Homemade Sushi

People love its salty taste, the gooiness of the rice and the fact that sushi is a much healthier alternative to other fried options. Sushi is also easy to make at home assuming you have the right equipment and fresh tasty ingredients.

Once you buy the essential sushi-rolling mat and special sushi rice, you’ll be set up for many more sushi meals. The sushi rice is readily available in most major supermarkets. There are few tips and tricks to keep in mind while preparing your homemade sushi.

What you’ll need:
• Sushi mat
• Sushi rice
• Seaweed
• Fillings: avocado, salmon, tuna etc

Hand roll (temaki): Start with a half sheet of nori (seaweed). Place some rice to one side of the nori, (about ½" thick) and whatever topping you want on top of the rice. Then roll up the nori from the side with the rice on it so it looks like an ice-cream cone with rice and the filling sticking out of the top. Serve with wasabi and soy sauce.

Basic sushi roll: Use a full sheet of nori on a sushi mat and place rice along the width of the nori about a quarter way down so that it covers a quarter of the sheet. Top with whatever topping you want such as avocado, salmon, tuna or egg. Fold the sushi mat over and make a cylinder-like roll.

These are just two types of sushi to get you started. Keep it simple and don’t pack too much rice into the roll. It’s also a good idea to keep your hand wet, so have a bowl of water close by that you can dip your fingers into when they get too sticky from the rice.

A Favorite Recipe: Fresh Fish Sushi

Ingredients
1 cup short-grain rice
1 tablespoon fine sugar
5 tablespoons rice vinegar
4 oz fresh fish fillet (such as salmon, tuna, ocean trout or kingfish)
1 small Lebanese cucumber, peeled
1/2 avocado
4 nori sheets
Wasabi, to taste
Pickled ginger, to serve
Japanese soy, to serve

Preparation Method

1. Rinse rice under cold water and drain well. Place rice with 2 cups of water in a saucepan and bring to boil. Decrease heat to low and simmer uncovered for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the water is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand with lid on for a further 10 minutes.


2. Place rice in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, 2 tablespoons vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, and pour over rice. Stir to combine. Cover a flat tray with aluminum foil and spread rice on it to cool.The rice should be completely cool before using.


3. Choose from a variety of fillings. We used fresh salmon and tuna, cucumber and avocado. Prepare the fish and vegetables by slicing into batons about 2 inches long. Set aside. Meanwhile, combine remaining vinegar with 1 cup of cold water in a bowl.


4. Place 1 nori sheet, shiny-side down, on a bamboo mat (or non-stick baking paper). Make sure longest edge of nori is at top of mat. Dip hands in water mixture (to prevent rice from sticking) and spread a quarter of rice over bottom two-thirds of nori, leaving a small border around edge.


5. Spread a thin line of wasabi along the middle of the rice and arrange a little of the fish and vegetables alongside the wasabi. Gently lift the end of the mat closest to you, and roll it over the ingredients to enclose.


6. Continue rolling the mat forward to make a complete roll. With one hand on top, gently roll mat back and forth a few times to make a nice round shape. Use a sharp knife to slice the rolls about 1 inch thick.


7. Serve with pickled ginger, soy sauce and extra wasabi.

Japanese Knifes

For someone looking to become a serious Japanese cook, he or she must own more than a simple Japanese sushi knife. There are many Japanese knives, from the very common to the very specific use. The Japanese cooking knife has its roots intertwined with the Samurai katana sword, both originating from Sakai, Osaka. During the late 1800’s the Samurai were banned from carrying swords around in public. With the demand gone, sword smiths simply shifted their craft to manufacturing cutlery. They employed the same skill to produce the same high quality blade, only instead of a tool used in war their new product was used to prepare food. Originally Japanese knives had only one “cutting side” with the thought that it cut cleaner. Over the past six decades much of the Japanese knife manufacturing has shifted to a more western style with two edges to their cutting blades. Along with the original carbon steel blade, Japanese knives are now also manufactured in stainless and ceramic.

The most popular Japanese knife is the deba bocho (cleaver used for fish). There is also the nakiri bocho (standard vegetable knife) and usuba bocho (high end professional vegetable knife) the santoku knife (all

purpose knife) and the tako hiki and yanagi ba (sashimi slicers). There are other less popular, more specific knives such as the Unagisaki hocho (eel knife) and the Hancho hocho (long knife used to fillet tuna).

Many Master Chefs own their own Japanese knives, which only they use. In some cases they will have two sets of knives. At the end of the day they will sharpen the set they used and let the knives sit for a day for fear of any metallic scent or taste being passed on to the food.

Knife sharpening is an art unto itself. With Japanese knives it is recommended to use a whet stone. There are three kinds employed; the Arato (rough stone used to repair chips, broken tips and repairing a blade angle), The Nakato (medium stone used for sharpening a blade and keeping shape) and Siageto (small rough stone used to finish the process). It is recommended you do not attempt to sharpen your own blades until you receive proper instruction. A full set of Japanese knives for beginners can start as low as $69.

