Lesson 1: Cooking Sushi Rice
Seasoned Rice vinegar

You will need this to season the rice. I like to use bottled “seasoned” rice vinegar. The two brands I use are Mitsukan brand and Marukan brand. Also if you like you can make it from scratch with this recipe.

• ½ cup of rice vinegar (regular unseasoned)
• 3 tablespoon powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt (sea salt if you have it)

Heat the mixture in a non-aluminum pan. Stir occasionally until all the sugar dissolves (do not boil). Set aside to cool.

Quick Sushi Rice Recipe: for rice cooker or saucepan method

This is the best recipe to use in Sushi Magic.

Makes enough rice for about 2 to 3 California rolls, also 20, assorted Nigiri sushi. Use short grain rice. Brands such as Cal Rose, Nishiki, Shirakiku and Kokuho Rose. You can find these in most Asian food markets and nowadays most big chain grocery stores in the Asian food section or rice section. You can also buy sushi rice and other sushi ingredients online.

Ingredients:
• 3 cupsrice
• 4 ½ cups water
• 6 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar

Method. Combine rice and water in saucepan or rice cooker. If using rice cooker, follow manufacturer’s cooking directions; you can turn it on and forget about it, the cooker does the rest.

Use a non-stick saucepan; also make sure you use a tight or snug fitting lid. Bring rice and water to the boil on medium high heat with the lid off; be careful not to let it boil over. Stir with rice paddle, and turn down heat very low. Place lid on pan.

Set timer for 20 minutes and simmer gently. After 10 minutes or so briefly remove the lid and give the rice a turn with the rice paddle or wooden spoon so it does not stick or brown on the bottom. Replace lid and continue to cook.
When full 20 minutes are up turn of heat and let stand for 20 minutes.

When rice is finished cooking, it is time to cool the rice. Turn out the cooked rice into a large non-metallic bowl. Sprinkle the seasoned rice vinegar over the rice. To incorporate the vinegar evenly through the rice, slide the rice paddle down the side of the bowl, lift and fold the rice. Also cut through the rice with the edge of the paddle and fold the rice. Let it all cool to between body and room temperature (your choice) and then it is ready to make sushi.

Always use freshly made rice, do not refrigerate. This dries the rice and causes it to fall apart when moulded for sushi.

Some key points when making sushi rice:

• If using a Saucepan make sure the lid is tight. This will prevent too much water evaporation. Use a non-stick pan.
• Carefully and accurately measure rice and water ingredients.
• Don’t overcook or undercook your rice.
• After rice and water boil, turn the heat very low and keep the lid on.
• Sushi making is a gentle art so treat the rice gently. When cooked, don’t stir; fold it with the rice paddle.

More info on sushi rice

There seems to be a lot of mystery about how to make good sushi rice. I’ve seen all kinds of recipes that come with rice cookers, on bags of sushi rice and on the Internet. Some of these recipes don’t work. I recommend my “quick sushi rice recipe” (above) when using the “Sushi Magic” home sushi maker.

Some comments on other methodology: Washing rice is optional. It is nice to do as it can remove excess starch. If you do wash your rice, make sure you drain it in a large sieve for 1 hour to drain all the water out. Any residual water left in the rice may upset the balance of the sushi rice recipe. I have tried both washed and unwashed methods and, frankly, it is very difficult to tell the difference in the finished product.

Traditional Sushi Rice Recipe Ingredients;

• 1 cup of Botan Cal Rose rice
• 1 ¼ cups water
• 2 tablespoons seasoned rice wine vinegar
Do not wash the rice. In rice cooker or pan, combine the rice and water and soak for one hour. Turn on the heat and cook the same way as for previous recipe “Quick Sushi Rice.”

Note: This recipe produces dryer, tighter textured rice and is not as easy to mould for Nigiri as my quick rice recipe.

Some like to cool the rice in a special flat-bottomed wooden bowl called a Hangiri, as it soaks up any excess vinegar and assists in the cooling process. Fanning the rice while folding in the vinegar may give the rice a nice sheen, but I can honestly say when I have tried this my rice showed no significant benefit. However it is authentic and fun to do this.

Other factors that may influence the finished sushi rice are the region the rice was grown and the mineral content of the water you use to cook with. My quick recipe is straightforward and will give you good sushi rice on a consistent basis.

Lesson 2: About Fish
How and where to purchase sushi grade seafood; also how to prepare

Purchasing fish: sushi restaurants use both fresh and frozen fish. With today’s freezing technology, fish can be frozen quickly to retain freshness, flavor and color. As long as it is not kept frozen a long time and goes to the market quickly the fish will have a good fresh flavor. However, I recommend you stay away from packaged frozen fish, unless it is sold specifically as sushi grade.

