Sushi’s Surprising Secret – It’s Simple!

Do you want to create a dish that looks amazingly complicated and professional, but is actually very simple to prepare? Sushi could be your answer.

Whenever I tell omnivores that I love sushi, their response is usually ‘I couldn’t eat raw fish’. Well, I can’t eat fish cooked either. Sushi also comes in vegetarian form, and I love the stuff. A friend of mine owns a Scandinavian sushi restaurant in Rhodes, Greece (it’s a bizarre cultural combination I know, but it works) and I always go there to eat when I’m on the island. I’ve also eaten sushi in a Japanese restaurant in the Venice hotel in Las Vegas. I think the best veggie sushi I have ever tasted was at Boston market. No matter what diet you follow, you could spend days in Boston Market trying all the food and you would probably come out weighing about a stone more.

I’ve been keen to try making sushi at home for a while, and I wish I’d tried it sooner because it is sooooo simple.

Here’s what you need:

• Nori seaweed sheets
• Sushi rice
• Something to put in the sushi. Anything that you can cut into thin strips will do. Personally I like cucumber, peppers and chillies.
• A sushi rolling mat – I’m not sure how essential this is, but I’d recommend investing in one. They only cost a couple of pounds, and if it turns out you don’t like sushi you can always use it as a decorative place mat.
• Pickled ginger, soy sauce, wasabi paste etc to accompany.

You should be able to find all these ingredients in a good health food store, or in the specialist section of large supermarkets.

Here’s what you do:

1. Prepare the sushi rice as directed on the packet.
2. Lay a nori sheet on your rolling mat so that the longest side is along the top.
3. Spread a thin layer of sushi rice on to the bottom two thirds of the nori sheet.
4. Lay the cucumber/pepper, or whatever you are using to fill your sushi, along the top of the rice, about halfway down the nori sheet.
5. Wet the top edge of the nori sheet with water.
6. Using the rolling mat, roll the whole thing into a long tube. Make sure the final edge sticks where you have wet it.
7. Cut the sushi into 2cm thick pieces.

Sushi will keep in the fridge for a couple of days.

Here are some top tips that the sales advisor in my local health food shop gave me about preparing sushi:

• You can use sticky brown rice if you can’t get hold of sushi rice.
• The instructions on the sushi rice will tell you to soak it in water for 40 minutes before cooking it. If you’re short of time, this soaking time can be reduced and the rice will still taste OK.
• Don’t be too generous with the sushi rice. Only spread a thin layer on to the nori sheet. If you use too much rice, it will all spill out the ends and your sushi won’t roll together properly.
• Use a really sharp knife to cut the sushi rolls.
• Be careful if you decide to prepare wasabi paste from powder. You only need to use a little bit. One teaspoon wasabi paste to two teaspoons water is enough for a 6 piece portion of sushi.

I was so proud of my sushi that I took these photos to show you.