Both the Hubby and I love sushi, but it can get expensive. I started dabbling with some simple kappa maki and musubi. I realized that with a few tricks, it wasn’t that hard to make. I tend to like the nori-wrapped style vs the rice on the outside, but make what you love! It’s not as daunting as it seems either!
My favorite sushi to make, well eat really, is spam musubi and kappa maki. A few tips for you:
- Have all your fillings, nori sheets, rolling mat, and plastic wrap ready.
- Keep a small bowl of cold water on hand. This is great for dipping your fingers into to spread the rice (without it sticking everywhere) and to dampen the nori.
- Leave an inch or so of nori free at the top, this lets you form a nice tight seal when you make the roll.
Assembling the Sushi
- Put a sheet of plastic wrap down on the sushi roller.
- Put a scoop of rice down, spreading a bit with a spatula, and then dip your fingers in the water first to finish spreading to make it an even layer.
- Leave about an inch or so of space at the top of the sheet.
- Sprinkle some furikake on the rice at this point.
- Put a row of your desired filling(s) down (about an inch above the bottom, use a bit of the water to dampen the strip of bare nori, and then roll tightly (keeping the wrap out of the way). The damp nori will help you form a seal keeping the roll nice and tight.
- Use the plastic wrap to keep it in a tube shape and place it in the fridge to chill while you make the rest of the rolls.
- Remove from the plastic when ready to eat and slice with a fillet knife to get nice clean slices.
Sushi Rice
Ingredients
Miscellaneous
- Sushi rice
- Nori sheets
- Furikake
- Small bowl of cold water
- Variety of fillings cucumber, pickled daikon, crab, whatever you love!
Sushi Vinegar
- 4 tablespoons rice vinegar unseasoned
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Mix the vinegar and sugar until the sugar has dissolved.
- Make the rice (2 rice cooker scoops / 1½ cups), adding a hearty teaspoon of furikake into the water and laying quarter of a sheet of nori on top of the rice.
- When the rice has finished cooking, gently break up the sheet, and fold into the rice.
- Drizzle the sushi vinegar on while the rice is still warm. Gently folding the rice to mix the sushi vinegar evenly.
Spam Musubi
Ingredients
- Spam in 1/4 inch slices
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon mirin
- 1 to 2 teaspoons neutral oil (canola, vegetable) I use what I have on hand, usually olive oil
Instructions
- Combine the marinade ingredients and marinate for at least 15 minutes.
- Crisp up the slices in a frying pan.
- Lay a strip of nori down. I like to make the width slightly smaller than the mold. I.e., if your mould is 3” long, make the nori strip about 2” wide and ~6” long. Long enough to wrap around the rice and spam, then place your musubi mould down and put a small scoop of rice in the mould, pressing down.
- Top with a slice of the spam.
- Remove the mould and fold the nori sheet around, wetting the end of the nori to make it stick.
Quick Pickled Daikon and Carrots
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 1 small carrot scrubbed and cut into matchsticks
- 1 daikon radish peeled and cut into matchsticks
- 1 Thai chilli pepper seeded and chopped
Instructions
- Heat vinegar and sugar in a saucepan over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, and refrigerate to cool.
- Place daikon and carrot in the glass jar with the chili peppers. Pour the cooled vinegar mixture over it, submerging the vegetables.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
SUSHI