Makes (about) 32 rolls
Hello all! I know it's been a while since my last post, it's been a busy month! I hope everyone is keeping in positive spirits as we drift through the beginning of this second lockdown.
During this first weekend of lockdown I decided to set myself a challenge for this month; to try something completely new in the kitchen every weekend. This weekend has kicked off the challenge with some homemade sushi.
Now, I have had a lucky start here as I have a fantastic sushi set from Sushi Aya (https://www.sushiaya.com/) which massively helped me along the way. The website provides tutorials on how to use the equipment, and once you get the hang of it it makes sushi SO easy!
Begin by bringing to the boil 300g of sushi rice in 600ml of water, and boiling for 10 minutes until the rice has absorbed the water. Mix 2 tbsps of white wine vinegar and 1 tsp of caster sugar in and leave covered to cool.
Prepare the ingredients you would like to put in your sushi. In this case I used salmon, avocado and philadelphia. Slice 1 raw salmon fillet into long thin pieces about 1cm thick. I did some research beforehand on what raw fish was safe to use in sushi, and farmed salmon is strongly recommended above wild salmon as they are less likely to contract parasites. Half, pit and peel your avocado, again slicing it lengthwise into thin pieces.
TOP TIP: squeeze some lemon juice onto the sliced avocado to avoid it going brown. Citric acid stops fruit from going brown as it's ascorbic acid reacts with the oxygen before the fruit does, a healthy natural preservative!
Using the Sushi Aya set made compressing my ingredients together much easier. If you are a big sushi fan and would like to get stuck in to making sushi at home I would highly recommend this kit!
1. Start by choosing the base size you want, and slotting the frame on top. The kit provides bases for maki rolls or larger rolls.
2. Lay your nori seaweed in the frame-base so it forms a U shape.
3. Scoop spoonfuls of rice onto the seaweed and spread across the bottom of the seaweed base, pressing it down as you go - you don't want this to be too thick otherwise you won't have enough room for the filling and the other half of the rice. Likewise if is too thin the sushi may not bind well and fall apart. Aim for about half a cm thick of rice to start.
4. Using the rod appliance, press down into the rice base to create a groove along the bottom of your rice base. This is where you can lay your filling into.
5. Spread the philadelphia down first, laying the salmon and avocado strips on top. Depending on how much filling you want you can adjust the amount of rice-filling ratio.
6. Scoop some spoonfuls of rice on top and spread and pat down onto your fillings. Using your fingers wet one edge of the seaweed length and fold on top of the other seaweed side, sticking them together.
7. Choose the top frame you would like to shape the sushi into, in this case I made circular sushi, and press down on top of the sushi log, compressing all the ingredients tightly together. Gently lift the top frame off.
8. Using your sharp sushi knife (that also comes in the kit!) slice down the marked lines slowly as to not tear the seaweed on the top.
9. Gently lift off the main frame and flip the sushi log upside down.
10. Squeeze the edges of the base to release, and voila! You have a neat log of sushi rolls!
I'm looking forward to experimenting with some other fillings on lockdown, perhaps tempura prawn and cucumber next! What is everyone else filling their time with in lockdown? Leave comments below!
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