Traditional or not make your own SUSHI!

It's time for the Post of the week folks, and as last week i did say i was going to post a recipe but didn't, here we go for a recipe on the basics for SUSHI, or Makimono to be more precise. As some of you may know, and for those who don't, Sushi comes from an ancient grammatical form that translates to "it's sour", which is due to the seasoning with rice vinegar, but also Sushi is basically all forms of Japanese Rice and raw seafood in general, Makimonos are the ones that you roll up, ramifying to Hossomaki (the thin ones), Futomaki(the large ones), Nigirizushi are the ones with a rice oval shape on the bottom and seafood on top, and so on!!!

Anyway folks, doing sushi it's really not that hard, i had my first try today and was very pleased with the result, and for that reason i come to thee in order to show you how simple it can be.

First and foremost the rice, make sure you have SUSHI rice and no other, with about 1 Kg you can feed well around 10 people, and as for the filling it can be anything u want, the traditional ones are compulsory if you are trying to become a great sushi men, but if u are not Japanese than u have failed the quest already(haha), Japanese people are ultimately traditional and therefore there isn't much space for recognition as a sushi man when u are not from or related to the country, so if u feel like making beef sushi by all means go ahead!

Traditional or not make your own SUSHI! part 2

The Ratio to cook the Rice is 1/1, which means equal parts of water and rice, previously washed with running water, using a lid on simmering fire, make sure to look every now and then, you don't want to burn the rice right?!

For the seasoning you'll need:
-90 ml rice vinegar
-75 gr sugar
-25 gr salt

Dissolve all the elements with low degree of heat (microwave or fire). Now that the rice is cooked get all of it into a big/large bowl and slowly add the "sauce/seasoning" to it, you should fold the rice gently in order to keep the grains whole as oppose to mash them, and while you do it get something to fan it together (either you or someone else), the rice should be lowered to around 38 C degrees, to prevent it from cooking more.


Great, with all of that done now u just have to roll them right?! Well rolling them is really not that hard with the right tools, you will need a bamboo mat (makisu), and nori, which is the seaweed sheet.

Wet your hands to make it easier to manipulate the rice and Spread a layer on top of the nori, leaving around 2cm on the top of the nori, rice free. Start rolling the mat forward keeping a tight grip on the food inside (filling),  after half way through it bring the whole thing near the bottom edge of the mat and finish to roll all the way!

It's kinda hard to actually explain this with photos, check out Youtube for videos on how to Roll sushi, there's loads of it and you'll get the hang of it.

That's all for now, i hope this will help ya with making this delicious treat, and if u are having any trouble with the rolling then make a rice "ball" put some protein or vegie on top and eat it, it might not look as good as if u were rolling but it will still taste as good!

P.S.: the first pic is a sketch on a Japanese looking-like village, and the other ones r my sushi from today!

Ciao