Bladdaow!

Thanks to the huge popularity of Japanese food in America, lots of people are taking sushi preparation into their own hands, purchasing affordable sushi sets and bringing this wonderful cuisine into their own homes, sharing it with their friends and family.  Unfortunately, the enthusiasm for sushi has not yet been matched with sufficient literature on properly preparing the ingredients, and the aim of this article is to play a small part in remedying that issue.  Specifically, the focus is on properly preparing the rice and seaweed wrap that will eventually hold the raw seafood filling.

First on the list is the “Nori,” the seaweed that wraps around the ingredients.  Many sushi set beginners do not realize that they should be cutting their Nori strips a little longer than they might initially assume in order to create a tight seal around the fish.  Most people, myself included, will recommend that you leave at least a half inch of extra seaweed on the end of the strip in order to make up for any miscalculations during the cutting.  Another thing to keep in mind is that Nori is often very dry and hard to work with.  A great solution for this is simply to sprinkle a little water on it in order to make a bit more malleable.

The other big element in sushi is, of course, the rice.  Since rice is incredibly starchy, it really helps to wash it a number of times in order to reduce the stickiness.  This will make the rice much easier to work with when it comes time to prepare the sushi rolls.  Also, be sure to cover up the rice when it’s done cooking so that it doesn’t dry out before you get a chance to line the Nori wrap with it!

As long as you properly prepare these two essential ingredients, you will have a lot of leeway in choosing whatever sushi filling that your heart desires.  If you learn nothing else, just be sure that you always carefully monitor the moisture content of both your Nori and your rice!  For more information, feel free to come on by The Sushi Set website.