As a sushi lover, I had been making my own homemade Sushi even before the lockdown, although that doesn’t mean I don’t miss my favorite Japanese restaurant nowadays. Speaking of things I miss, I certainly miss my life pre-quarantine. I feel like “those were the days”, back when life’s mundane activities involved having to go to the grocery store while lazily choosing for goods, but nowadays, going to the grocery feels like a matter of survival in different aspects. Anyway, I hope this will all end soon and that we will finally be able to pick up the activities and plans where we last left off. All is not lost and all is not broken. In the meantime, let me distract you again with my simple Sushi Recipe.
This Sushi recipe, by all means, and by its title (sorry about that), obviously is not perfect. This Sushi is made of brown rice instead of white rice or Sushi rice. It’s been pretty difficult for me to find some white rice lately, even more so the ideal Sushi rice. Last time I checked, my local grocery stores ran out of rice and Amazon didn’t have much affordable rice to sell as well. Yep, this is the kind of reality we’re in right now. So, I made use of the brown rice in my pantry. I promise you though that this recipe tastes very much like white rice Sushi and I will tell you how and why. Anyway, I’ve also read somewhere before that the early versions of Sushi were made with brown rice. If that’s the case, then my recipe can’t be that bad, right? lol.
Apart from using brown rice, my ingredients aren’t exactly the freshest. As you can see below, my cucumber doesn’t look like a cucumber anymore lol, and that’s because I froze it. Because of this Pandemic, I have been freezing most of my fruits and vegetables, as well as milk. Times are hard, so we have to resourceful and creative. Additionally, a couple of my ingredients here are on the verge of expiration, so I have to use them soon. I wish I could do this recipe with better, fresher, and varied ingredients, but rest assured that the concept of Sushi-making retains in this recipe, even though I’m not really a Sushi expert. Note: The measurements for this recipe are very flexible. You can adjust it however you like. Also, this Sushi recipe can serve 2-3 people.
Ingredients:
2-4 Sushi Nori sheets
1/2 to 1 cup rice wine or sweetened Sake
Ideally: 2-3 cups of steamed White Rice/Sushi Rice/Jasmine Rice, Pandemic: Brown Rice or any kind of rice will do
shrimp/raw fish/smoked salmon (in this recipe, I’m using steamed shrimp)
3 pcs small cucumber
Umami sauce
Unagi sauce
Soy sauce
Wasabi paste
Sesame seeds (for garnish)
Materials:
Sushi roller
sharp knife
cutting board
Instruction:
Cook brown rice using rice cooker or saucepan. Make sure to have enough water in it. Ideally, it should have more water than when you’re normally cooking white rice. The goal is to soften the brown rice.
Mix with your hands 2 cups of cooked brown rice with 1 cup rice wine or sweetened sake. You can also reduce the amount of rice wine if it’s too strong for you, although this type of wine is actually quite sweet and aromatic. Set aside.
Steam the Shrimp and slice it lengthwise.
Slice cucumber lengthwise.
Place one Sushi Nori sheet on top of the wooden Sushi roller.
Using a spoon, carefully pile some rice, a bit of cucumber and shrimp along one side of the Nori sheet (the one closest to you). See photo below.
With the Sushi roller as a guide, start rolling the Nori sheet slowly while running your fingers all over the roller to make sure that you stabilize the ingredients inside and that you create a firm roll.
With a sharp knife, cut the long roll to make sushi slices.
Arrange the sushi and garnish with sesame seeds, together with Umami sauce and Unagi sauce if you have these. If you don’t, it’s ok. The sushi will still taste great.
Serve with Wasabi paste and Soy sauce.
Enjoy!
*An alternative to this recipe would be to place the rice first before you place the Nori sheets. This way, the Sushi will look aesthetically pleasing.
Do you also love Sushi? What’s your favorite type?
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