Sushi, a dish from Japanese cuisine, gained popularity in Europe in the early ’80s and made its way to our shores in the early ’90s. Today, the capital boasts numerous restaurants offering a variety of rice and seafood dishes, complemented by special sauces and spices. To prepare this exquisite dish, fresh fish, rice, nori (seaweed), roe, omelet, sesame seeds, cheese, pickled ginger, wasabi, rice vinegar, and the essential soy sauce are used.
The only downside to sushi is its noticeable cost, especially in restaurants. However, it’s now easy to find all the necessary ingredients to make sushi at home without any hassle.
As mentioned, sushi consists of rice combined with other ingredients. In Japan, rice is a staple food. For sushi, specific varieties of rice that have a unique stickiness are required. Fresh fish such as tuna, salmon, or eel is typically used for the filling, along with various seafood options like crab, squid, shrimp, octopus, and, of course, roe.
Another essential ingredient is nori—thin sheets of dried seaweed that are a valuable source of nutrients beneficial to our bodies. Common vegetables used in sushi include avocado, cucumber, or some pickled vegetables. You can also use tomatoes, bell peppers, and other familiar ingredients. Omelets made from eggs, mayonnaise, soy sauce, and sugar can also be added. Interestingly, you can wrap sushi in this omelet instead of nori. The primary condiment for sushi is soy sauce, which is rich in vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, along with pickled ginger, which helps cleanse the palate between different dishes, and wasabi—a type of Japanese horseradish made from the root of the wasabi plant. Often, a substitute made from horseradish or mustard is used instead of wasabi.
This dish can be broadly categorized into two groups: sushi—rice with filling wrapped in thin slices of fish, and rolls—rice with filling wrapped in nori leaves. The cost of ingredients for making sushi is relatively low. It’s best to purchase products from specialty stores, where you’ll find a balanced selection of necessary ingredients for sushi preparation, and importantly, you can buy them in small quantities.
Here are a few simple recipes you can try at home.
Sushi with Salmon
You will need:
125 g sushi rice
1 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp wasabi powder
100 g fresh salmon steak
1/2 sheet of nori
Rinse the rice under cold water until the water runs clear. This step is essential every time. Place the rice in a pot, add water, sugar, and salt, cover, and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat and cook for 20 minutes. Transfer the cooked rice to a plate and add the rice vinegar.
Now wet your hands and form small rectangles from the rice, placing them on a board. Add a couple of drops of water to the wasabi powder and mix it into a paste. Using a sharp knife, slice the salmon into thin strips. Spread wasabi on each piece of salmon and place it wasabi-side down on the rice, pressing gently. Cut the nori into narrow strips, moisten them with water, and wrap each piece of salmon in a strip. Serve the finished dish with wasabi and pickled ginger.
Rolls with Smoked Tuna and Omelet
You will need:
275 g rice
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
4 sheets of nori
1 tbsp wasabi
1/2 cucumber
50 g smoked tuna
4 green onion stalks
1 egg omelet
Cook the rice and place it in a non-metallic bowl. Sprinkle the rice with a mixture of vinegar, sugar, and 1/2 tbsp salt. Let the rice cool. Place a sheet of nori shiny side down on a bamboo mat for rolling. Using a spoon dipped in water, spread rice over the nori, leaving a 1-inch border on one side, and add a bit of wasabi on top. Layer cucumber, tuna, green onion, and omelet on the wasabi, then tightly roll it up with the filling inside. Cut each roll into pieces using a sharp knife moistened with water. Serve with soy sauce and ginger.
For the omelet, beat 2 eggs, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sake or dry white wine, and 1 tbsp water. Grease a skillet with oil, place it over medium heat, and pour in half of the egg mixture. When the omelet sets, roll it up and push it to the side of the pan. Pour in the remaining half of the mixture, and when it sets, roll the first omelet into the second, push it aside, and repeat with the remaining egg.
Roll with Avocado and Tuna
You will need:
220 g tuna fillet
1/2 package of rice
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 beaten egg yolks
6 sheets of nori
55 g avocado
1 red chili pepper
4 green onion stalks
Cook the rice, add vinegar, and cool it in the refrigerator. Heat oil in a skillet, add the yolks, and cook until you have a thin omelet. Let it cool and cut it into squares. Place rice at one end of a nori sheet, create a small indentation in the rice, and line up pieces of avocado, cooked and crumbled tuna, and omelet. Top the tuna with green onion and cover with a layer of rice. Roll it up and cut into small pieces. Serve with shrimp, greens, and chili sauce.