Popular Asian Cuisines

With cooking shows rivaling sports broadcasts celebrities like Emerald Lagasse and Rachael Ray are as popular now as Dale Jr. and Tiger Woods. What used to be boring, best nutrition for least effort, meals has been reinvigorated with creative dishes from many different cultures. Asian cuisine is at the forefront of this movement.  

Years ago, when picking an Asian restaurant many people used a general term called Chinese, just like Italian or Greek. In recent years this general (American) term for all of Asian cuisine has finally diversified. We now have a myriad of choices in this once “Chinese” only category. There is Japanese sushi, Korean, Cantonese, Vietnamese and Thai recipes just to name a few. These options have also crept from restaurants into our homes.

The definition of Asian food has different meanings in different areas of the world. In different cultures it refers to specific areas of the continent of Asia. For argument’s sake we will use as broad a stroke as possible focusing on the three most popular styles.

The first is the Southwest style which includes countries such as Burma and Pakistan. This is influenced by Arabian civilization which uses flat bread, hot peppers, strong spices along with kebabs. There is rice used with much of the food, but also chapatti and beans.

The second major cooking style is the northeast, which includes Korea, China and Japan. This style uses oils and sauces in much of its cooking. Food in this culture blended with many of the medicines and religious meanings. This was probably the first culture that consciously used food to bridge the mind body relationship.

The third style is the southeast (Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia). This style employs stir frying and steaming. Spices in this style are more subtle that the southwest using juice and herbs such as mint and cilantro.

The most important tool in the southeast cooking is the wok. This was directly based on the poor economic situation of the culture. Because of this they needed to invent a pot which they could cook a myriad of foods in. The rounded bottom of the original wok allowed for a variety of temperatures and cooking capacity with this one pan. Today, the western version of this has evolved into a flat bottom pan for use with electric stove tops. It is a universal tool, which to this day can be easily mastered to cook a variety of dishes.

How to Season your Wok

The most famous piece of Chinese cookware is the wok. The shapes, depths and handles vary according to how many people you cook for. There are electric woks, cast iron woks, stainless woks and carbon steel woks. While material can vary, the inexpensive carbon steel (or spun steel) is considered the best material for a wok as it has pores that open when heated which absorb oil and become sealed. The thinner the metal the better as it will respond to heat changes immediately. The most important step in the care of your (carbon steel or iron) wok is to season it properly prior to cooking. This is similar to seasoning a stir fry pan or iron skillet. This helps seal the cooking surface, improve the flavoring of your food and prevent rust.

Before you start seasoning your wok, open all your windows and turn on your hood vent. The next step is to wash the wok in hot water with detergent and a steel wool sponge or pad. Rinse the wok and dry it. Place the wok on high heat until the metal turns a blue-yellow color. Remove from stove and lower heat to medium. Next add 1 ½ teaspoons of vegetable oil (you can also use corn or peanut oil) into the wok. Use some sort of heat resistant material, brush or tongs and a paper towel to apply the oil. Heat the wok on low to medium for tilting the wok constantly to redistribute the oil over the entire inside of the pan. You will see smoke rise up from the pan at this point. After about 10-15 minutes turn off the heat and clean off the residual oil with a paper towel. There will be a dark residue on the towel. Repeat oil application until no dark residue remains on the towel. This process should be repeated 3-4 times. After several coats of oil have been ‘burned in’, the wok will begin to turn dark, but may be spotty or uneven. A completely dark wok comes only after multiple uses in the kitchen as the seasoning builds up. When the wok has developed enough of an oily surface that does not look dry when heated up, you may begin to start your wok cooking.

When cleaning the wok, you should never use soap or any abrasive scrubbing, which will dislodge the seasoning layer, especially in the early stages in the life of the wok. After use, rinse the wok with hot water and, if there are any pieces of food sticking, scrub with a paper towel to remove. A well seasoned wok will need very little oil to cook. The average time to season a wok is about 45 minutes. If treated well the wok should give you a lifetime of wok cuisine enjoyment.

Notes:

• Don’t keep any flammable materials near the stove
• Be careful when shopping for woks. Many come covered with a coating of machine oil to keep the metal from rusting, so be careful when handling not to get the oil on your hands, arms and clothing.
• Make sure you have proper ventilation prior to seasoning.
• Flat bottomed woks are better for electric ranges, while round bottomed woks can damage this type of stove by reflecting heat back at the element.

Article written by John Theo Jr. (June 2009)

Getting ready to get started

My partner and I have decided to have a go at creating a website dedicated to asian cooking. In particular cooking fabulous, delicious, healthy and wholesome dishes in a wok - the "one-pot wonder" at the heart of many great dishes.

The new site is going to be called woksfordinner.com and it will be launched sometime over the summer of 2009. We are currently busy writing what we hope will be interesting articles and looking for great recipes to share with our new online friends. We might even throw a few products up there for sale assuming they work well and pass our own rigorous testing.

Hopefully the site will be an interesting read and place to meet like-minded folks trying to feed their family fresh, inexpensive meals.

Stay tuned for updates in the coming weeks. Here's the link - http://www.woksfordinner.com

Best

- Lucille