Sushi: Sashimi, Nigiri and 4 Rolls

Serves 2 sushi fiends, with about 8 pieces left over

Fish procurement

You'll get more adventurous as you do this, but you can usually get good quality tuna and salmon at Whole Foods. Neither can have been frozen. Salmon is finicky, so make sure it's not cracking—don't buy it if it is. Ask the purveyor what is sushi grade, and they should be able to point you in the right direction. In Boston, there's a very good fish market called "The New Deal Fish Market" in Cambridge. But even here, they haven't had anything sushi grade beyond these three fish.

Special equipment:

• Bamboo sushi mat (only if you are making rolls)
  
• Very long, sharp knife, preferably single-side blade
  

Ingredients

• 4 sheets nori
  
• Fish (recommended): N.B. you will need more fish than you will actually eat. In order to get the fish to cut well, and look nice, you will end up with excess that is difficult to use for sushi. These recommendations allow for slightly imperfect shapes of fish, and some error.
  
  • ½ pound tuna
    
  • 1/3 pound salmon (skin removed
    
  • 1/8 pound fluke
    
  • 1 container high quality crab (plan on what you will use the leftovers for, as you'll have a lot left over)
    
• Avocado, cut into 1/3 – ½ inch strips
  
• English cucumber, cut into ½" strips, then cut diagonally, so you have a very long triangular "tube"
  
• Cilantro, washed, stems attached (but no roots or dirt)
  
• Spicy Mayonnaise; Mix the following together in a small bowl.
  
  • 2 T mayonnaise
    
  • 1.5 tsp hot chili sauce (Sriracha)
    
  • ¾ tsp sesame oil (hot if you have it)
    
• Sushi rice (see recipe)
  
• Prepared wasabi
  
• Prepared, pickled ginger
  
• Low Sodium Soy Sauce
  
• Su water: Mix vinegar and water in a small bowl, and keep to side. This is what you will be using to keep the rice from sticking to your fingers and your knife.
  
  • 2-3 tsp Rice vinegar
    
  • ~ 1 quart water
    

Assembly

Given that you are working with raw fish, it's important to make the sushi in an order that leaves the fish exposed for as little time as possible. The following is the best order I have found:

• Make nigiri "pods", do NOT add fish
  
• Make California rolls
  
• Make tuna rolls
  
• Make salmon rolls
  
• Cut fish for nigiri and sashimi
  

After making each roll, re-wrap fish, and put back into refrigerator.

Nigiri

1. Dip your hands in the su water (you will do this for each piece of nigiri you mold.
   
2. Take 2-3 tsp of rice into the palm of one hand. Press into shape with the other hand. Adjust the shape as desired. You will have a rectangle with rounded edged. These nigiri are smaller than restaurant nigiri. If you're like me, this is a wonderful thing, b/c restaurant nigiri is way too big.
   
3. Place on service place
   
4. Add a small amount of wasabi to each piece of nigiri
   

Rolls

1. Place nori shiny side down on the bamboo mat, with the edge lined up along the bottom of the matt. The wider side of the nori should be along the bottom of the mat.
   
2. Dip hands in su water to coat, and repeat as necessary.
   
3. Place rice along bottom half (the half closest to you) of the nori. Thickness is up to you, but I recommend 1/6", this will give you a tight, restaurant-sized roll
   
4. Place Filling in center of rice band:
   
   1. California rolls:
      
      1. Cucumber, avocado, crab, cilantro (optional)
         
   2. Spicy tuna rolls:
      
      1. Add spicy mayo in a ¾" strip down the middle of the rice. Add ½" x ½" x length piece of tuna, Add several cilantro sprigs
         
   3. Spicy tuna rolls with avocado:
      
      1. Same as above, but with avocado added
         
   4. Spicy salmon rolls with avocado
      
      1. Same as spicy tuna with avocado
         
5. Put away each piece of fish before moving to the next type
   
6. To roll:
   
   1. Pick up the mat, and tightly roll the sushi.
      
   2. Continue to roll, until last ¼"
      
   3. Moisten finger with su water, and place along the edge of the nori to create and adhesive to "seal" the roll
      
7. Wrap each completed roll in saran wrap and put into the refrigerator
   
8. Once all rolls are completed or prior to serving, remove and cut each roll into 6 pieces. Do this BEFORE you cut the fish for nigiri or sashimi
   

Sashimi and Nigiri Completion

• Remove fish from refrigerator as needed only. Start with the least delicate fish (usually tuna), and move to the most delicate (fluke in this case)
  
• Trim each piece of fish as needed, so that you have a "block" of fish that will allow you to cut clean rectangles
  
• Place the knife to cut a 1/6" to 1/8" piece of fish. You'll want to cut such that you can see the "grain" of the fish, i.e. you should see a cross-section of the striations of muscle for each piece
  
• Cut in a single motion, if at all possible
  
• For delicate fish like fluke, cut on a bias to get a wide enough slice of fish
  
• Arrange pieces on top of nigiri
  
• Arrange pieces on plate for sashimi