Sushi Secrets

How I make sushi fast and easy for everyday lunches

Rice is my biggest time drain when making sushi. I would rarely make sushi if I had to cook rice from scratch each time and I’d never go to the trouble of making it for my work lunch. So here is my big secret, its not very traditional but you can freeze sushi rice. I cook a big batch of sushi rice then separate into portions and freeze in plastic bags. I freeze the rice while it’s still pretty warm to help retain some moisture. Then whenever I want to make sushi I just grab a bag and heat in the microwave. Once you have a stash of rice in the freezer you can make sushi anytime!

So its 6am (yes I have to get up early bleah) and I grab a bag of rice, open and tip into a bowl cover and microwave till its warmed up. Then I add some sushi vinegar, Its pretty easy to find at the supermarket these days but you can always just add some sugar to regular white vinegar for a similar result. I add about 1-2 teaspoons per cup of cooked rice. I love the sushi vinegar, at this point I could just eat the rice with the vinegar for breakfast, it tastes so good!

Now for my other super secret. While I could pretend I am super skilled and dextrous at rolling sushi at 6am, the truth is that Im none of those things. I can barely keep my eyes open and it’s a good morning when I don’t spill my tea or choke on my toast and make it out the door by 7am.

So I use a sushi mold. Its simple to use and makes a perfectly round roll of rice every time. No fiddly rolling getting rice everywhere. This is quick and so easy even I can use it.

Half fill with warm rice, then I put my fillings in. Easy fast things I like are Tuna (canned) especially the trident range of tuna! Very yum, avocado, red pepper, cucumber and when I have more time I cook up some egg to put in there too.Cover the fillings with rice and press the lid down compressing the rice into a perfect cyclinder.
 
Then I grab some seaweed aka nori and press the roll out of the mold and roll it up. Very easy, very quick sushi for my lunch. (If seaweed has been putting you off sushi now you can buy alternative wraps made out of soy!)

Sushi Mama’s Top Ten Sushi Hints, Tips and Tricks.

1. Use a sharp wet knife. To get your sushi looking picture perfect and to stop the rice sticking to your knife dip it in water between each cut.
2. Leave the roll to stand a few minutes before cutting. This lets the moisture from the rice soak into the seaweed to soften it.
3.  Use a little water on the end of your Seaweed sheet to help it stick to itself and keep the roll closed tight.
4. Mayonnaise! A little egg mayonnaise in with you fillings adds a super flavor boost! Very nice with salmon and avocado.
5. Make rice in advance. Freeze portions of sushi rice (while still warm) to use later, now you can make sushi whenever you want.
6. You can put anything in sushi, don’t be bound by tradition, I’ve even seen spam sushi.
7. Have you tried furikake? Its Japanese rice seasoning, it comes in heaps of different flavours. It also adds colour to the rice. The shrimp flavour is pink!
8. The local Asian grocer probably has rice and rice vinegar at better prices than your supermarket and probably lots of fillings precut and frozen ready to use. I love the deveined precooked and filleted prawns that you put on top of nigiri! Looks great for party platters and everyone thinks you went to way more trouble than you really did.
9. Use rice vinegar, its essential for flavour, use about 1 tablespoon per cup of cooked rice. Can’t find any? You can make your own. Use 1/3 cup white vinegar, 2 Tbs of sugar and a teaspoon of salt.
10. Make your sushi rolls with warm rice. Its stickier while it’s warm and will help everything bind together.
    
    
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