Today, June 18, is International Sushi Day. Sushi is also the national dish of Japan. However, the original sushi was created in Southeast Asia and was brought to Japan in the 18th century. Originally, this dish was created as a way to preserve fish, but over time it became a staple in the Japanese diet. Today, it is enjoyed by people all over the world.
Sushi refers to a dish of various fillings encased in vinegar rice. To produce authentic Japanese sushi needs some practice. In restaurants, sushi is expensive because making a batch of sushi rolls can take a chef hours as the technique is time-consuming and decorating each sushi is a work of art. The ingredients have to be fresh and the sushi should be consumed within hours of making it.
Here, I am going to show two popular forms of sushi — maki and uramaki. Maki has nori (seaweed) outside and uramaki has rice on the outside.
MUST-HAVES FOR MAKING MAKI AND URAMAKI ROLLS
Sushi mat, nori sheet, sushi vinegar, sushi rice, kewpie mayonnaise, togarashi (Japanese seasoning), Sriracha sauce, wasabi paste, pickled ginger and soya sauce.
Assorted vegetables that usually go in the sushi are carrots, cucumber, asparagus, avocado, spring onions, bell peppers, radish, etc. Non-vegetarian items are usually smoked salmon, tuna, shrimp, chicken, crab or imitation crab sticks.
The first thing to do when making sushi is to make the rice. To cook the rice on the gas stove you need a heavy-bottom pan. To cook 2 cups of rice, you will need 2½-3 cups of water.
METHOD
Wash the rice 3-4 times.
Put it in the pan with the water and cook on high flame till the first boil.
Then cover the rice with a lid and cook on medium heat for 15 minutes.
Remove the pan from the fire and keep it covered for 10-15 minutes. Then check whether the rice is properly cooked.
Remove rice onto a tray or wide bowl and at once season with sushi vinegar while it is still hot.
SUSHI VINEGAR SEASONING
For 2 cups rice you need:
100ml sushi Vinegar
50g sugar
20g salt
Mix the ingredients together. Pour over hot rice and mix gently. Keep aside to cool.
3-WAYS VEGETARIAN ROLL
Avocado Dragon Roll: This is a uramaki roll. You can fill it with cucumber, carrot and avocado. Decorate with thinly sliced avocado on top.
Maki Roll: Asparagus, carrots, bell peppers and cucumber. Spice it up with spicy mayo and sprinkle togarashi seasoning.
The thirduramaki roll: Red radish, cucumber, avocado and carrots, togarashi seasoning, Sriracha sauce. It depends on your taste also. Decorate with roasted sesame seeds. Also, you can sprinkle seaweed seasoned flakes.
PHILADELPHIA URAMAKI ROLL
Salmon, avocado, cucumber and cream cheese.
SPIDER ROLL
Prawn tempura, cucumber, avocado, spicy mayonnaise and tempura flakes.
CALIFORNIA ROLL
This is a uramaki roll. Crab sticks, avocado, cucumber, sesame seeds or roe (tobiko) for decoration. Here, I have put roe since I had some. It is difficult to get though. So you can easily cover it with roasted black sesame seeds.
California roll plus shrimps and mango. It is a uramaki roll.
RAINBOW ROLL
Crab or shrimp, cucumber, tuna, salmon, carrots, spicy mayonnaise, togarashi or seaweed seasoning and to give the rice a pink hue spread little beetroot juice over the rice after spreading it. (Don’t put too much of the juice, just drops here and there over the rice.)
CHICKEN TERIYAKI ROLL WITH CREAM CHEESE
This is a maki roll.
#Cooking the chicken
Take 2 chicken breasts and season with salt, pepper and some chilli flakes.
In very little oil cook the chicken on both sides till brown. Add a tablespoon of teriyaki sauce and sauté till chicken is cooked. You can add a tablespoon of water when putting the sauce. Remove. Then make thin strips and keep aside.
#To make the filling for the roll
Soak shiitake mushrooms in hot water for half an hour and then slice thinly.
Asparagus, blanched.
Cut cucumber like matchsticks and bell peppers, red and yellow, into thin strips.
Put a thin line of cream place the other ingredients.Spring onions cut into strips and some chopped for decoration.
You can sprinkle tempura flakes or sesame seeds and drizzle a little bit of hoisin sauce for decoration.
HOW TO MAKE TEMPURA FLAKES
Make a not-so-thin batter of tempura flour. Season with a little salt and chilli powder. Heat oil for deep frying. Take a tea strainer and pour the batter into the oil. Fry till brown and crisp. Crush when it is cool.
NOTE: You can substitute tempura flour with equal parts of rice flour, cornflour and refined flour. Spicy mayonnaise is a mix of mayonnaise and Sriracha sauce. Seaweed seasoning is a norisheet which is fried and crushed. Then add togarashi seasoning to it. It is good for decorating a uramaki roll.
