Make your own Sushi at home

I usually make my own sushi at home. It's really fun to make sushi and is much cheaper to make it at home. The best thing about the home-made sushi is that you can put any fillings you like. Making sushi may be a bit time-consuming but it's worth the effort. Sushi is also great for snacks on parties and picnics as you can prepare it ahead and it does not require heating up.



Sushi is usually prepared using makisu (bamboo sushi mat). Since I don't have this available, I use aluminium foil, as an alternative, to help roll up sushi. I am quite satisfied with the result as you can see in the photos below.



I am going to make 3 types of sushi: seaweed sushi, egg-roll sushi and reverse-roll sushi.





Ingredients:

1 cup medium- or short-grain rice (short-grain sushi rice is ideal)
5-6 tablespoon sushi seasoning
2 eggs
Cooked sausages, cut into strips
Few strips of capsicum
Few strips of cucumber
Canned tuna in brine
Nori (seaweed sheets)
Roasted sesame seeds
Wasabi paste
Soy sauce
Making rice for sushi:

Wash the rice thoroughly until the water comes clean. Leave to drain it in the strainer for about 30 minutes. This will make the rice evenly milky white.
Cook the rice in the rice cooker by using water according to your rice cooker's instruction.
Once the rice is cooked, transfer it into a flat-bottomed pan. Ideally, handai (wooden tub) is used but I used baking pan and it worked for me.
Sprinkle sushi seasoning few tablespoons at a time and start folding the rice - but DO NOT stir. Fan the rice while folding in order to cool it. You may need a helper to fan the rice.


Making egg sheet:

Beat 2 eggs with salt.
Heat oil in a large non-stick pan to ensure the egg sheet is not too thick. Spread the oil evenly in the pan. When the oil is heated, pour the beaten eggs and distribute evenly around the pan.
When one side is cooked, turn it over.
Remove from the pan and put it on a flat surface. Cut the egg sheet in the size of nori. Set it aside.
Cut the leftover edges into strips and use them as sushi fillings.


Making seaweed sushi:

Place the nori with shiny side down on the aluminium foil. Ideally makisu (bamboo sushi mat) is used but I tried with aluminium foil and it absolutely worked for me!
Put a portion of rice on the nori. With wet hands, spread the rice evenly about 1-2cm away from the far edge.
Put your favourite fillings on top of the rice about few centimetres away from the folding edge.


Folding the sushi roll:

Hold and pick up the aluminium foil from the near edge. Roll it over while keeping the fillings in the centre with your fingers. 
Roll until the contents start to stick together. Then gently pull the aluminium foil away from you while keeping your other hand on the surface to manoeuvre the roll.
Cut the sushi roll into desired sizes.


Making egg-roll sushi:

Place the egg sheet on the aluminium foil.
Put a portion of rice on the egg sheet. With wet hands, spread the rice evenly all over the egg roll.
Place a nori sheet on top of the rice.
Put your favourite fillings on top of the nori about few centimetres away from the folding edge.
Start folding. See the Folding the sushi roll section above.


Making reverse-roll sushi:



For this method, if you are using makisu, it's better to first cover it with a cling wrap to avoid the rice from sticking to the bamboo. Since I am using aluminium foil, I could avoid this step.



Place the nori with shiny side down on the aluminium foil.
Put a portion of rice on the nori. With wet hands, spread the rice evenly all over the nori.
Sprinkle roasted sesame seeds on top of the rice.
Turn over the rice bed so the rice side is down and nori  is on top.
Put your favourite fillings on top of the nori about few centimetres away from the folding edge.
Start folding. See the Folding the sushi roll section above.


Serve with Wasabi paste and soy sauce.