Sushi for beginners

Sushi for beginners, by a beginner
Let me just start by saying that this is a guide to homemade sushi for beginners by a beginner, haha and now you may think that why would I post a guide on sushi if I am a total newbie myself?! Well, I posted a picture of my homemade sushi on instagram last week and got a bunch of requests for a recipe or guide on how to make it, so I though I would give it a try.

The single most important thing to know about homemade sushi
While I may not be a sushi extraordinary, I do know the single most important thing there is when it comes to making homemade sushi – it really isn’t as hard as it seems! And yes that really is the most important thing to know. I am a massive sushi lover, but I only just tried making sushi on my own three weeks ago because I was convinced that it would be too difficult to make, but guess what, it isn’t! So if you are are sushi lover and you want to make sushi, then I just told you all that you need to know. It is not hard to make, just get started already, I promise you wont regret it! :D

You do not need a lot of fancy equipment or ingredients
In the stores they always have a million ingredients and equipment to make sushi, but to make some simple homemade sushi like the ones pictured here you really do not need any of that. I did not buy any of the sushi gear, not even the bamboo mat and mine turned out great. I am not saying that you shouldn’t buy them, but if you are a sushi newbie and just want to give it a try and see if you like it, then all you need are sushi rice (you don’t need to add sugar, vinegar etc. either), nori seaweed sheets, your filling of choice and then maybe some soy sauce or whatever kind of dipping that you prefer.

Simple is better
When first trying to make sushi I would really recommend you to keep it simple, do not stuff your sushi rolls with a bazillion ingredients, it will make it harder roll and I have found that the more simple flavor combinations often works the best.

Rice confusion
I have tried making sushi a bunch of times now and every time I buy a new bag of sushi rice they have a new and completely insane instruction on how to cook them. I mean there are like 14343 weird steps and I am not very patient when it comes to something as simple as rice, so I cooked all of them the exact same (and very simple) way and they turned out perfect, so I though I would share with you guys. Simply add 3 parts rice to 4 1/2 parts water and let it boil slowly with the lid on for 15 minutes on a a little above medium heat, then take it off and place a clean towel between the pot and lid and let it rest for 10-15 minutes. This have given me perfect sushi rice every time!

Raw fish – fresh, but frozen
For the sushi pictured I just made some simple veggie sushi, but if you want to use raw fish then it is important to buy fish that has been frozen -20 c for at least 24 hours to kill any potential parasites. Haha yum, I know! Parasites are rare, but it is unfortunately a possibility when it comes to raw fish, so to make sure I would recommend you to always buy good quality fish that has been frozen as described above first.

Now, for the recipe, well there actually really isn’t one. To make this I used some regular sushi rice (cooked as described above), nori seaweed sheets, cucumber, avocado, mango, soy and chili mayo. I used a little beet juice to color half of the rice pink, it doesn’t really add any flavor and was just for aesthetics, what can I say, I like my food pink and pretty ;)

I spent ages trying to describe how to make the sushi, but let me just say that it didn’t go too well. At times like this I can definitely feel that English is not my first language! So instead I found this brilliant article (just look at step 8-10, I rolled mine without the bamboo matt, just grab the nori sheet and roll it while pressing down like in the video) that explains and shows how to make and roll the sushi – gotta love video guides! :D

If you have any questions or just some good tips and advice on how to make homemade sushi then please share :)