How To Make Sushi Part 1: Extreme Sushi Blast, Kapow!

Let’s talk about Japan’s greatest creation, barely beating Ghost in the Shell, bento, Otsuka Ai, Iron Chef, comedy routines based on torturing Morning Musume, and Pocky. Sushi!

First, we need to clear up one of the most common misunderstandings in the multicultural dining experience. Sushi is a category of traditional Japanese food consisting primarily of rice mixed with seasoned vinegar, seaweed, vegetables, and cooked or raw fish. Fish doesn’t have to be raw, people! In Japan, raw fish is used more often, but it is still perfectly “real” when cooked. Actually, so far I’ve had a general rule of thumb that I won’t eat raw fish unless it’s off the coast somewhere, but lately I’ve been hearing a lot of people say that this is mostly a paranoid scare story that eating, and fish raw from a fishmonger or supermarket is quite safe to eat.

Anyway, let’s get to the sushi thing. I’ll cover ingredients and preparation today, and construction tomorrow, as I think this is a topic that deserves detailed attention.

First, you need the right rice. This is easier to get than you’ve been told: many places (I see this mostly in health food stores) sell “sushi rice” which is usually overpriced and not particularly special. I’ve made great sushi out of this, from arborio rice (Italian risotto rice), rice pudding, and inexpensive large regular short grain rice. As long as it’s short grain and cooked the right way, it’ll be fine.

“Cooked correctly” means cooked the way I’m going to tell you, without deviation. This rice cooking method is 100% bulletproof and 99% idiot proof. It is derived from the guidance of Yasuko-San, who is a bona fide Japanese mother. Don’t mess with a Japanese mother when it comes to cooking rice. You shut up and cook the black rice as they tell you. Actually, I had to adjust the numbers a bit because the rice we have here has a different absorption ratio, but the principle still stands.

(serves 2-3 people) Take a cup and a half of short grain rice, wash it until the water runs clear and put it in a saucepan with 3 cups of water. The saucepan should have a lid that closes well. Now, put the saucepan over medium heat and simmer for 15 minutes. DO NOT move the lid at any time or Yasuko-san will find you and hit you with her samoji*.

Now turn the heat up to high and cook the rice for a full 1 minute. You should hear it start to sizzle at the bottom of the pan at the end of the minute. If you’re using hotplates (as I’m damn, living in a high-rise), have a hotplate preheated to high heat and just slide the pan onto it. Then remove it from the heat, with the lid STILL ON, and let it rest for 10 minutes WITHOUT TOUCHING THE BAD LID.

Rice cooked this way will have the perfect consistency, won’t need to be drained (because all the water is absorbed), and will actually taste better. For long grain rice, it will be firm and smooth; with a quarter teaspoon of salt added to the boiling water, I will eat a simple dish of white rice cooked this way with relish. For short grain rice it will be sticky but the grains will keep their shape, perfect for sushi or rice balls. Save Yasuko-san! Ganbatte! Ganbarimasu!

For the seasoned vinegar, combine a quarter cup of white wine vinegar (the best rice wine vinegar), 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt in a small saucepan, and heat to a boil to set. let everything brown. dissolve. Once the rice has finished its 10 minute rest, spread it out in a shallow pan (I use my vertical sided sauté pan which is perfect) and drizzle the vinegar mixture over it, then spread it out well with a spatula or spoon of wood. Try not to crush the grains too much, you want them firm and well-shaped for perfect sushi.

Now you need to cool the rice before rolling it. A true sushi chef would fan it by hand. Actually delete that, a real professional sushi chef would have one of his underpaid kitchen monkeys hand fan it. Fortunately we have the benefits of modern technology and an almost total disregard for tradition. Put it in front of an electric fan for about a minute, then spread it out with a spatula to bring the hot rice from bottom to top and leave it there for another minute. This will leave the rice fresh and a bit drier (but still moist and sticky enough to give it a good shape).

Then you have your rice ready, perfectly cooked and seasoned, waiting for your rolling skills. Now all that remains is the final transformation. Find out more tomorrow, as we delve deeper into the world of sushi! Thrills, spills and seaweed! There is danger at every turn!

* Rice paddle