Making sushi with your own hands is not only a way to save money, but also a great leisure time. And to make sushi tasty, you need to choose high-quality products - first of all, fish. Of course, the Japanese themselves often use raw, freshly caught, and sometimes even live sea fish. However, decent sushi can be made from more affordable options - fish shock frozen or smoked. The main thing is to cut it correctly.
Pick your recipe
You will need
-
- a well-ground knife (a special knife for sushi or loin);
- cutting board;
- frozen tuna fillet;
- smoked salmon;
- smoked eel.
Instruction manual
1
Most often, sushi uses tuna, salmon and sea eel. Beginners should not cut whole carcasses of fish on their own - buy a ready-made fillet. For most types of sushi, sugared frozen tuna fillet, smoked eel and smoked salmon are suitable. The first two options can be purchased at specialized stores selling sushi goods, and salmon is sold everywhere. Choose whole fillets, peeled or with skin.
2
Inspect the selected fish. Remove dried edges, small bones. The frozen fillet should be thawed a little by placing the fish extracted from the vacuum packaging in salted water. Do not thaw the fillet to the end - it will be easier to cut it. Remove the smoked eel from its packaging. Cut the fillet in half along the back. If your skin seems too stiff, you can remove it. But some dryers suggest just putting the fish in the microwave for a couple of minutes - the skin will become softer.
3
Start cutting fish. The method of slicing depends on the sushi that you intend to cook. The general rule is that for nigiri sushi (sushi with fish laid on top of a rice bun) you will need thicker slices, for rolls you need thin plates of fish, for temaki (nori cones) you need pieces in the form of thin bars.
4
Put the fillet on a cutting board, press it firmly with your left hand, and cut it with your right, holding the knife at an angle of 30-40 degrees. Do not cut fish, drive the knife gently and smoothly, in one slow motion. Do not try to cut the fish along - it will creep into the fibers. You can not chop the fillet across. Such a fish will be dry and stiff.
For rolls, layers of fish with a width of 3 mm are suitable. For a nigiri you will need pieces from 5 mm to 1 cm wide. However, the thickness of the slices depends not only on the type of land, but also on personal taste. Experiment!
5
Do not dispose of torn pieces or scraps. They will go for making the gunki-maki (boats rolled out of nori. Chop the fish finely with a knife. Before filling the boats, mix the fish with chopped green onions.
note
Do not, under any circumstances, use raw or smoked river fish for sushi. It can be infected with parasites. In addition, the special taste of river fish will ruin the taste of sushi.
Useful advice
When cutting fish, use wooden boards. Plastic can blunt knives. It’s better to set aside a separate board for the fish and not cut strongly smelling products like onions or garlic on it.