Interesting Facts About Sushi Rice
by David H. Urmann

Sushi or “vinegared rice” is a favorite delicacy not only in Japan but in many other countries too. It is interesting to know the different types of sushi
For the Japanese, sushi implies vinegared rice typically topped with meats, fish and vegetables. Outside Japan, sushi is more often mistaken as “raw fish” or “raw seafood.”

In Japan, they call sliced raw fish, sashimi. It is different from sushi because sashimi implies purely on the raw fish part. In Archaic grammar, “sushi” literally means “it’s sour.”

There are several types of sushi. The Nigirizushi sushi consists of toppings laid with “hand-formed” rice clumps. Aside from topping it with vinegared rice, it is also dabbed with wasabi and a bite-size, thin slice of fish, egg or various other seafoods.

Although the egg is cooked, the seafood and fish can be served raw. The types of fish you can use are salmon, tuna, mackerel and eel.

When eating Nigirizushi, make sure that the rice side is not dipped into the soy sauce. The fish side should be the one dipped or it will fall apart. You can do this alternately, not dipping it completely in soy sauce.

Makizushi is a type of sushi rolled inside some “nori,” a pressed and dried layered sheets of alga or seaweed. It can contain vegetables, fish, seaweed and rice. These are rolled into a cylindrical form with the aid of a bamboo mat or makisu. Afterwards, it is cut into suitable widths. Futomaki refers to the thicker rolls. Hosomaki refers to the thinner rools. Uramaki refers to the “inside-out” rolls.

Inarizushi has toppings stuffed inside a tiny pouch of fried tofu. This is more uncommon compared to Chirashi-zushi. You still need to go to a sushi restaurant in Japan to order this type of sushi.

Chirashi-zushi has toppings scattered and served over a sushi rice bowl. This is not regularly served in Japanese restaurants outside of Japan. The toppings are either raw seafood or sashimi.

Temaki Sushi is also called the hand roll. It is almost the same as maki except for the part where you roll it into a cylinder and slice it. With Temaki Sushi, you roll it with your hands and form cone shapes. Then, it is eaten as is, not sliced.

In any sushi, the common denominator is always sushi rice. They only vary on toppings, condiments, fillings and the procedure these ingredients are placed together. These ingredients can also be collected using contemporary or traditional ways, making distinct results.

Sushi is not only a favorite dish in Japan. It is well-loved in other countries also.

If you want to learn how to make sushi rice, it is easy. First, you need a sushi vinegar called sushi-zu. Mix it with rice vinegar, sugar and salt. Heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves. Stir frequently in the process. Afterwards, let the mixture cool to room temperature. This mixture is called tezu.

Using either a spatula or just a regular spoon, cut and fold the rice as gentle as possible. Avoid smashing the rice grains.

Get a bowl and moisten the sides with tezu. It is ideal to use a wooden bowl because it absorbs moisture. If none is available, any bowl is fine with a flat bottom.

Place the rice in the bowl and add a quarter of sushi vinegar. Mix them together, making sure you follow a folding motion to avoid smashing the rice. Afterwards, fan to dry the mixture for about 5 to 6 minutes. This process will remove the excess moisture and will make the rice look glossy and shiny.

As a tip, a good sushi rice is somewhat chewy in the mouth, and sticky to your touch.

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Easy Steps of Making Maki Sushi
By David Urmann

Maki is a famous and favorite Japanese dish. It can be any kind of sushi rolled with rice and nori (also known as seaweed) inside. “Maki” in Japanese means “roll.”

There are many kinds of maki, depending on the filling used. For example, there is California maki. This is salmon and mango rolled in rice and seaweed. Kappa maki is cucumber rolled in rice. And tekka maki is tuna fish rolled in rice.

Uramaki is more complex. Only an expert chef can do it to perfection. The easier ones to make are temaki. Temaki is often served in social gatherings at home.

There are several maki sushi according to thickness of the roll. Hosomaki is the most common and is made of thin rolls. By thin, it means the rolls are slender, with small strips of every ingredient inside. Hosamaki is cut to small sizes before serving.

Thicker rolls are called futomaki. These are thick because of the many ingredients inside. Thick roll can measure 1 to 1 ½ inches in diameter. Most futomaki are made of vegetables like radish and cucumber. Some have eggs also. Like hosamaki, futomaki is also commonly cut to small pieces before serving. However, in big festivals, it is served in whole uncut rolls.

Next, there is also the uramaki, wherein the rice is outside the roll. And temaki is a cone-shaped sushi rice roll.

