Sushi?

[Paul_B]

I just wondered if anyone here makes their own sushi?

We love it but have only bought it from supermarkets. I'm sure there's anglers on here who eat what they catch (not all catches I bet) so why not try making sushi yourself?

Has anyone made their own sushi? Did you buy the traditional or non - traditional kit to make it easily?

I'm looking at getting a kit for my nephew who loves cooking and I believe he loves sushi. I might get one for us too. I was wondering what any sushi makers on here use to make them, any kit worth getting? It might be a good Xmas present for my nephew and for us.

If no kit is needed, what is your technique for the various sushi types?

I reckon a really fresh fish, raw in sushi has to be healthy. Wasabi is related to horseradish (love it but never tried to find it in the wild to harvest). As such I believe it's healthy food. Raw fish (especially oily fish) is healthy if fresh. Rice is carbohydrates but a bit too processed if you use sushi rice, still healthy on the whole. Seaweed has a lot of anti oxidants and minerals you need in it I believe.

Getting hungry!

 

[Janne]

We do. Remember, the fish should be frozen first, or you are risking getting some unhealthy parasites into you.
Yes, we break against this rule sometimes.

No special equipment as we do the simple Nigiri only.

Wasabi? Does not grow wild in Europe. Horseradish is just fine!
I have had ( in restaurants) real wasabi roit/stem prepared before my eyes, yes it is marginally better than the tubed one, but very small difference against freshly fine grated horseradish

The vast majority of the wasabi you buy is in fact a coloured horseradish preparation. Even the ones with the Japanese writing on!

 

[Janne]

Sushi rice is not processed, it is a type of slightly sticky rice. You need to mix it with a few ingredients before you make the sushi.

 

[Paul_B]

My nephew is 14 so I'm thinking a no - traditional sushi kit is best for him. There's a very good kit that makes california rolls and nigiri using a rolling device and a moulding device. Trouble is it's $29 in the US or £75 over here! Explain that one to me if you can!

 

[Trojan]

I spent 3 weeks in Japan camping/travelling and stayed in Tokyo. I only saw one sushi bar the whole time I was there! That was in the airport.

 

[Paul_B]

I've had holidays in France since I was a kid and haven't seen frog's legs in restaurants over there to date. I bet they're still around though not common.

It's similar to UK Chinese restaurants serving food that's more western than true rural Chinese cooking. My partner tells me that, although my local Chinese and Vietnamese restaurant apparent does a chicken szechuan style that's close to what she had in the places she stayed. Often stayed with locals in their house and fed what they had. She got safe shelter and good food, they got a bit of extra money in a poor rural area. Good for all.

Off topic and different country I know just I doubt there's much in the way of authentic Eastern cooking in the western world. It's kind of a stereotype of the regional food. Although I have had a meal cooked by a Chinese and a Japanese student. They each cooked a course or two in their local cooking style. The Japanese student did a really nice tofu dish (I can't swallow tofu without gagging but it tasted nice) and her sushi was really nice too. Her dessert sweet treats were very very sweet and she giggled all through that course. Seems men don't eat those Japanese sweets by tradition so she thought it funny. Kind of like a naive school girl laughing at a boy wearing makeup and a skirt.

Still I quite like sushi but not the ultra sweet desserts. Worse than all the sugar/butter icing on a large carrot cake condensed into one big sugar mouthful! A big hit and overwhelming.

 

[bobnewboy]

Wasabi doesn’t grow wild in the UK, but it is cultivated in Hampshire and available to buy online. Evidently the location is/was being kept secret as the price is absolutely sky high for a vegetable product.

 

[Janne]

Netflix ( Youtube too?) has some excellent programmes about sushi.

'Jiro dreams of sushi' is one of them.

Can you not buy those mats etc as a kit in Sainsbury's? If you can not find a rolling mat, look out for those square underlays for tables made from thin bamboo sticks hold together with thread. Might even work if the thin sticks are synthetic.

 

[Janne]

Oversweet cakes?
Danish, cinnamon buns and other Scandi cakes never had any icing in my youth. Now they are covered.....

At most a very light sprinkling with very large sugar crystals. That was seen as indulgence!

