How to make sushis and makis, sunday night : sushis night !

Since we got a rice cooker as a wedding gift, every sunday night, it's sushis night !

We have fresh fish from the morning's market, avocados, cucumber,

rice is prepared in the morning, and in the evening it takes me an hour to make them :)

I make 1 cup and a half (of the rice cooker's cup) for 2 people, like that we have some leftovers for monday's lunch.

You can either make more makis or sushis, it depends on your taste, I'll explain it all

- 8.8 oz of dry rice allow me to make 4 rolls or 30 sushis

For 2 people,

   You will need :   

For the rice

8.8 oz of pearl rice, short grain

- I take the Hinode's rice -

5tbsp of rice vinegar

- I use Marukan's vinegar -

2tbsp of white sugar

1 tsp of salt

To garnish

Seaweed's sheets for the rolls

1/4 cucumber

- we eat the rest as a snack with the sushis -

1/2 avocados

- depending how many rolls you make -

11oz 3of really fresh fish,

Pick the thickest one you can, if you are mostly doing rolls, you won't need that much

Wasabi

- japanese mustard -

Tools

1 big smooth knife

1 large spatula

- the one with the rice cooker is perfect -

1 bamboo mat

- I use my table sets :) -

- Let's go ! -

Prepare the rice : vinegar rice

Rince your rice until the water is clear, and cook it in the rice cooker, or in a casserole following the rules
I think that for 8.8 oz of rice, it's 8.5 fl.oz of water 

During that time, in a small casserole, melt the sugar in the rice vinegar on low fire,
 - you have to move it from the bottom of the casserole with a wooden spoon -

once it's totally melted, turn off the fire and let it cool down a bit

When the rice is cooked and tepid, put it in a bowl and pour that sugar/vinegar in it,
mix carefully with a spatula so all the grains are covered with it, and don't break the grains
Cover it with a humid tissue

Let it rest until the sushi-making

Prepare the ingredints

Cucumber

Cut it in half in the longest way, remove the heart/seeds with a spoon
Then cut it in long slices of 1/4 inch thick

Avocados

Cut it in half, then in 4, cut it in long slices of 1/4 inch thick

Fish

Tuna can be cut vertically, in the thickness of the steak, if it's not thick enough, cut it obliquely

 you have slices of fish 2.8inch long on 1.1 inch wide

Use the small pieces and what's left to garnish the rolls

Salmon has to be cut horizontally start by dividing it in 2 or 3 filets of 1/6 inch thick,
then cut them in long slices of 1.1inch wide and 2.8inch long

                                                                    Good to know :                                                            

When touching sushi rice, have your hand cold and wet, rince them after each use with cold water to avoid having rice sticking all over you.
Do the same with your tools, the knife and the spatula.

                                                                                                                                                         

Doing makis (rolls)

Place on your bamboo mat the seaweed sheet, in the sens it bends easily

- try to bend it in your hands -

The shiniest side is on the mat
Spread some rice with your hands, leave 0.4inch towards you and 1.2 inch on the top with no rice

Flatten it with your wet spatula, using the knife as a wall on the side so it won't go out

Put avocados, cucumber and fish at 1/3 of the rice from you, as shown on the drawing.

Use a wet finger to put a line of wasabi along the garniture,

it must be really light, be careful, it's strong

Then roll it, use the mat toward you with your thumbs, squeeze it but not too much,

use your free fingers to keep the garniture in place otherwise it will slide

Cut the extremities at 1/4 inch, and then every inch or so

Use a smooth and wet big knife, do it carefully

Doing sushis

Take a nut-size amount of rice in your fresh wet hands, squeeze it to obtain a cylinder

of you littlefinger-size

Take a slice of fish, spread some wasabi, lightly with a humid finger along the slice of fish

And put it on the rice,

The fish has to be long enough to cover all the rice in the long way

- as on the photo I took -

Don't make it too big, otherwise it's hard to eat

It's so good, we are done for the week after eating them :)

If I did more that 8.8 oz of rice, we would eat it all anyway !