When making maki, remember to freeze raw fish or seafood first below 4oF to kill any possible pathogens or parasites that may be harmful when consumed.

In making a maki sushi, one should have a sharp knife, and bamboo mat. A rice cooker is optional. It just makes it easier to cook rice. There is a special sushi knife with only one sharpened edge. It is advisable to use this when you can buy one, instead of using an ordinary kitchen knife.

Maki Sushi Recipe

Ingredients:

Sashimi-grade fish or sushi

Nori (thin sheet of seaweed)

Wasabi

Vegetables or other fillings (e.g. asparagus, avocado, cucumber)

Short-grained rice with sticky consistency

Vinegar rice

Gari (thinly sliced ginger roots)

Soy sauce

First make the sushi rice. Prepare the vinegar rice. Combine it with heated salt and sugar. Cook rice, making sure it will have a sticky consistency. It is the suitable type of rice for spreading on the nori.

Lay out the bamboo mat and place a plastic wrap on top. Lay out the nori, with the shinier side facing down. Slightly wet your hands and take a handful of rice. Spread it evenly and thinly on the nori. Leave a margin of half inch on all sides of the nori. Put the other ingredients in the middle.

Next, hold the two ends of the bamboo mat and roll it away from you. Make sure that the food tightens as you roll. Don’t roll too tightly though or the fillings will fall out.

Unfold the bamboo carefully, making sure the rolled food does not break. Place the rolled sushi in a cutting board and slice it evenly to several pieces. Serve it with soy sauce dip on the side.

For more information on Sushi Knives and Sushi Plates [http://www.japanese-sushi.net/index.htm] please visit our website.

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Arthor: Anne Rivera

If you want to make sushi, you should know that there are more varieties to sushi than the ordinary fusion of raw fish and rice. A Japanese staple that has earned the favor of the rest of the world, sushi is now considered to be one of the most popular Asian dishes. Sushi has evolved into more than a culinary treat but an enduring art form, after it has originated in the Muromachi period when fish and rice were first fermented together.
Some Truths About Sushi

Making sushi can be done in several ways, whether rolled in nori sheets, stuffed inside tofu pouches, or even scattered over vinegared rice. All these make sushi a versatile dish that can be eaten anytime during the day. Contrary to popular notion, sushi does not refer to the raw fish or raw seafood itself. Sushi is actually the vinegared rice that is served together with the raw or cooked seafood, and then dipped in sauces before eating.

It is important to note however, that fish and other seafood used in making sushi can either be raw or cooked. Although the traditional means of serving sushi involves placing a slice of raw fish on top of a bed of vinegared rice and then tying these with a band of nori, the contemporary ways of serving this Oriental staple have embraced the use of non-traditional ingredients like cucumber, mayonnaise and wasabi sauces and even mango strips.

The Basics of Sushi Making

If you want to make sushi, consider first if you would rather eat raw seafood or not. You can always use other substitutes such as boiled crab meat, squid, shrimp, fish roe, and even sea urchin.

Making nigiri sushi is very simple, and you only need seasoned or vinegared rice as the base, a slice of raw or cooked fish or any other seafood, and wasabi sauce. Sushi rice can be prepared ahead of time, and this can be done by boiling short grained rice and water in equal proportions until the rice is cooked. You can then add a tablespoon of sushi vinegar per cup of rice.

In order to make sushi of the nigiri variety, start by shaping a small mound of sushi rice through your hands. Use about two tablespoons of rice and roll them into a well-shaped oval. Flatten the top of the mound and spread wasabi paste on the surface. If you don’t fancy wasabi however, you can omit this step. Finally, you can place the thin slice of raw fish or shrimp on top, usually about 2×5 cm in size. To secure the sushi, cut a strip of nori and wrap the thin band around the rice and fish.

Maki sushi is a roll of nori, sushi and fillings which are cut into medium sizes. Temaki sushi involves shaping the nori into a cone and stuffing it with rice and fillings. Chirashi sushi is just scattered sushi, with toppings of vegetables and sashimi spread over the sushi rice. You can also make sushi without using the nori but tofu pouches instead. This is called the inari sushi.

Important Sushi Tips

When you use raw fish or seafood, remember to choose the freshest ones available. Sushi masters typically prefer to use deep saltwater fish types like salmon and tuna since they are normally free from parasites. Fresh water fish are more prone to parasites, thus placing you at risk for infection and diseases.

There are several health issues confronting the consumption of sushi on a regular basis and one of these is the alarming levels of mercury present in raw fish and other seafood. However, you can always choose to have the fish cooked or to enjoy other fillings as well. Fish is an excellent source of omega 3 fatty acids and is a better alternative to most red meats. When you make sushi, always remember that you can enjoy this exotic treat in more delicious ways than one.

