Let’s talk about Japan’s greatest creation, barely surpassing Ghost in the Shell, bento, Otsuka Ai, Iron Chef, comedy routines based on torturing Morning Musume and Pocky. Sushi!
First, we need to clear up one of the most common misunderstandings in the multicultural dining experience. Sushi is a category of traditional Japanese food consisting primarily of rice mixed with seasoned vinegar, seaweed, vegetables, and cooked or raw fish. Fish doesn’t have to be raw, people! In Japan, raw fish is used more often, but is still perfectly “authentic” when cooked. Actually, until now I’ve kept to a general rule of thumb that I won’t eat raw fish unless it’s somewhere on the coast, but lately I’ve heard a lot of people say that this is mostly a paranoid scare story to feed on, and fish raw from a fishmonger or supermarket is fairly safe to eat.
Anyway, let’s get on with the sushi. I’ll talk about ingredients and preparation today, and construction tomorrow, as I believe this is a topic that deserves detailed attention.
First, you need the correct rice. This is easier to get than you’ve been told – many places (I see it mostly in health food stores) sell “sushi rice” which is usually overpriced and not particularly special. I’ve made great sushi from this, from arborio rice (Italian risotto rice), rice pudding, and great inexpensive regular short grain rice. As long as it’s short grain and cooked the right way, it’s fine.
“Cooked correctly” means cooked the way I’m going to tell you, without deviations. This method of cooking rice is 100% bullet proof and 99% idiot proof. It is derived from the guidance of Yasuko-san, who is a bona fide Japanese mother. Don’t mess with a Japanese mother when it comes to cooking rice. You shut up and cook the black rice as they tell you. Actually, I had to adjust the numbers a bit because the rice we have here has a different absorption ratio, but the principle still stands.
(for 2-3 people) Take a cup and a half of short grain rice, wash it until the water runs clear and put it in a saucepan with 3 cups of water. The saucepan should have a tight-fitting lid. Now, put the saucepan over medium heat and simmer for 15 minutes. DO NOT move the lid at any time or Yasuko-san will find you and hit you with her samoji*.
Now, turn the heat up to high and cook the rice for a full 1 minute. You should hear it start to sizzle in the bottom of the pan by the end of the minute. If you’re using hot plates (as I’m damned, living in a tall building), have a plate preheated to high heat and just slide the pan onto it. Then remove it from the heat, with the lid STILL ON, and let it sit for 10 minutes WITHOUT TOUCHING THE SHIT LID.
Rice cooked this way will be the perfect consistency, won’t need to be drained (because all the water is absorbed), and will actually taste better. For long-grain rice, it will be firm and smooth; with a quarter teaspoon of salt added to the boiling water, I’ll eat a simple bowl of white rice cooked this way with relish. For short grain rice it will be sticky but the grains will hold their shape, perfect for sushi or rice balls. Save Yasuko-san! ganbatte! Ganbarimasu!
For the seasoned vinegar, combine a quarter cup of white wine vinegar (best rice wine vinegar), 1½ tablespoons of sugar, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt in a small saucepan, and heat to a boil to that everything is golden dissolve. Once the rice has finished its 10 minute rest, spread it out in a shallow bowl (I use my vertical sided pan which is perfect) and drizzle the vinegar mixture over it, then spread it out well with a spatula or wooden spoon. . Try not to squash the grains too much, you want them firm and well formed for perfect sushi.
Now you need to cool the rice before rolling it. A true sushi chef would fan it by hand. Actually, scratch that, a true professional sushi chef would have one of their underpaid kitchen monkeys hand fan you. Fortunately we have the benefits of modern technology and an almost total disregard for tradition. Put it in front of an electric fan for about a minute, then spread it out with a spatula to bring the hot rice from the bottom up and leave it there for another minute. This will leave the rice cool and a bit drier (but still moist and sticky enough to give it a nice shape).
So you have your rice ready, perfectly cooked and seasoned, just waiting for your rolling skills. Now all that remains is the final transformation. Find out more tomorrow, as we delve deeper into the world of sushi! Thrills, spills and algae! There is danger at every step!
* Rice paddle