The word sushi in Japanese means 'sour tasting' and it goes back to the time when this rice-based dish would be preserved in salt. In earlier times, sushi was a dish that took longer to prepare because of a number of fermenting steps were involved. However, it has now become a 'fast food' and a popular go-to dish for its taste and health benefits.
The basic and foremost ingredient for sushi is the rice, short grain sushi rice. It is readily available at any super market or Japanese food store. Then you need to make sure you get the right seaweed sheets, look for sushi seaweeds and that should do. There are thin and flimsy seaweeds available in the market and you don't need those. You require a thicker one that can hold the rice and filling together.
Ingredients:
500 gms short grain sushi rice
250 gms tuna
125 ml sharizu or sushi rice vinegar (recipe below)
4 tbsp monk fruit sweetner - a healthy replacement for white sugar
2 tbsp kosher or sea salt
1 piece dashi konbu or Japanese soup stock
2 tbsp spicy mayonaisse
1 tbsp finely chopped spring onion, green part only
4 tbsp soy sauce, readily available at super markets or Japanese store
1 sushi seaweed sheet
2 tbsp gari or pickled sushi ginger
You will need a bamboo sushi mat and a pair of chopsticks
How to cook sushi rice:
1. A quick tip - use a rice cooker. This will ensure that every grain of rice is cooked well.
2. Rinse rice under cold running water to remove extra starch. Wash until the water is clear.
3. Soak the rice in water for 15 minutes, follow water to rice ratio. Soaking it ahead makes the rice grainy and not mushy.
4. Cook the rice in the rice cooker for about 45 to 60 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare the sushi rice vinegar or sharizu.
5. Add vinegar, salt and monk fruit sugar, mirin and one piece of dashi konbu in a pan and cook for 3-4 minutes.
6. Once the rice is cooked, remove it by turning the vessel upside-down and empty it into a bowl. Scrape the botton layer of the rice and discard.
7. Break the rice cake for the sharizu to soak in. Add the rice vinegar and mix them well.
Note: Moisten the spatula so that rice does not stick to it and keep mixing.
8. Spread the rice so that any extra heat is released. Cover with a damp cloth to keep the rice moist
Cutting the tuna and rolling
1. First, cut down straight through the tuna, then cut that piece in half through the center into a strip. We are making six sushi rolls so six slices should do.
Note: Use the four finger measure rule to cut the tuna into perfect blocks, before cutting them into stripes.
2. Cut it into four equal-sized strips.
3. Moisten your hands before you grab some rice to make a ball.
4. Make sure to keep the sushi rice warm at body temperature. Begin rolling the rice and bind them into a ball.
5. On a sushi bamboo mat, place a slice of the seaweed and spread the rice on it. Make sure not to fill the edges of the seaweed because you'll need it while rolling it.
6. Begin spreading the rice with your fingers, leaving the edges free.
7. In the center, draw a line with the creamy spicy sauce, spinkle some spring onion and begin rolling.
8. Place the sliced tuna in the center and begin rolling.
9. Place four fingers on the inside, thumb outside as you begin rolling. Roll it up tightly with the bamboo mat. Remember the bamboo mat is to help fold the sushi.
10. Once the sushi is sealed, quickly remove the mat from below and place it on top.
11. There could be rice spilling from the sides and you will want to fix this.
12. With your finger, gently push the overflowing rice back inside.
13. Moisten the tip of the knife to avoid rice sticking as you cut the sushi into six pieces.
14. Cut the sushi into 6 equal-sized rolls.
15. Plate it, add some gari and wasabi paste on the side along with soy sauce and serve.
