Sushi! It’s easy, frugal & yummy!

On any given day, I could eat my weight in sushi. Now, I’m no sushi snob… I will throw anything into a sushi roll, so if you are looking for painstaking tutorials and how-tos for sashimi and Iron Chef type offerings, it’s best to continue on to google.

For the newcomers to sushi – ’sushi’ DOES NOT mean ‘raw fish’. It doesn’t. I PROMISE. Sushi refers to the vinegared rice used in sushi rolls. Really, seriously, it does. I wouldn’t lie to you. Please, if you don’t believe me – google it.

Moving on.

There are a few must have items for sushi making. Some websites will tell you that you need all this specialized equipment. You don’t. I mean, sure it would be nice to have a proper bamboo mat or sushi oke, but it’s really not a requirement if you cannot find these things where you live and don’t want to order them.

Things *I* need to make sushi:
Short grain rice (it usually says sushi rice on it) – No, you can not use regular old rice. I’m sorry.
A rice cooker – No, *you* may not need it to make sushi. I do. I burn rice on the stove top.
A rice paddle – My rice cooker came with one
Nori – Seaweed sheets (it’s really not as gross as it sounds, they are quite good actually)
Rice Wine Vinegar
Sugar
Salt
Fillings
Some sort of mat – I’m currently using a bamboo place mat I found on sale
plastic wrap
Soy Sauce

Optional but yummy:
Sushi Ginger
Wasabi

Okay! I think that’s it! I know, it sounds like a lot… and a lot of things doesn’t usually mean frugal. BUT, many of these things (rice, mat, vinegar, the mat, soy sauce, ginger, wasabi.. etc) are multi use items, have a long shelf life and do not need to be bought every time.

First, the rice. This is the recipe I use. (Just ignore that little tidbit about a oke being the best thing for stirring rice – use a big fricken mixing bow like I do and you will be just fine).

Fillings – I use all sorts of different things as sushi fillings. Almost always grated carrot and cucumber. Sometimes I throw in some fake crab or even some chicken! I usually try to make sushi at the end of the week and incorporate that week’s leftover veggies into it. A few days ago we had some friends visit and they wanted me to show them to make sushi. They brought fake crab, avocado and cream cheese, so that is what I’m using in my example.

(I’m sorry, I have no photos of this step of the process…)
Assemble left to right:
Bowl of sushi rice, small bowl of water, cutting board, sushi fillings, SHARP knife, plate

Here we have on top of the cutting board: the “bamboo mat” with a layer of plastic wrap on top of it, and a sheet of nori on top of that.

Then you wet your fingers in the bowl of water and grab yourself a ball of rice and spread it on the nori, leaving a blank space up along the top. Re-wet your hands each time you dip into the rice bowl. This prevents the rice from sticking to your hands and making you crazy. (I seriously used WAY too much rice here… I was in a rush to get all of these photos done before I lost the sunlight)

(Okay, I know, I’m sorry, these photos are much too bright) Place your ingredients in the center of the rice – in this case fake crab, avocado & cream cheese.

Then you are going to scoot everything to the edge of the “bamboo mat”.

And start to roll – you want to keep everything as tight as possible, so when you roll, use the tips of your fingers to tuck in your filling and keep it where you want it.

You will want to use two hands while rolling… I was operating a camera.

Now, when you get to this little naked piece of nori, you will want to wet your fingers slightly and get this part wet – you want it to stick to the rest of the roll when you finish rolling.

Then you finish the roll by lifting up the mat slightly (so you don’t roll it into the sushi – not yummy!)

Now, you want to press down firmly on the roll.

And then you have a finished sushi roll!

Move your “sushi mat” out of the way and put your roll on the cutting board and cut in half.

Then cut each half in half.

And again. My end pieces always look crappy. (And I totally use that as an excuse to eat them before they ever make it to the table.

Mmmmm…. Sushi!

You can honestly put ANYTHING you want into a sushi roll. I personally love a can of tuna mixed with a tablespoon or two of mayo and 1/4 of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper with a few strips of cucumber or shredded carrot.

Now you can dip the sushi in soy sauce, or soy sauce with a bit of wasabi mixed in. You can top each piece with sushi ginger or eat it between rolls (or leave all of it out! I often like naked sushi )

I hope you’ll give sushi a try! Even if it is with a piece of BBQ chicken in the middle!