Life Is Too Short for a World so Big: Simple Sushi

Sushi looks so hard but it's really easy! And the fun part is, you can put whatever you want in the middle so it's super fun to play around with new foods. I've been making sushi for almost 3 years. When my husband and I got married, we eloped (without notice) and didn't have a registry. Although we never asked or expected anything from anybody, our wonderful friends and family gave us lots of gift cards because they didn't know what to give us. It ended up being great because I ordered things I probably wouldn't have normally spent money on otherwise. One of those things was a bamboo sushi mat (they average about $7) and sushi stand (average $9). When they arrived in the mail, I thought "I suppose I need to learn to make sushi now." My husband was in Korea so I thought I had a few months to practice but I ended up with a perfect Sushi roll on my very first try! That's when I realized sushi was easy peasy. So try it out soon and let me know how it goes! I love hearing your stories!

1 cup of rice = 3 large sushi rolls (which get cut into smaller rolls

For 9 rolls:

3 cup of sushi rice (AKA Shari)

1/2 cup rice vinegar

2 Tbsp sugar

2 tsp salt

9 sheets of Nori (seaweed) wrap

For 3 rolls:

1 cup of sushi rice (AKA Shari)

little less then 1/4 cup rice vinegar

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

toppings:

fish, crab, avocado, cucumber, carrots, bell pepper are traditional. I like grapes and avocado the best.

Anything you want to try, experimentation is great!

Wasabi (Optional)

Soy Sauce for dipping (Optional)

Tools:

Bamboo sushi mat

Bamboo spoon (supposedly the flavor of the rice changes if you use a metal spoon. I have no idea, I've only used a bamboo spoon).

Chopstick (optional)

Sushi Mat and Bamboo Spoon

First thing you have to do is to wash the impurities out of the rice. Rinse the rice in water until the water turns from cloudy to clear, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Next, put the rice in a rice cooker. You can also cook it on the stove top, you just have to pay attention to it more.

Now add water. The rice to water ration should be 1:1.15 in favor of water. Basically, you just barely want to cover the rice with water.

Pop it on cook and let it go. It should take about 15 to 20 minutes. While the rice is cooking, you can go ahead and get the rice mix ready and cut your fish/veggies/fruit for the sushi stuffing.

Mix together the rice vinegar, sugar and salt. Stir together well.

This is how it should look when it's done. You only want to scoop out the soft rice, the parts that are stuck to the sides and bottom you can't use for the rolls. But feel free to scoop it out as a side of rice. It will mess up the texture of the sushi.

Use a bamboo spoon (or wooden spoon if you don't have one) and scoop out the soft rice.

Put the rice in the bowl

Pour the rice vinegar into the sushi rice.

Stir together well.

So I decided to use fruit! And since it's almost the 4th I decided to make some red (strawberry), white (Rice) and blue (blueberries) sushi! And then I cut up some grapes just because they taste so good in sushi!

Here is what nori sheets look like in the package. I got these at my local grocery store.

Take it out of the packaging and feel which side feels rough. You want that side facing up when you put it on the bamboo mat.

Now you need to get your hands wet. Always keep them wet when working with the rice and dry when working with nori. Get a handful of rice and make a ball in the middle of the nori sheet.

Gently start to spread it out until it reaches the edges. You want to leave about 2 cm in the upper margin clear of rice so that it can roll properly. Don't compress the rice, just spread it out until you have a thin layer.

Next put your toppings at the bottom (side closest to you) in a nice neat line. I put grape halves face down.

Next I added strawberries. You can add a few things to each roll but don't add too much or you won't be able to close it. About 4 things if they are thin, 3 if they are thicker.

Here is my 2nd roll just so you can see the red, white and blue sushi!

Take the bottom of the bamboo and fold it over. Roll it until the nori touches the rice. Tuck the seaweed into the rice and let the bamboo slide on top of the rice.

Tuck it in with your fingers. Firm but not super hard. Here is a side view. Don't worry, it will round out if it looks a bit square.

Next roll the nori and scoot the bamboo on top of the sushi.

Pinch the roll again and keep it tight as you roll

Continue to repeat until you get to the end of the nori.

At the end, be sure to pinch the end so that it's nice and tight. The rice will stick to the nori and keep it closed.

Ta-da! This is what it will look like when you're done.

Move it to a cutting board. Get a sharp knife really wet. Saw through the roll being gentle but firm. If it starts to stick, put the knife back in the water. Stick it in the water after each mini roll cut.