Believe it or not, I’ve never actually made sushi. It’s one of those things that i leave to people who know what they’re doing. And although I know sushi is about rice, not fish, it’s the fish that’s generally considered the star. Usually raw fish, which needs to be Uber-fresh and then properly frozen to kill lurking parasites. Here in the desert it’s not easy for a home cook to source really fresh seafood (particularly at a price a home cook can afford), and I don’t have a sub-zero freezer, either.
But I do have Japanese rice, and rice vinegar, and nori. And some canned salmon. So I decided to put aside my sushi snobbishness and make a sushi roll with canned salmon salad. It was fun, and surprisingly good, and I’ll do it again. Here’s what I learned:
1) Sushi rice isn’t difficult to make, but it’s difficult to make well. The taste isn’t the hard part, it’s the texture. I was as gentle as I could be when folding the vinegar mixture into the cooked grains but it still came out pasty and mushed up. It really didn’t matter, though, as I wasn’t making it for anyone else, and the taste was pretty good.
2) Your first attempt at making a roll will not be photogenic. Neither will your second or third attempts.
3) You need a very very sharp knife if you’re planning on cutting the roll into sections. Razor-sharp. I’d recommend a laser knife, if they’d been invented, or a doctor’s scalpel. Really.
4) Damp nori sticks to plastic wrap.
5) Too much filling happens very quickly. Use about half as much as you think is appropriate (I have this problem with burritos and the like, too. Maybe it’s a personality flaw.)
It’s messy, but fun, and as long as your ingredients are tasty, the end result will be tasty too, regardless of how unartistic it is! It’s not easy to put aside my sushi snobbishness, but it payed off!
But I do have Japanese rice, and rice vinegar, and nori. And some canned salmon. So I decided to put aside my sushi snobbishness and make a sushi roll with canned salmon salad. It was fun, and surprisingly good, and I’ll do it again. Here’s what I learned:
1) Sushi rice isn’t difficult to make, but it’s difficult to make well. The taste isn’t the hard part, it’s the texture. I was as gentle as I could be when folding the vinegar mixture into the cooked grains but it still came out pasty and mushed up. It really didn’t matter, though, as I wasn’t making it for anyone else, and the taste was pretty good.
2) Your first attempt at making a roll will not be photogenic. Neither will your second or third attempts.
3) You need a very very sharp knife if you’re planning on cutting the roll into sections. Razor-sharp. I’d recommend a laser knife, if they’d been invented, or a doctor’s scalpel. Really.
4) Damp nori sticks to plastic wrap.
5) Too much filling happens very quickly. Use about half as much as you think is appropriate (I have this problem with burritos and the like, too. Maybe it’s a personality flaw.)
It’s messy, but fun, and as long as your ingredients are tasty, the end result will be tasty too, regardless of how unartistic it is! It’s not easy to put aside my sushi snobbishness, but it payed off!
