheese.
- Cut salmon into slices and mix with mayonnaise and cheese.
- Lay a nori sheet and a layer of rice on the mat. Carefully flip the workpiece with the algae up.
- On a nori put strips of cucumber and roll the roll.
- Cut the roll into 6 parts, shift the portions into a mold, and top with a mixture of fish and mayonnaise.
- Bake at 180 ° C for 15 minutes.
Practical tips
If you wondered how to make sushi at home, it will not be superfluous to familiarize yourself with some tricks.
- During cooking, put a bowl of cold water in front of you. Japanese rice has a high stickiness, so after each interaction with it you need to moisten your hands.
- When you cut the rolls, the knife must always be washed.
- In order to simplify the process of cleaning a bamboo mat, before starting work, you need to wrap it with cling film on both sides.
- The rice layer in the rolls should not be more than 5 mm thick, otherwise the roll cannot be twisted.
- To make the ends of the nori stick easier to each other, they are also slightly moistened with water.
- You need to cut the rolls into portions after they lie down for 10-15 minutes. So algae and rice better stick together.
- If you plan to cook fried rolls, then after twisting the rolls, you need to remove them for 20 minutes in the refrigerator.
Having studied the step-by-step instructions above “how to make sushi at home”, you can easily surprise your household with a delicious and independently prepared Japanese dish. In addition, sushi can be prepared for the festive table, they will be a great addition to any menu.