 

[Paul_B]

Apple pie shop on Ambleside used to do amazing crown buns when I was a kid. Parents used to treat us with one on the way home (good couple of hours drive back then). It's a cake made up of fruit buns stuck together around a central bun. They had fruit in them like raison, cherry and originally a sweet glaze to which were stuck a sprinkling of cubic sugar "crystals". Later, after several new ownerships, this topping became proper, white icing. A mistake IMHO.

 

[Janne]

Those sugar crystals was one of the joys eating those cakes. Nice and crunchy!

Us dentists love the modern way to make food.
Gives us plenty of business! Big Pharma, hospitals and other docs also love it.
Not to speak about the undertakers!

( just joking..)

 

[Robson Valley]

Buy a bamboo mat, some Nori and the condiments, cook some Sushi rice and roll away!
No big deal. About as tricky as tying shoe laces.
I'm not fond of raw fish but California Rolls with shrimp/prawn disappear quickly from my plate.

Look into Vietnamese salad rolls, no need to cook anything but boil some shrimps.
Some thing that your entire family can assemble when you are told to "sit, Dad."

 

[slowworm]

Wasabi doesn’t grow wild in the UK, but it is cultivated in Hampshire and available to buy online. Evidently the location is/was being kept secret as the price is absolutely sky high for a vegetable product.

You can buy plants in the UK, I got one from an RHS shop and it has done well over the last couple of years. IIRC someone on this site is growing it commercially.

As for sushi, I've made it fairly successfully by buying suitable ingredients from a supermarket (rice, vinegar etc). I can't remember where I bought the bamboo mat for rolling though. It all worked well if you follow a simple guide.

Now, onto the raw stuff, isn't that shashimi? I quite like eating raw stuff if I've caught it myself but a quick google of fish parasites may put you off! (Worth checking). I've tend to eat raw mackerel as ceviche, i.e. lightly cured with citrus.

Of course, sushi doesn't need raw critter, loads of cooked critter or vegetarian options.

 

[Janne]

Sashimi is slices of raw critter without rice.

 

[SGL70]

My experiences is that the hard part is making a good sushi rice...getting it cooked just perfect and getting the sugar/vinegar mix just right....Sounds simple, but I haven't hit the sweet spot yet...The toppings are easy...anything really, according to a japanese shushi bar owner I know. I like them fishes, tho

On fishing trips, I bring Wasabi and soy sauce for some instant sashimi. Delish!! I also bring a salt/sugar mix to cure fish. Good eating, that

Greger

 

[Janne]

Same here, we take the basics with us up to Lofoten. We can buy it there, but it is either Chinese Soy sauce or the Kikkoman made in US.

We prefer a Japanese made Tamari. it is like Soy sauce but made only using Soy beans.

The summer before last, I came back with the boat and we had some truly beautiful mackerel. Huge, pure hard muscle.
so we made some Sashimi and offered our (local) friends ( we used their dock and fish cleaning room) .
They almost threw up.

It was good though. If we eat them without freezing, we first cut out the fillets, then open and inspect the insides for visible amounts of parasites.

I could do with a parasite or two if it made me lose a bit of weight.....

 

[Janne]

Cod is not nice in sushi/sashimi.

I tried to make raw Cod Liver Nigiri, but it does not taste much.

 

[Robson Valley]

I'll agree that it might take a lot of practice to make the rice and dipping sauce that you hold in your imagination.
I do that and write notes in my own cook book as reminders for next time. That's the trick to changing things.
Good winter project to get good at it. Eat some in the city as reminders of what I like and don't like.

I wanted to make California Roll and was quite happy with what I did. Very nice as a novelty in my kitchen.
However, I've made Vietnamese salad rolls for a long time. Not as old as my favorite wok.
Maybe it's just habit but I like them best.

 

[Janne]

California rolls? Vietcong rolls?

Advanced Haute Cuisine!
We can do Nigiri because it is dead simple. Sometimes we cheat by adding a thin sliver of something a Vegan would like inside the rice 'cushion'.

I have fine tuned a proper Hungarian Porkolt. Granddads receipe, slightly tweaked for our hot Scotch Bonnet numbed tastebuds!

 

[Robson Valley]

California Rolls are exactly what I said. Normally made with cooked shrimp and avocado.
I usually sub some long English cucumber for the green toothpaste.

Vietnamese salad rolls always remind me of the refugee that taught me to make them.
The Cong shot her whole family right in front of her.