Do your makis fall apart when you roll them? Are you not making sushi because you can't find the perfect rice? Do you want to cut makis with your kitchen knife but they fall apart? Here are some tips and tricks that will help you make perfect sushi at home.
Hands always wet
Keeping your hands wet while you're making sushi rice will help you get it perfect, as the rice grains won't stick to your fingers. A trick? Fill a bowl with water, leave it to the side while you work the rice, and dip your hands in as the moisture starts to drain.
Keep the proportions
Proportions are essential when making good sushi. A delicious recipe would be: 5 parts vinegar, 2 parts sugar and one part salt. And when it comes to mixing it with rice to make sumeshi? Well, five parts sushizu for every part rice.
Less is more
When preparing the filling for your sushi, you should keep in mind that “less is more”… avoid baroque compositions and let yourself be inspired by Japanese austerity: two, three ingredients at most should be enough for a tasty and elegant filling.
THE RICE
Good rice is the secret to making perfect sushi, and to do so, you have to use the right rice: glutinous, round and short grain, and preferably of the japonica variety . Although many shops currently have specific rices for sushi, if you have difficulty finding them you can use the bomba variety rice, which, although not the same, will get you out of trouble.
The washing
One of the most important steps in preparing rice is washing it. To do this, you should put the rice in a container and wash it under the tap so that it loses the excess starch. A visual trick that you can use is to see how the whitish water from the first washes becomes clearer as you wash and wash the rice and see that it has become transparent.
Cooking
It is very important to control the exact amounts of rice and water. It is important to start cooking with cold water, and when it starts to boil, lower the heat to minimum - always covered - for about 13 minutes. Then you will have to let it rest and cool for another 10 minutes approximately.
Wet the leaf
The secret to cutting our makis without destroying them is to slightly wet the blade of the knife we are using. It must, of course, be sharp. With the blade wet, the knife will slide through the rolls like a ninja sword.
Wooden utensils
To make sushi like a true master, you should use wooden utensils as much as possible. Avoid metal utensils and, in addition to respecting Japanese tradition, you will avoid altering the delicate flavor of the ingredients that make up this dish.
Sealing the roll
We suggest a simple trick to make your makis perfect: when placing the rice and filling on the nori seaweed, leave a couple of centimetres of seaweed uncovered at the top. When you roll the piece, moisten this small strip, which will be slightly sticky, and this will help the roll to be well sealed, keeping its shape.
Temper the rice
Although the process of fanning rice may seem more picturesque than anything else, the truth is that it is a fundamental step to obtain an optimal result. Sushi rice must be tempered little by little until, according to experts, it reaches the temperature of the human body, around 36 degrees. That is why in the best restaurants in the world you will see the "itamae" fanning their rice.
The magic mat
The most difficult step the first time you make sushi is, without a doubt, rolling the pieces using the mat (makisu for friends). Often the result is not as expected because the piece falls apart, remaining partially stuck to the bamboo sticks. The solution is quite simple: cover the mat with plastic wrap and the roll will slide off like a charm. It is a trick that has been used since the beginning of time, both in homes and in professional kitchens.
The dressing
Another of the most delicate moments when preparing rice: adding the rice vinegar, sugar and salt. Here each cook has his or her secret recipe, but for the uninitiated it is best to follow the standard measurements. More or less, we are told that the seasoning should be one fifth of the amount of rice you have prepared, and within that with a proportion of five parts rice vinegar, two parts sugar and one part salt. When combining the rice with the seasoning, it is best to have previously dissolved the salt and sugar in the rice vinegar.
Try making your own makis
To make your own sushi, we recommend that you start by making makis, which in Japanese means something like "rolls." There are several types such as hosomaki, futomaki, chumaki, ehomaki, temaki, uramaki or gunkan depending on their thickness, number of ingredients and shape. But the most advisable thing if you are "beginning" is to limit yourself to 2 or 3 ingredients maximum apart from the rice.
SALMON MAKI
INGREDIENTS
175 G Round grain white rice
200 G Water
125 ml rice vinegar
5 tablespoons sugar
200 G Salmon
2 Nori seaweed
1 tsp Wasabi
PREPARATION
Cook the rice over high heat for two minutes. Continue cooking over low heat for another fifteen minutes until the rice is tender and has absorbed all the water. Remove from the heat, cover and set aside for five minutes. Spread out on a baking tray. Mix with the sugar and vinegar and stir gently. Allow to cool completely, covered with a damp cloth.
Remove the skin and bones and cut the salmon into thin strips. Place half a sheet of nori seaweed on a bamboo mat. Using your fingers moistened with water, spread a portion of rice over the seaweed. Place a piece of salmon on top, more rice and wasabi paste. Cover completely with rice.
Take one end of the mat and roll it up, squeezing the filling and pulling the other end of the mat. Repeat the same procedure with the rest of the ingredients. Cut into portions with a wet knife. Serve with soy sauce.
CUCUMBER AND SMOKED FOOD SUSHI
INGREDIENTS
200 G Round grain white rice
2 Cucumber
1 Lemon
1 Pinch Ground Ginger
200 G Smoked (salmon, mackerel…)
2 tablespoons Lumpfish roe
1 tablespoon soy sauce
PREPARATION
Cook the rice in a large saucepan with plenty of salted water until it is al dente. Remove from the heat and drain well. Peel and cut the cucumber into sticks.
Mix the lemon juice with the grated ginger and soy sauce. Add the rice to this mixture and mix well until completely incorporated.
Spread the smoked fish slices on the sushi rack, put a thin layer of rice on top of the smoked fish and arrange the cucumber strips and red roe in the centre. Roll up and cut into portions. Serve the smoked fish sushi with soy sauce if desired.
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