Making Sushi at home

[effowe]

I recently went out and bought a sushi mat as well as a book on Japanese cuisine with the intention of practicing making some rolls and nigiri pieces of sushi. From what I have read online, the most crucial part to making sushi is the rice. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on what rice to get as well as a cooker that will make the rice properly.

Here is the rice that I was looking at. Two separate people ordered it and gave it five stars. Anyone else used this before or have any other suggestions as to what to buy?

Here is the seaweed that also got 5 stars but just from one person. It's cheap enough that I can buy a bag or two just to test, just wondering if people have used this brand or could suggest another.

As far as the Rice Vinegar, I have found this and this. Is one better than the other, or does it matter?

The final thing I need to get is the steamer. I have a cheap Black and Decker steamer that I can cook rice in, but I would prefer an automated steamer specifically made for rice. Many of the ones I saw on Amazon were over $100 dollars. I wouldn't like to spend this much, but I will if it's going to be worth it.

That should do it for now, any help would be much appreciated.

 

[se7en]

Advice? Don't die!

 

[elektrolokomotive]

Don't forget to pick up some blowfish.

 

[Ns1]

I audit a company that makes Nori sheets for sushi. The nori comes in several grades, for the purposes of this discussion we'll say it's grades A-F, A being top grade.

F grade is the stuff you'll find at rock bottom prices
C-D grade is probably Ralphs/Mitsuwa/most supermarkets
B grade is for good restaurants
A grade is for the BEST restaurants


Shitty nori will make your sushi suck ass. Quality nori snaps and has a very delicate taste to it.

 

[Doodoo]

I get the same rice from chinatown. As far as nori goes...i use Takaaokaya Yakinori Tokusen...i find that its more delicate and darker then the other ones i've tried....just personal preference. I haven't really noticed any difference between the vinegars i've used.

 

[evident]

make sure you have a VERY SHARP knife, or else you are going to make a mess cutting your sushi rolls and end up having very poor presentation

 

[effowe]

Originally posted by: Doodoo
I get the same rice from chinatown. As far as nori goes...i use Takaaokaya Yakinori Tokusen...i find that its more delicate and darker then the other ones i've tried....just personal preference. I haven't really noticed any difference between the vinegars i've used.

Ok, well I was coming up with this cunning plan when I was at Chinatown in Chicago. I haven't been able to find that particular nori online, so do you think they would have it at a good market down there (since that is where you buy your rice)?

 

[torpid]

The most crucial element is the fish, not the rice. It doesn't matter how good your rice is, if your fish tastes like crap then the sushi will taste like crap.

 

[LS21]

Originally posted by: torpid
The most crucial element is the fish, not the rice. It doesn't matter how good your rice is, if your fish tastes like crap then the sushi will taste like crap.

the most crucial element of sashimi is fish. there are sushi without fish

 

[Doodoo]

Originally posted by: torpid
The most crucial element is the fish, not the rice. It doesn't matter how good your rice is, if your fish tastes like crap then the sushi will taste like crap.

Well...if your rice tastes like crap your sushi will too. Kind of goes hand in hand...unless your eating sashimi.

Effowe...when I pick out which nori to buy...i just buy the darkest one i can find. Just looks better to me. Texture...well its a crap shoot. When i was in the market they had like 4 different kinds. If your in chinatown see if you can find the bbq eel...now that is some good stuff. I'm sure if the chinatown in Manhattan has it...the one in Chicago should too.

 

[Biggerhammer]

Rice doesn't stick to knife or hands if they are wet.

It's quite possible to make rice with just a covered saucepan... if you're just making sushi for yourself I'd call a steamer a luxury.

 

[torpid]

Originally posted by: LS21

Originally posted by: torpid
The most crucial element is the fish, not the rice. It doesn't matter how good your rice is, if your fish tastes like crap then the sushi will taste like crap.

the most crucial element of sashimi is fish. there are sushi without fish

Yes, but if you are eating sushi with fish, then the fish is more important than the rice.

 

[MaxDepth]

Originally posted by: evident
make sure you have a VERY SHARP knife, or else you are going to make a mess cutting your sushi rolls and end up having very poor presentation

Yeah...what he said. If you don't have it sharp the warm rice and nori will be butchered when you try to slice.

Another thing, have a wet washcloth and small bowl of water near the cutting board. These things will take the stickiness of the rice off of your knife and the rice won't stick to your hands.

Oops, one more thing. If you are going to have folks over for sushi or sushi party, cut your fish ahead of time, just like the sushi restaurants. Cutting the fish ahead of time will save you a lot of grief. It's just like an assembly line then.


Good luck and have fun! Take some pics if you can!

 

[altonb1]

Make sure the fish, etc. is FRESH and is SUSHI-GRADE. We were in Wegman's a few weeks ago and asked in the seafood section about some of their tuna, and the guy behind the counter advised that we should go to the sushi chef and ask about the seafood because they did NOT recommend buying from the regular seafood dept.

Also, make sure you fan the rice so it is cool. If it is too warm, it doesn't work as well, and you burn the hell out of your fingers.

 

[gururu2]

don't get carried away when u taste test the rice. you become numb to the flavor and may end up over-seasoning it. stick to a recipe, even if it tastes like it doesnt have much flavor. the flavor is there int he final product

 

[effowe]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I am still looking around for a fresh fish market that has sushi grade fish in Chicago. I am thinking about just going to my favorite sushi place and asking one of the people there where they import it from, don't know if that'll give me any luck. I will be going back to Chinatown hopefully this weekend to try to buy the rice and nori. I am going to have to spend some time practicing my cooking and rolling techniques, but when I finally find where to buy the fish (and I know how to cook the rice properly) I will be trying my hand at many different rolls. Post will be updated with pics when that time comes, hopefully sooner than later.

 

[torpid]

It shouldn't be hard to get sushi grade fish in chicago. Most of the local sushi restaurants here get their fish from there.

 

[ghostman]

I've been looking to make sushi as well. I made California rolls a few months back as a trial run, but I never ended up trying with raw fish. Two questions though:

1. What's a good sushi rice recipe? I bought rice vinegar and added it to the rice, but in the end, it tasted like slightly sour rice rather than sushi rice. I followed an online recipe then.
2. And where can I get sushi-grade tuna/salmon in NYC (Manhattan or Brooklyn)? I know there has to be several, but I'm worried since the only place I know (korean? market near St. Marks) is an hour away from home by subway. I'm not sure if fish can sit out like that for that long.

 

[ShockwaveVT]

cooler + ice = cold fish transport...

 

[alkemyst]

ANY asian market will have the right rice for like $15ish a 20lb bag, same rice at a Publix is about $6/lb. The Nori is also at the asian market.

The fish is the hard part. Most store fish isn't fresh enough for good sushi. A fish market is a different story *usually*.

My wife is FOB Japanese She liked a KRUPS rice cooker/slow cooker we found in a linens and things or bed bath and beyond...it was about $70 but not only cooks rice well, but can slow cook.

Kokuho Rose is what we buy...there are different grades of it, but that is the top one and the one we buy in 20lb bags. That is expensive though at $7 for 5lbs...we get if for $13 if we pay cash and about $15 on credit/debit.

The large bag doesn't say 'sushi rice' in the upper left corner but 'New Crop' instead. Other than that the bags are identical.

AFAIK though Kokuho Rose is a domestic rice and not imported...it doesn't really matter where it comes from as long as it's short grain and 'sticky', this kind of rice takes longer to grow and not used as much in the US so it's not popular everywhere.