An Introduction to Sushi for Beginners
A Few Things You'll Need to Know Before Making Your Own Sushi
Derived from archaic grammatical forms no longer used today, the word ‘sushi’ literally translates as ‘sour’. Although it is quite simple for beginners to pick up you’ll need to be aware of the varying types and styles as well as the type of equipment and ingredients that you’ll need.
Different Types of Sushi
The first thing to understand is that there are several different varieties of sushi available. Most of these have a very similar pattern in their naming with the word ‘sushi’ becoming ‘zushi’ with a prefix placed in front. I’ll cover some of the major ones here:
Nigiri-zushi: This literally translates as ‘hand-formed sushi’ and is the closest to traditional sushi. It consists of a lump of rice shaped by hand moulding, with a dash of wasabi and then a topping. Toppings are usually salmon, tuna or seafood. More often than not the toppings are then held into place with a sort of black seaweed wrapper known as nori. One point worth noting is that when a single portion is ordered in a restaurant it usually comes in pairs.
Chirashi-Zushi: This literally translates as ‘scattered sushi’. It consists of various diced vegetables and fish mixed into a bowl of sushi rice. It’s basically a sort of sushi salad and a lot of the fun with this one is that, for the most part, the ingredients are completely up to the chef.
Oshi-zushi: This literally translates as ‘pressed sushi’. For this one you will need a piece of specialist equipment called an oshibako which is a type of wooden mold. It’s made by layering ingredients on top of sushi rice in the mold and then compacted into an oblong which can then be sliced up into bite sized strips.
Maki-zushi: This literally translates as ‘rolled sushi’ and is the most common variety of sushi enjoyed by westerners. It involves rolling sushi rice, along with the ingredient, into a cylinder. This is usually done with the aid of a bamboo mat called a makisu. After rolling it is then cut up into 6-8 bite sized chunks.
What You’ll Need to Start Making your Own Sushi
Sushi grade fish: You will need to have your desired seafood frozen at -4 F for a considerable amount of time in order to kill off any parasites. When buying fish to use for sushi immediately it is essential that it is clearly labelled as ‘sashimi grade’. Do not assume that any raw fish can be used for sushi.
At least two vegetables: You can feel free to be creative here. Most popular ingredients include; cucumber, avocado, carrots and asparagus.
Short grain rice: It’s important that you track down short grained rice instead of the typical long grained rice here. Long grained rice will not stick properly, forming the right consistency.
Rice vinegar: For the best results you should only use Japanese rice vinegar but other varieties can be used. It’s quite often made with sake (Japanese rice wine) if you would prefer to use this variety.
Nori: Sheets of rolling seaweed. It can be bought at amazon.com or a variety of specialist shops.
Wasabi: This will be your most difficult ingredient to track. It only grows in certain valleys in Japan so importing it is quite expensive. A cheaper imitation can be made using horse radish and mustard seed. Chances are that you’ve never tried real wasabi unless you’ve been to Japan as most western restaurants serving sushi use this imitation.
Soy sauce: You’ll be using this as a condiment to lightly dip the sushi or glaze it. Any old soy sauce will do the trick.
Ginger root: This will be used to make gari, a typical side dish which should be eaten between each course of sushi to cleanse the palate. You can make your own gari by pickling thin slices of ginger with a bit of sugar.
Sharp Knife: Any kitchen knife, as long as it’s sharp, will do the trick but you may want to track down a proper sushi knife further down the line.
Bamboo Mat: Quite easily obtained. It’s not essential but it definitely makes the process of rolling Maki-zushi a lot easier.
Oshibako: Only needed if you really want to make Oshi-zushi. I wouldn’t recommend splashing out on one if you’re just starting out, but you might want to invest in one further down the line.
Well that covers the basics. Now that you’ve made a mental note of the different types of sushi and the things that you’ll need, you’re ready to start having fun by creating your own.
Good luck and douzo meshiagare!
There are Many Varieties of Sushi
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