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Ingredients:
* 2 1/2 cups short-grain sticky rice
* 2 1/2 cups water
* 2 1/2 inch long konbu Vinegar dressing
* 4 2/3 tablespoons rice vinegar or can be substituted using lemons
* 2 tablespoons sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt Ingredients for mixing
* 7 dried shiitake mushrooms, softened
* 1/3 ounce kampyo, rubbed and boiled
* 2/3 cup dashi, including water used for soaking mushrooms
* 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
* 1/2 tablespoon mirin
* 1 tablespoon soy sauce
* 3 ounces lotus root
* 2 tablespoons dashi
* 2 tablespoons sugar
* 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
* 1 tablespoon sake
* sea salt
* 2 ounces carrot
* 1/4 cup dashi
* 1 teaspoon mirin
* 3 large eggs
* 1 teaspoon potato or corn starch
* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 1 tablespoon mirin
* 1 1/2 ounces snow peas
* 2 tablespoons white sesame seeds
* 3 1/2 ounces crab meat (canned)
* red pickled ginger
* 1 sheet toasted nori

Prep Time: 45 min
Cooking Time: 20 min

Instructions:
1 Make sushi rice flavored with vinegar or lemons.
2 To prepare ingredients:

Shiitake mushrooms and kampyo:
Cut off stems of mushrooms and cut caps into thin strips. In a saucepan make 2/3 cup dashi, add mushrooms and kampyo and boil with a lid placed right on the ingredients for 3-4 minutes. Add sugar and mirin and boil for another 5 minutes, then add soy sauce. When kampyo is well flavored, remove from saucepan. Continue to cook mushrooms until broth is all gone. Cut kampyo into 1/2 inch long thin strips.

Lotus root (renkon):
Cut into 4 pieces lengthwise. Cut each piece into thin slices crosswise and soak in water. Cook indashi broth with sugar, vinegar, sake and a pinch of salt until all liquid is gone.

Carrots:
Cut into 1 inch long thin strips. Cook in dashi broth with mirin and a pinch of salt until all liquid is gone.

Eggs:
To whisked egg add potato or corn starch mixed with an equal volume of water, sugar, mirin and a pinch of salt. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, spreading it out in skillet. Remoye excess oil. Turn heat to low and spoon in a small amount pf egg mixture, spreading it out to cover the surface of skillet thinly, and fry. When the under side is done, turn over and fry lightly. Repeat and make 4-5 thin sheets of fried egg. Cut sheets into thin strips.

Snow peas:
String and boil lightly till tender-crisp. Cut diagonally into thin strips.

White sesame:
Roast and crush coarsely with knife.

Crab:
Remove from can and flake.

Red pickled ginger and toasted nori :
Cut into thin strips.

3 Add all prepared ingredients except red pickled ginger, nori, one-half of the egg strips and the snow peas to sushi rice and mix quickly in a chopping motion with wooden spatula.

4 Place the sushi rice mixture in a large serving dish and on top nicely arrange the remaining egg, snow peas, red pickled ginger and nori.

How to Make Nigiri Sushi Like a Pro

Nigiri sushi is the most popular sushi served at sushi restaurants. Chef Andy Matsuda, the founder of Sushi Chef Institute in Los Angeles shows you how to make nigiri sushi with tuna, shrimp, and salmon.

What You Need:
(2) 1/2 Ounce Slices of Cooked Shrimp.
(2) 1/2 Ounce of Sliced Tuna
(2) 1/2 Ounce of Sliced Salmon
Sushi Rice
Wasabi

Step 1: Slice the Fish
Cut two tuna, salmon, and shrimp into1/2 ounce slices.

Step 2: Wet Your Hand
Wet both hand in Su water (water with a dash vinegar) and rub together. This works as a disinfectant.

Step 3: Roll the Rice
Pick up about 3/4 ounce of sushi rice with one hand. Squeeze and roll firmly in your hand until it sticks together.

Step 4: A Dab of Wasabi
Grab the sliced tuna in one hand and put a little wasabi with your index finger.

Step 5: Shape Your Sushi
Place the sushi rice on the wasabi side of the tuna. Holding the sushi in your left hand, press it with two fingers of your right hand. Rotate the sushi and repeat the process.

Step 6: Salmon and Shrimp
Repeat the process for salmon and shrimp.

Step 7: Garnish and Serve
Garnish the sushi and serve.