By Julia Kobzareva

For many of us Japanese food is connected with wild enthusiasm: sushi, rolls, sashimi… For fans it is a great gastronomic pleasure. So why not try to cook all this at home? Especially since you will be assured of quality of prepared foods, and it is economically advantageous compared to the restaurant. First, let’s get the basic ingredients of our menu – how they are called and what they are.

Japanese rice is short-grained, sticky rice. A large content of gluten (gluten) allows it to keep good form. Nori is thin sheets of dried seaweed. In appearance they are brittle and fragile, but softened by moisture in rice. Gary is thinly sliced pickled ginger. It is eaten to cleanse the palate from the taste of the previous sushi before eating the next. Not necessarily to have a lot of ginger, small pieces are enough. Wasabi is spicy green Japanese horseradish paste. Sold in a tube or in powder form. Rice vinegar has a sweet taste. It is used in rice for flavor and better adhesion.

Fillings for sushi and rolls.

You can stuff sushi with everything you want, it is important only that the products were fresh. Fish can be as raw as well as smoked. Boiled or salted. Selected ingredients should be cut very finely, so they are easy rolling. Avocado, cooked crab, boiled shrimp, smoked eel, fried in butter tofu, sweet peppers, roasted, or canned tuna, chopped omelets, smoked, boiled or canned salmon, green onion, eggs, Philadelphia cheese, cucumbers, boiled scallops Shiitake mushrooms, clams, etc. – filling depends on your preferences. Sushimaki, Sudare or Makisu is a small bamboo mat. He is used to make rolls. To begin, we will describe how to cook rice for sushi at home. There are several ways to cook.

Sushi rise

175 g of rice, 1 tsp. of sugar, 1 tsp. of salt, 2 tbsp. of rice vinegar

Rinse rise under cold running water until water is flowing from the rice becomes transparent. Within two minutes cook rice in 250 ml of water. Turn off the cooker and leave rice for 10 minutes. Then open a lid and leave for another 10 minutes. Prepare the vinegar mixture: mix salt, sugar and vinegar, and then reheat. Place the rice into a bowl, drizzle with vinegar mixture and mix well. We obtain approximately 450 g of rice for sushi. Before you prepare sushi, let the rice get cool.

Rice for sushi: a simplified recipe

You need to make 1 kg of rice, as mentioned above. Make a mixture of acetic acid, for this mix 2 tbsp. of sugar, 1 tsp. of salt, 5 tablespoons of rice vinegar to dissolve sugar and salt. Place the rice in wooden bowls and pour the finished mixture. Quickly mix, while chilled. Now you can make sushi.

Pickled ginger

An integral part of sushi is pickled ginger. It is easy to marinate and serve at home not only with Japanese cuisine, but simply to rice. There are a lot of recipes for pickled ginger. We are giving the fastest one. A piece of fresh young ginger of 100-120 g, 1/2 tsp. of salt, 1/2 tsp. of vinegar (preferably rice), 1,5 tbsp. of sugar, 1/2 tsp. of soy sauce, 2 cups of water.

Peel and finely chop the ginger root. Put the slices in a bowl and pour cold water. Leave on for 30 minutes. Take a ginger, put in a pot with water, and bring to a boil. Take out slices and cool. In a saucepan mix sugar, salt, vinegar and soy sauce. Stir to dissolve sugar, bring to a boil. Put the ginger in a bowl, salt a little and mix well, pour the hot mixture. Let it brew for at least for an hour before eating it. Pickled ginger can be packed tightly in the refrigerator for a month.

Sushi & Rolls recipes

Traditional sushi is not cooked. Use fresh-caught sea fish. Prepare a bowl with tezu. Tezu is boiled water and a couple tablespoons of rice vinegar. Wet your hands and only then take the rice in your hands. Otherwise, glutinous rice sticks to your fingers and it will be difficult to cook.

Sushi “Nagiri”

Scoop by hand one and a half tablespoons of rice, a little squeeze in the palm of your hand and shape an oval. Brush the top with wasabi and put a thin piece of fish fillets, shrimp or strips of omelet, which will keep wrapped across the terrestrial alga.

