Do you think Japanese sushi is an expensive restaurant dish? Not sure how to cook rolls at home? Their recipe is actually extremely simple and even for those who are completely unfamiliar with cooking. Believe me, you definitely won’t need too much time and energy, but you will enjoy it! And the instruction, which tells in detail about how to cook sushi and rolls at home, will greatly facilitate your task and turn the process into a real pleasure.
Everything you need for a Japanese dish, you can find in any supermarket. So be sure to surprise your family with delicious handmade rolls.
Features
Making sushi in your own kitchen is a very real process, if you stock up on all the necessary equipment in advance. To create a Japanese culinary masterpiece, you need a special mat - a kind of rug for twisting rice rolls, the sharpest knife, cling film, a small saucepan and, of course, an appropriate set of products. Armed with everything you need before, you can safely proceed to the process.
To get started, it’s best to use a simple step-by-step recipe for making rolls at home with a traditional combination of fresh cucumbers, fish and soft cream cheese. Such a filler can be safely called the simplest, most popular and affordable. If you have already bought everything you need, then you just have to find out how to cook rolls at home.
Product selection
What does it take to cook rolls at home? First of all, you should correctly select the products necessary for this dish. It is very important to pay attention to some features of the components of classic sushi.
Rice is considered the main ingredient of rolls. That is why it is so important to choose a special cereal that you can buy in the corresponding department of the supermarket. For the preparation of Japanese rolls, a special kind of rice called nishiki is used. This is a round starchy groats, which after processing acquires the necessary sticky consistency.
However, it is not very often possible to find just such rice in domestic stores, so try to give preference to round-grain cereals. Visually, such rice is very similar to ordinary grains, but its taste differs significantly from simple cereal.
There are two varieties of Japanese horseradish, or as it is often called - wasabi. Real mustard used to make rolls outside their homeland is almost impossible to find. And on the shelves of our stores you can meet dry wasabi and pasta sauce.
If possible, opt for a powder that, as a rule, is devoid of all kinds of chemistry and consists only of natural ingredients. In addition, you can make such mustard of the consistency that you like. To prepare the powder, you simply need to dilute it with water and leave it for 5-10 minutes. By the way, you can completely do without Japanese horseradish, if you do not like too sharp dishes. However, traditional roll serving necessarily involves wasabi.
In addition, soy sauce and ginger must be present in the table decoration. The last component is necessary in order to fully reveal the rich taste of the combination of rice and fish. In addition, ginger is famous for its strong antibacterial properties that neutralize various parasites that may be present in raw seafood. Keep in mind that a white product has a milder taste than a pink one.
Soy sauce gives the rolls richness, juiciness and softness. In addition, this piquant dressing is considered extremely useful. When choosing, pay attention to the composition of the product: high-quality soy sauce should contain salt, sugar, wheat, soy and vinegar. By the way, such a dressing should be stored exclusively in glass containers.
If you still do not know how to cook rolls at home, then it's time to get to know this process more closely. Please note that you need to make them with rice vinegar, which is perfect for giving the dish an unusual aroma and an additional flavor. Suitable vinegar has a rather sweet, mild flavor. Keep in mind that a low-quality product can spoil rolls.
An equally important ingredient in Japanese rolls is nori. They are made from red algae and are divided into varieties of categories A, B and C. Nori of the first variety is of the highest quality, has a pleasant aroma and a strong, elastic structure. Working with such algae is a pleasure. The darker the product, the richer its smell.
Sushi rice
Any instruction that talks about how to cook rolls at home step by step begins with processing the main component of the dish - cereals. After all, quality cooked rice is the basis of real Japanese sushi.
First of all, thoroughly rinse the cereal in cold water - this must be done until it becomes completely transparent. Usually, this requires approximately 8-9 procedures. Then remove all floating grain and husk. Put the rice in a small thick-walled pan and fill it with water. The proportions of liquid and cereals should be 1.5 to 1.
Bring to a boil over low heat under a lid, then reduce the temperature to a minimum and cook for 10 minutes. Then turn off the heat and let the croup stand for as long. Do not open the cover. As a result, you will get pretty sticky rice that will work comfortably. But the process of its processing does not end there.
