By Maggie Tan
After all fattening ourselves with chocolates and bacon and lots of wine throughout the festive months, it is time to start thinking and eating healthy.
What better way than to try our palates on some sushi? If you are squeamish about raw fish, don’t worry. Sushi is much much more than raw fish. There are gorgeous California rolls, Avocado rolls and literally any kind of rolls that you can conjure which does not involve raw ingredients.
‘Credit Crunch’, I hear you say? Yes, indeed, I know just too well how expensive sushi is. I have been a victim to my addiction for sushi and had paid silly prices in sushi bars and restaurants. However, I have found a sure proof way to get around this problem.
I was lucky to be let into a little secret, which taught me just how easy it is to carve my own authentic sushi! I just have to share this secret with all Sushi Lovers.
It may sound unbelievable, but you are only 5 Steps away from dishing up an Authentic Looking and Tasting Sushi Platter.
5 Steps to the Perfect Sushi
1) Sushi Rice
This is the essentially the heart of sushi, so if you get this right, you are 80% to making the perfect sushi! It is therefore not surprising that Sushi Experts place so much emphasis on how to prepare Sushi Rice.
Unlike normal long grains, sushi rice grains are a lot starchier. Therefore, the rice grains have to be rinsed in clear water for about 5 times before actually cooking it.
Once the sushi rice has been cooked, loosen it with a wooden ladle and transfer it to a wooden (preferred) or glass bowl. Use a damp clean cloth to cover the bowl to prevent the sushi rice from losing moisture.
*Important* Never store sushi rice in the fridge as the sushi rice will lose its moisture and taste exactly like the hard and gunny sushi that you get from supermarkets or even some sushi restaurants and bars
2) Nori
Very often, we think of nori as just the seaweed sheet for rolling sushi. However, nori plays a very important role in delivering the flavour and aroma of sushi.
To get the most out of a nori, lightly toast it over the hob for 2 seconds. That will give it a crisp texture when you sink your teeth into the sushi roll. Toasted nori are also more aromatic.
Over handling of the nori is a mistake that many sushi amateurs made. Remember to wipe your hands dry before handling the nori and minimise touching the surface of the nori unnecessarily. This will prevent the nori from becoming damp and losing it crispiness.
3) Rolling the Roll
A pretty sushi looking sushi will whet a person’s appetite even before he/she bite into the sushi. Hence, care must be taken in rolling the sushi.
Rolling the sushi roll is actually not difficult. The key to this is not to overstuff the sushi with rice and ingredients. You want the sushi to look sufficiently pack, but not overflowing to the point that the nori is not large enough for all your contents.
A thin layer of sushi rice that covers the surface of the nori is sufficient. It may look very little when you spread the rice onto the nori, but once you add your strip of cucumber and carrot or other ingredients that you fancy and roll the sushi, the sushi will get its bulk.
The other trick is to always remember to leave 0.5 inch border on one length of the nori when you spread your sushi rice i.e. there should be a 0.5 inch border on one length of the nori that is not covered with sushi rice. This will allow the nori to sealed easily when you roll it
4) Cutting the Roll
Have you ever been amazed at how clean cut each piece of sushi looks in restaurants? If you drive a knife through a sushi roll and try to cut it, you will find it very hard to complete your sawing motion. This is because sushi rice is sticky, so the knife will not be able to move smoothly through the roll.
What you need is a sharpen knife so you can avoid excessive sawing motion and more critically, you need a slightly wet knife so that it will run smoothly through the roll. The knife needs to be lightly wet for every single cut.
5) Garnish & Decorations
When it comes to packaging, Japanese is King. It is no different when it comes to their local delicacy. What makes sushi so attractive is not just the colours in the sushi, but also the garnishing and decorations that goes with the sushi platter.
Of course it helps if you are an expert at vegetable carving, but in reality, how many of us are that proficient? That’s where play dough cutter comes into play. Just use small vegetable cutters to cut out flower from carrots and cucumbers. To give it more colours, you can use red, green or yellow capsicums as well. Even just strips of these colourful vegetables will spice up your platter tremendously.
Sushi is a very neat dish, so don’t scatter your garnishing all over, but place them neatly along side the sushi.
Just remember these tips and tricks and you can most certainly present a platter that’s of restaurant standard.
Makizushi is rolled sushi. It is made with a bamboo matt called a makisu that rolls it into a cylindrical form. The sushi is generally wrapped nori but can also be wrapped in soy paper, an omlette, cucumber, or parsley. One roll is cut into six or eight pieces. There are many types of Makizushi. Futomaki is at fat roll measuring about one and a half inches of diameter. It is rolled in Nori and traditionally vegetarian. Hosomaki on the other hand is a thin roll measuring about ¾ of an inch. They usually only contain one filling. Kappamaki is a type of Hosomaki filled with cucumber. It is used to cleanse the palate. Tekkamaki is another kind that contains raw tuna. Temaki is a type of Makizushi that has cone shape formed by the nori. It measures 4 inches in length and must be eaten with fingers. It must be eaten soon after it is made as the nori will loose its moisture and thus crispiness. Lastly, uramaki is an inside-out roll. It contains a couple of fillings surrounded by nori with the rice on the outside of the nori. Additionally, sesame seeds are often added.
