Sushi Class: Beginner Level

Making sushi at home should be fun. If you have no experience with making sushi, this is the perfect place to start. You will get the hang of it in a few tries, and then you should be able to make them with ease.

In this section we will cover the basic preparations, and begin rolling the hand roll (temaki). If you don't have any sushi equipment, there is no worry. The main purpose of the beginner level is to get familiarized to the actual preparations. The hand roll requires no special skills nor it needs detail in presentation. But that does not mean that the taste should be ignored. There will be a lot of weight put on preparing the basic ingredients, since they must be prepared close to perfection. The hand roll is a good way to determine how you are preparing your ingredients. You can continue this level until you reach a satisfying result and then move on to the upper levels.

Always keep the knife clean. Each time you use it, you must wipe it with a kitchen cloth. 

Things to prepare:

Find a market that sells sashimi grade fish. A Japanese supermarket is recommended, since they have frequent buyers, and that means the fish will be extra fresh.

Let's Begin: 

Common mistakes and remedies:

Rice was too hard:

Either you didn’t pre-soak the rice, didn't add enough water, or you didn’t steam it enough. Most likely it is the second reason, but if you are sure about your measurements, try working on the other two possible reasons. 

Sushi rice was too bland, too strong:

Adjust the amounts of sushi rice vinegar accordingly. You can also try to adjust the sushi rice vinegar by adding salt, or sugar.

The nori seemed soggy:

The nori should always be sealed when it is stored. It is very sensitive to moisture. Also be sure to apply the sushi rice to the rougher side(not the shiny side) of the nori. The sushi rice should always
be cold when used with nori so it does not soak extra moisture.