Rolls “Hosomaki”

These are thin rolls, stuffed with one or two ingredients. Ingredients for the rolls: rice for sushi, nori seaweed, stuffing. Cut sheet of nori lengthwise into halves, with shiny side put down on a bamboo mat. Moisten hands with a little water, take a handful of rice and put on a piece of seaweed. Brush with wasabi rice, moving from the center. Along with wasabi lay strips of fish fillet. Mat with nori, pressing, roll in the roll. Remove the roll from the mat and cut into 4-6 pieces.

Before eating sushi, dip it in soy sauce. But not from the rice side, thanks to this sushi will not have salty taste and keep the form.

Julia has been writing articles as a journalist for over than 5 years. You are welcome to visit her new web site which is totally dedicated to bluetooth computer accessories and Bluetooth computer headset which help people to make a right choice while buying devices for VOIP telephony.

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You want to be easy on soy sauce, but I’m a soy sauce junky. I cannot help but to give my sushi and soy sauce a good bath. When it comes to eating sushi, how I look goes out the window. I’m not a sake connoisseur, but for me, a hot sake is a perfect thing to have with cold sushi. I’d rather be happy than being right. BTW, I’m married. There’s a freedom in not having to look for fish to catch.

When it comes to sushi, strawberry has never come to my mind. Marisa as always, exercise her creativity.
Following article is republished with a permission from Marisa Baggett.

Balsamic Strawberry Tuna Maki

Balsamic vinegar is a multi-purpose culinary marvel. While often associated with tangy balsamic vinaigrette, it can also be reduced to a thick syrup in which the flavor becomes quite sweet. The syrup can then be used in savory dishes or even in sweet ones such as a topping for ice cream.

The inspiration for this sushi roll comes from a classic combination of tuna and ripe strawberries drenched in balsamic vinegar. A touch of soy sauce added to balsamic syrup gives just the right amount of salty sweet goodness. 

Balsamic Strawberry Tuna Maki

Makes 2 Maki (12-16 pieces)

2 4in x 7in pieces of nori

about 2 cups prepared sushi rice

about 10 ripe strawberries, hulled

3 ounces sushi grade tuna, cut into 1/4 in strips

2 tsp finely chopped scallions

1/4 cup mizuna

1/4 cup daikon, shredded

2 TBSP balsamic syrup, or more to taste

1 tsp soy sauce

Cut strawberries into paper thin slices crosswise using a sharp knife or mandolin. Place pieces in between layers of paper towels to remove moisture. Place one sheet of nori horizontally on work surface and cover with plastic wrap. Using the nori as a guide, place a row of strawberries across the center of plastic wrap. Prepare another and set both aside.

To assemble the sushi rolls, place a sheet of nori rough side up horizontally on a cutting board. Cove the entire surface with a thin, even layer of sushi rice, about 1 cup. Flip nori over. Place about 1 1/2 ounces of the tuna strips horizontally in the center of the nori being sure to extend tuna the entire length of the nori. Top with 1 tsp scallions, half of the mizuna and half of the daikon, being sure to extend ingredients the entire length of the nori.

Roll sushi roll according to the method for rolling inside out rolls, stopping just before the cutting stage. Carefully place one of the prepared strawberry sheets on top of the uncut sushi roll, leaving plastic wrap intact. Secure strawberries to roll by laying a bamboo rolling mat on top and pressing gently. With plastic wrap still intact, cut roll into 6 or 8 pieces. With plastic wrap still intact, once again secure strawberries to the top of the cut sushi roll. Remove plastic wrap slowly.

Repeat steps to make a second sushi roll.

For the sauce, mix balsamic syrup and soy sauce. Drizzle to taste on top of sushi pieces.

Serve, if desired, with additional soy sauce for dipping, pickled ginger and wasabi.

* I do not have a set recipe for balsamic syrup. I recommend starting off with 1-2 cups of balsamic vinegar. Try using the leftovers on salads, fruit, and as a sauce for sautéed fish. To make balsamic syrup, place balsamic vinegar in a heavy bottomed saucepan over very low heat. Let vinegar reduce, stirring periodically and watching carefully so that it does not boil, until desired thickness has almost been achieved. As the syrup cools, it will thicken.