First attempt at sushi... any advice?

[yukio_michael]

This morning I decided I'd try to make some cucumber maki rolls for lunch... The results are below... (I'd post a bigger picture, but I wound up camera was set to standby-screen size and I have eaten most of my lunch already! ;)...

http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/3496/p1020001uz0.jpg

You can see that the sushi is too big, well, I've eaten makizushi that big before, but I prefer the smaller pieces to the big ones...

I suppose I will need to use less rice, but I guess that comes with experimentation... (They make it look so easy in the restaraunt...)...

My biggest question is how to prepare the rice-vinegar... I used simply rice vinegar over the rice, I didn't have any sugar, but I think you should heat the rice vinegar with sugar & salt...

I don't cook very much in measurements... I do everything by eye, and I cook mostly for myself, so if it turns out bad, I'm the only one who has to suffer.

Anyone out there have any cooking tips? I'm trying to start out simple, but my first attempt didn't get me the results I had planned.

Thanks!

[undrentide]

I'm a lazy cook and usually use ready-made 寿司酢.
:p

To make 寿司酢, mix
- vinegar 100cc
- sugar 1 tablespoon (15cc)
- salt 1 teaspoon (5cc)
and heat it in a small pan on low heat or in microwave oven till the sugar and the salt are dissolved. (No need to boil - just warm it up and stir with a spoon.)

You have to sprinkle this 寿司酢 over the rice right after the rice is cooked - I mean, while it is steaming hot! Mix the rice and vinegar well, turning the rice over and over with 杓文字 or ヘラ (or a big spoon if you don't have しゃもじ). Do you have a 団扇 uchiwa? You have to fan the rice while mixing and turning, to cool down the rice. This gives nice, glossy look (つや) to the rice. If you don't have uchiwa, a piece of cardboard or something with which you can fan the rice.

When I was small, my mother often made me "help" her preparing sushi rice, and my job was to fan vigorously while she was mixing the rice and vinegar.
She scolded me that my fanning is not strong enough, usually ended up to snatched a way the uchiwa from me (out of frustration) and fanning it herself...
:relief:

About 2 tablespoon 寿司酢 for 1 cup (200cc) of rice (note: the measurement of the rice before cooked) will do. Adjust the quantity to your taste.

昆布 would add a very nice flavour. Put a piece of 昆布 on the rice before cooking in a rice cooker or a pan. Remove the 昆布 when the rice is cooked and mix the rice before adding the vinegar.
Or if powdered 昆布茶 is available, add it before cooking the rice, or add a very small quantity to the 寿司酢 (a few pinches, or 1/4 of teaspoon).

[ArmandV]

Unless one is a trained expert on sushi, I would be more concerned about ingesting wormy fish if I were to make it myself. You've got a lot of guts.

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

How to make Maki sushi
I think that explanation of undrentide-san is enough for how to make Maki sushi.
Please confirm it with a photograph.
Photograph explanation.
http://www.sushi-nori.co.jp/maki.html


How to make lettuce Maki sushi.
Application of Maki sushi
I do a saute of meat of a cow and make it Maki sushi.

http://www.kumaya.jp/retasumaki.html

[yukio_michael]

Undrentideさん、Nagashimaさん、thank you for such a detailed description on how to make makizushi, and for the aditional links. It looks like it might take me some time just to work out the rice--- I should find some pre-made 寿司酢!

I'll have to get some sushi to compare to mine to see how I'm doing on the taste... problem is, there are no authentic Japanese sushi restaurants near me, so I will have to get it from a non-Japanese place such as the Viet Namese restaraunt nearby. They certainly do a better job at least, than I.

You see, it's much more profitable for these Asian restaurants near me to also serve sushi, because where I live, dumb college students have never heard of Pho, or Korean barbeque... but, they know sushi... So every Asian restaurant sells sushi too. Silly, isn't it?

Unless one is a trained expert on sushi, I would be more concerned about ingesting wormy fish if I were to make it myself. You've got a lot of guts.Since I am starting out with only cucumber, I think I am pretty safe! ;)

[junjunforever]

I see that you are living in Pittsburgh. I actually used to live near there, and although you cant get any quality japanese sushi in the area, i think the closest substitute would be a Korean restaurant nearby... I think it was called "Sushi Kim" or something like that. I cant imagine the quality to be too high (ive actually never tried Sushi there, although ive been there several times), but its probably the best you can get in Pittsburgh.

[yukio_michael]

I see that you are living in Pittsburgh. I actually used to live near there, and although you cant get any quality japanese sushi in the area, i think the closest substitute would be a Korean restaurant nearby... I think it was called "Sushi Kim" or something like that. I cant imagine the quality to be too high (ive actually never tried Sushi there, although ive been there several times), but its probably the best you can get in Pittsburgh.There are a few places, but they aren't too close to me, and I'm not fond of the bus system here (or busses in general really)...

I'd have to ask my Japanese friends here, though we've been out of contact for a long while. Pittsburgh isn't exactly a cosmopolitain city--- It's sort of like Philidelphia's dumb cousin... but even that description is harsh because it somehow defames Philidelphia by association.

~

Undrentideさん、　I found that my 寿司酢 does contain salt & sugar already, so I will try your recipie and see if I do better!

出来るだけがんばります!