There are a lot of sushi grade fish suppliers on the Internet that provide fresh fish and frozen fish. Supermarkets sometimes have sushi grade fish. Most of the time it will have been frozen and defrosted before sale. This fish is okay when it has just been defrosted, but don’t keep it for sushi more than 2 days. Keep sushi fish on ice in your meat box part of the refrigerator. Tell the fish sales person that you need fish for sushi, ask which days fish is delivered and get them to pick you out some nice sushi grade fish. Never use fish with a fishy odor. Look for fillets that are bright in color, not dull or darkened or dry looking. Buy loins or thick fillets, not steaks because they are much better for slicing. Try to find fillets at least one inch thick, so you can slice a wide enough piece for Nigiri sushi. You can see some methods of slicing for various thicknesses of fish in the fish preparation area of this page.

If you live near the coast you can locate fresh fish at the port or at small quality seafood stores. If fish is whole, it should be firm to touch not squishy, eyes bright not cloudy or discolored and scales must look fresh and bright not dull. Scales should be intact, no loose scales.

Try to avoid purchasing Ahi tuna or albacore loins that have too many distinct white lines in the flesh. This is a soft sinew and has a slight stringy texture, not suitable for Nigiri sushi. This part of the fish is fine to cook, or it can be used for roll sushi. When chopped, the sinew will easily pull away from the flesh.

Photos show albacore with white sinew lines and next a piece from the same loin with no sinew. I am cutting this to shape for Nigiri slices. (See fish preparation section below).

Crabmeat

Use cooked real Crabmeat or imitation, it’s your choice. It’s amazing how imitation crab tastes so good in sushi, and that’s what I use. To select imitation crab, squeeze the packet with your fingers. If it is nice and soft, then the texture is good and product moist. If it is firm or hard when squeezed the product is dry and may be course in texture. Always pick the soft product.

Shrimp

Shrimp should be as fresh as possible, or fresh frozen. The shrimp should be 3 to 3½ inches long when they are stretched out straight, or ask the fish salesperson for size 21-25 count. Do not use previously “de-veined shrimp.” They will not work for Nigiri sushi because their backs are cut to remove the vein which causes the shrimp to split in two when butterfly cut for sushi. I have special directions for cooking and preparing butterfly shrimp for sushi rolls and Nigiri sushi in the Recipes for Nigiri sushi toppings section.

Fish Preparation
Slicing fish for Nigiri sushi

Purchased fish comes in different shapes and sizes. The following slicing guide demonstrates cutting three different shape pieces of loin: salmon, ahi and albacore. Use a long 8 to 10 inch slicing knife. It must be very sharp, especially for tender seafood such as ahi tuna and albacore. You can find a very reasonably priced sushi knife to fit your needs in our store section.

When using fish loins or fillets, look closely and remove any bones with fish tweezers or kitchen pliers. Normally with salmon fillets it’s possible to cut fish into a block shape about 1 to 1½ inches thick, 3½ wide and 4 to 5 inches long, as in the salmon photo. This size block is easy to slice.

The general rule is to slice across the grain of the fish; this ensures the resulting slice is tender and has an attractive crosscut grain pattern. Lay your knife on the fish at the very back end part of the blade. Cut straight across the width of the block, with the blade at an angle of about 45 degrees, as in the salmon picture. Draw the blade across the fish in one long stroke to complete the slice. If you do not complete the slice in one stroke, lift the knife out of the cut and carefully repeat the slicing motion in the same direction. Avoid using a sawing motion as this could damage the fish.

Slice fish a little more than 1/8 inch and less than ¼ inch thick. Slices for sushi magic can be a variety of sizes, although are best cut at 3½ inch long, and about 1¼ inch wide as in the salmon photo.

Salmon

Keep the hand holding the fish behind the knife blade for safety as in these photos.

Fish loins and fillets come in different shapes and sizes. Here are some examples of slicing at different angles to obtain a slice of the desired dimensions, approximately 3½ x 1 ¼ inches. Remember that Sushi Magic will accept slices varying in length from 2 to 4 inches, it is your choice.

Ahi Tuna

This piece of Ahi is narrower than the salmon piece, so I cut it in half and then cut the narrower half lengthwise to form two bar shapes. These bars can be used later for sashimi or for spicy tuna roll.

The remaining larger block of ahi is cut for Nigiri sushi slices. The ahi pictured is about 3 inches wide and 1 inch thick. In this case, lay the blade across the block at an angle about 45 degrees, then slice through the fish at flatter 35-40-degree angle. These numbers do not have to be exact. Look at the photos and you will get the idea. The narrower and thinner the fish block, you will need to use a progressively lower blade angle. You will soon get accustomed to slicing different cuts of fish.

Albacore

In this case the albacore block has a pointed side, which is cut away to flatten the block. Also it happens to be narrower than the ahi and salmon block, and therefore the knife angle used across the fish is different again. To make slicing easier, place the fish at an angle away from you on the cutting board.

Any remaining scrap pieces can be chopped for different sushi roll fillings. You can see more slicing technique in the intermediate sushi class.

Albacore can also be seared on a grill before slicing and serving as in the last albacore photo. If no grill is available use a non-stick sauté pan. Albacore is oily so sear without any additional fat or oil. More on seared seafood in the intermediate sushi lessons.

I'll post the next Lessons in a near day.Thanks