HOW TO MAKE SUSHI
Dit is seker nou nie so fancy soos in die restaurante nie, maar ons vorder en elke keer lyk dit beter. Die pret is in die maak daarvan met vriende wat sushi ook geniet. Ons doen dit amper maandeliks. Vriende wat nog nooit sushi geëet het nie, is nou gretige sushi eters.
Good Sushi Meshi (Rice):
• It has to be (very) sticky.
• It mustn’t be too soft. (We don’t want rice mush. The single rice corns should be identifiable.)
• It mustn’t be too hard. (We don’t want to hear or feel a “Crunch” while eating.)
1. Use short grained sushi rice. (Long grained rice won’t work, because it doesn’t get sticky enough.)
2. Wash the rice until the washing water starts to get clean. Massage the rice in some water and then rinse, repeat this until the water is no longer milky.
3. To cook the rice use about 15 % more water than sushi rice measured in volume. (So if you use 1 cup of sushi rice, use a little bit more than 1 cup of water. 4 cups of rice approx 1.1 litre of water)
4. Bring the water to boiling point without the rice. (You can add some salt if you want – this depends on your personal taste. Not necessary if you are using soya sauce which is salty enough)
5. Put the rice into the boiling water and continue to boil on the highest heat level of your stove. To prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of your pot, stir the rice several times while it boils. (This is important! Otherwise a thick layer of rice will stick at the bottom of your pot.)
6. After 2 – 3 minutes turn the heat down to lowest level. (The water should barely continue to boil.)
7. Put a lid on the pot and let the rice simmer for about 10 – 15 Minutes. (There mustn’t be too much heat! Otherwise the lowest layer of rice will stick to the bottom of the pot.)
8. As soon as the rice has absorbed the water, put it away from the stove and let it rest within the pot covered by the lid. Wait for about 15 – 20 minutes. (This also seems important! If you don’t wait, your rice probably will be too crunchy.) After that you can add sushi vinegar (see below) and fold into the rice. Be careful not to break the rice grains.
Usually you put the rice in a special wood bowl and mix it there with the vinegar, to avoid chemical reactions with your metal pot. Another solution is to put the rice into a ceramic baking pan or Tupperware dish.
9. Spread the rice in the baking pan (or somewhere else) so that the rice cools down quickly. I use a fan to fan it. Cover the tray with a wet dish cloth to prevent the rice from drying out. (Sushi rice should be used when it is cold. If you are working under time pressure warm rice will also work.)
One middle sized cup of rice should be enough for 4 rolls of maki sushi, if the rice is spread thin on the nori mats. It is quite difficult to make only one cup, so rather make 2 or more.
4 cups of rice will yield 12 cups of prepared rice (sushi-meshi). This will be a perfect amount of rice for a party of 6 people.
- Sushi vinegar is made by mixing rice vinegar with sugar and salt.
- 100 ml rice vinegar
- 60 ml sugar
- 20 ml salt
Prepare the vinegar dressing by dissolving the sugar and salt in the vinegar over low heat. Immediately remove from the heat and allow to cool.
In my experience the two most important points are the boiling time at full heat and that you let the rice rest after it simmered:
If you boil the rice too short it won’t get soft, if you boil it too long it will get too soft or it will burn. 2-3 minutes seems to be the right time, but it might vary with different rice brands. Let the rice rest for at least 15 minutes.
If there is some rice left over, do not refrigerate it (it will go hard). Leave it out, wrapped in clingwrap. It won’t go off as the vinegar solution in the rice acts as an anti-bacterial agent and will be fine till the next day. Just before you use it, sprinkle a little bit of water over it and microwave on high until it is just warm to the touch.
Note:
Your sushi rice is very sticky. To prevent the rice from sticking all over you while you try to work, it is very important to keep your hands moist with a little hand vinegar.
This is known as tezu and is made by mixing 10 parts water to 1 part rice vinegar. Always keep a small bowl close at hand. Also use this mixture for dipping your knife in before cutting the maki or Californian rolls.
HOW TO MAKE SUSHI MAKI
Things you’ll need:
A bamboo mat, nori (seeweed)
sushi rice and fillings (fish, chicken, seafood and or vegetables to your liking).
Feel the nori sheet from both sides and you will find one side to be a bit smooth and the other a little rough. The nori should lay on the rolling mat with the rough side facing upwards.
Get your hands wet, and make about a handful of rice to a ball of rice. It’s important to keep your hands wet while working with sushi rice because it is sticky. When you work with the nori though, you should keep them as dry as you can. That is why you should have a bowl of water (with a bit of rice vinegar added to it) and a dry dishcloth or towel nearby when making sushi.
Gently put the rice ball in the middle of the nori sheet, and start spreading it equally on the nori, creating a layer of rice covering almost the entire sheet except the upper margin of about 2 cm that should be kept uncovered. Later on, the margins need to be empty of rice in order to close to sushi roll properly.
Be careful not to compress the rice, but merely spread it over the nori.
Now it’s time to place a slice of fish, chicken or seafood e.g. crabstick or salmon (preferably no more than one) on the edge of the nori, along with pre-cut slices of vegetables (carrot, cucumber and so on). Remember the thinly sliced avocado as well.
Using the closer edge of the rolling mat, close on the filling with the nori making a rectangular shaped hill and tighten it from above.
Move forward, continue rolling in the rectangular hill steps, keeping it tight with every move until you reach the end of the nori. Put pressure on the roll from all three sides at all time, especially on stops to allow it to roll tightly.
Use a wet, sharp knife to cut the roll in to little sushi units.
6 – 8 units per roll – first cut the roll once in the middle, put the 2 sides together and then cut both at the same time into 3 or 4 slices, depending on how think you want it.
Prepare all the ingredients before starting to roll the maki
Notas van Gillian Logan Bredenhann
My man skil die komkommer, dan sny hom al in die rondte. Daarna word dun repies gesny.
Wasabi poeier, gemeng met ‘n bietjie water. Hoe langer dit staan, hoe sterker word dit.
Nog vulsels…. dit hoef nie net rou vis te wees nie. Ons gebruik gewoonlik hoender fillette in repies gesny, crabsticks middeldeur gesny, gerookte salm en as daar kinders by is, sommer viennas ook. Komkommer, wortels, slaaiuie, net waarvoor hul lus het.
Pak die rys, strooi sesame saad oor, en dan ‘n paar vulsels. Nie te veel op een slaag. Hier het ons ‘n hele nori vel gebruik, maar sedert dan het ons geleer om dit te halveer.
Vat die punt van die nori, en begin rol soos hierbo verduidelik.
Klaar gerol, druk die kante mooi gelyk.
Vir die kinders, ‘n lekker vienna en tamatie sous maki. Dit is hoe my seun sushi leer eet het, maar nou eet hy al die ander ook.
Ons nooi gewoonlik vriende oor, en terwyl daar lekker gekuier word, kry almal ‘n takie om te verrig. Die een rol, ander pak, ander sny ens. Groot pret.
Mooi gesny, voorbereiding word nou gedoen met die soya sous, gemmer, wasabi ens.
Hier is als nou in plek, en na ‘n gebedjie, val ons weg aan hierdie skinkborde vol maki sushi.
Bon appetite!
Resepte geplaas en foto’s: Gillian Logan Bredenhann
