Sticky Rice is Integral to the Perfect Sushi Roll

Never invite someone over for a sushi meal the first time you make sushi. The rice won’t stick (because you thought any rice you own, if prepared correctly, will be sticky), resulting in the entire sushi roll falling apart. Your guest ends up eating a mush of rice, veggies, and seaweed. At least that’s what happened to me the first time I made sushi.

Homemade sushi takes some practice – especially in learning how to make the sticky rice. It’s actually pretty simple to do, as I learned from my cooking class.

Make sure to buy short-grain rice – it is stickier than long-grain rice. Measure the amount of rice that you’d like to make, for example, 1 cup of rice. The water to rice ratio for sushi rice is 1.5:1. Rinse the rice under water until the water runs clear. Then soak the rice in water for 20 minutes. After that, measure 1.5 cups of water and put it in a pot with the rice. Cover, boil for 2 minutes, and simmer for 15 minutes on the lowest heat setting. After the rice is cooked, lay it out on a tray to cool. Once cooled, the rice will be sticky and ready to be made into sushi rolls! I don’t like adding rice vinegar, sugar, or any other flavouring to my sticky rice, but if you’d like to add any of those ingredients, go for it!

You can fill sushi rolls with anything you’d like. I usually fill mine with avocado, cucumber, and whatever vegetables I have in my refrigerator. The first time I made sushi I grilled some salmon with the skins and filled my rolls with that. Despite the rolls falling apart, the salmon made it quite tasty!  A popular filling is mock crab. It is important that whatever you use for filling is cut into thin, julienne slices.

To make a sushi roll, take a sheet of nori (seaweed) and lay it slick side down on a bamboo rolling mat. Both the nori and bamboo rolling mat should be available to purchase in your local grocery store. Using a wooden spoon, spread the rice in a thin layer, all the way to the edges of the nori. Place your filling about 1/3 of the way from the bottom of the nori. To make wasabi, mix some wasabi paste with water, and spread it on the rice right about your filling. Using the bamboo mat, start rolling the nori over the filling. You end up with spherical shaped roll. At the end of the roll, spread a thin layer of water on the inside of the nori and close the roll. The water acts as glue, keeping the roll together.

Slice the sushi into bite sized pieces and enjoy! Serve with wasabi, pickled ginger, and soy sauce. If you’d like to make inside out sushi rolls, spread rice on the nori and flip the rice side upside down. Put your filling straight onto the plain nori and roll (the rice will be on the outside). If you desire, toast some sesame seeds and roll the rice in the seeds. It’s delicious!

If you are confused about these instructions or have any questions, please email me at jen.wellnessforlife@gmail.com and I’d be happy to help you out!