It is very important to supplement the boiled cereal with a special dressing, used only for sushi. If you, as expected, purchased rice vinegar, then it will be very easy to make it. You need only 4 tablespoons of the liquid mixed with 2 teaspoons - sugar and salt. This mixture should be slightly heated to completely dissolve the crystals. Add the whole cooked dressing to the rice and mix thoroughly.
How to cook rolls at home
An important step in creating a Japanese dish is considered to be directly twisting rice rolls. To do this, you will need a special mat - a bamboo mat. In principle, the process itself is not so complicated, but you will probably need some time to acquire skills. So, now a little instruction on how to cook rolls at home.
Lay the nori on the mat so that its matte side is at the top. Prepare a bowl of water with vinegar added to wet your hands - you need to do this after each manipulation. Take a small handful of cooled rice and evenly distribute it on the surface of algae, observing a layer thickness of about 0.5-0.7 cm. Leave empty strips a centimeter wide on top and bottom of the sheet. Then put the thinly sliced filling according to the selected recipe.
Take the edge of the mat and the top of the sheet in your hands at the same time and start twisting the tight cylinder. A well-made roll should be pretty elastic. In this case, the filling should in no case fall out of it. Cut the formed roll in half, and then each part into three more identical pieces. Each time, making an incision, be sure to wet the knife in vinegar water.
How to roll sushi inside out
You already know how to cook rolls at home, but those who like exotic dishes are surely interested in another question. And it consists in how to roll the famous rolls with rice inside out.
To prevent rice from sticking to the surface of the mat, be sure to wrap it with cling film. First lay the algae sheet with the glossy side down. As in the previous case, distribute a handful of rice on the surface of nori in the same way. Leave the sheet in this condition for several minutes, so that it is soft and firmly adhered to the rice.
Then, gently holding the nori, turn the algae with the grits down. Roll the cylinder in the same way as with a regular roll. Sushi should be cut with as sharp a knife as possible so that their edges do not tear and rice does not crumble.
Now, knowing how to cook rolls at home (photos of the process are given in the recipe), you can easily please your household with a delicious Japanese dish.
The famous delicacy "Philadelphia"
This is perhaps the most popular dish of Japanese cuisine, which can be found literally in all sushi bars. Ardent fans of rolls are probably well acquainted with this delicious dish. Now, having familiarized yourself with the sushi preparation process in more detail, you can easily make this dish yourself.
Composition
So you will need:
- 0.5 kg of rice;
- 6 sheets of nori;
- 60 g of rice vinegar;
- 200 g of appropriate cheese;
- 350 g red fish fillet;
- 10 g of sugar;
- 20 g of salt;
- fresh cucumber;
- avocado.
The method of preparation of traditional rolls
First of all, boil rice according to the technology and prepare the rest of the products. Cut cucumbers and avocados into thin strips in full length. And chop the fish with very neat plates. After the groats have cooled, you can start forming rolls.
Put the nori on the mat, spread the rice on top, wait a couple of minutes and carefully turn the sheet over. This is necessary because Philadelphia is precisely the sushi that is made inside out. Grease the back of the nori with cream cheese. Then spread the slices of cucumber and avocado closer to the edge and form a tight roll.
Put it aside, and on the mat, lay out thin salmon plates and wrap the roll in them. Finally, with a sharp knife, carefully cut it portionwise. Transfer the formed sushi to a dish, decorate with ginger and wasabi. Serve soy sauce separately in a small bowl.
How to cook hot rolls at home
Such sushi, also called "Tempura", have a truly unique taste. And having trained a little, you will definitely be able to cook a dish, no worse than a restaurant treat.
You will need:
- 400 g of rice;
- 200 g of eel;
- as many red fish;
- cucumber;
- egg;
- tobiko;
- a spoon of tempura flour;
- breadcrumbs;
- 200 g cream cheese.
Cooking
On a nori placed on a mat, lay out a handful of cereals and evenly distribute in a thin layer. Generously smear rice with cream cheese, sprinkle with a small amount of tobiko and lay out thin plates of cucumber and fish. Using the mat, carefully roll the roll.
Mix the egg with flour, add a pinch of salt and beat well. Dip a roll in the batter made, roll it on all sides in breading and fry in hot oil until golden brown. Cut hot roll portionwise and transfer to a dish.