The Art of Making Sushi
I’ve always thought that sushi-making is an extremely simple task. I mean, it’s just some slices of raw fish on top of balls of rice, right? How hard could it be? But how wrong I was! Only when I attended the sushi making class by Chef Yanagida of Hotel Nikko, did I realise that there were many techniques involved in making a good sushi.
The ingredients
First things first! The chef taught us how to prepare Shari or Sushi Rice. The secret is the vinegar seasoning below, which consisted of vinegar, salt and sugar, boiled under low fire.
Vinegar seasoning
Then on a separate pot, boil the rice as usual.
Scoop the rice from the claypot
Place it on a flat pan
Sprinkle the vinegar seasoning on top of the rice and mix it while fanning the rice to cool the temperature. See? Not easy! Multi-tasking baby!
Pour in vinegar seasoning and mix
OK, now that the rice is ready, let’s move on to making the first sushi – Nigiri Sushi, one of the most common one being the Salmon sushi.
Fresh Salmon
The first thing to do was to peel off the salmon skin, which the Chef did ever so skilfully, within the blink of an eye!
Peel of the salmon skin
Then, using a super sharp knife, he cut the salmon slices at an angle. After demonstrating the technique, Chef asked for volunteer to try and I stepped up! My first cut was not that great, but I managed to get the technique right for my second slice. The key is to use the WHOLE length of the knife, the Chef said. Start from the beginning of the knife and end it at the tip.
Cutting salmon the first try
Second try using the correct technique
I made it!
The Chef continued with the rest of the salmon and presented us with a plate of perfectly cut slices.
Chef’s turn to cut
Glorious salmon slices
With the rice and salmon ready, what needed to be done was to make the sushi. I had to first grab some rice and form a ball, then pick up a slice of salmon and place some wasabi at the centre of the salmon. This served as some sort of adhesive to the rice later.
Salmon on the right, sushi on the left
Place the rice ball on the centre of salmon
And turn it up side down. Voila! There you have it – Salmon Sushi! Tell me it’s pretty! 
Tadaa! Salmon Sushi
That’s not my masterpiece YET. I proceeded with the second dish which was more complicated to do – Temaki Sushi California Roll. We first watched the Chef preparing the ingredients required for the roll.
Avocado
The most impressive part was how he sliced the cucumber. He was just cutting from the outer layer, spiralling towards the centre, producing a layer of thin cucumber slice! Amazing!
Amazing way of slicing cucumber
Finely chopped cucumber
Then, he showed us the right way to make the California roll.
Make sure seaweed’s shiny layer faces out
Remember to fold it this way after ingredients are placed on it – form a triangle
Place rice and ingredients on the seaweed
Fold the triangle
Keep folding and make sure roll always faces up
I followed him step by step and didn’t fare too bad myself! This California roll below was the product of my hard work! *proud* My master piece!
My California roll
Finally, we also made the Tobiko Gunkan Sushi, which was the easiest to make according to Chef.
Tobiko
I guess it’s self-explanatory even from the picture below eh? Yummy!
Tobiko Gunkan Sushi
I definitely had a great time learning the right way to make sushi from the Japanese Executive Chef Yanagida himself! He’s not only skilful but funny as well! I will definitely remember my lesson well to make more sushis in the future! 
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Comments (22)
you are really good in that. when gonna make us sushi?
ai wei recently posted..Food Crawl- Jaya One Part 2
oo.. i try making sushi at home with a bunch of friends and it’s great fun. Haha.. I would say yours look much more presentable than ours.. haha
Cassie recently posted..Decided
wow!! nicey!! witch can make sushi all by herself dy!
Caroline recently posted..The New Look! -D
when can make for us to makan?
taufulou recently posted..Yam Rice- Kedai Kopi Chip Heng @ Chai Leng Park- Bukit Mertajam- Pg
haha.. after read toufulou’s sushi post, and now read yours.
yvon recently posted..Ramadan Buffet Dinner @ Saujana Hotel KL
now i oso agree wit u that making sushi isnt an easy task =x
i better sit aside and just wait the sushi to be done and eat it, rather than making it.. xD
wyyv recently posted..Fried Asparagus with Belacan
How come here looks so easy ? If I make sure become “Chicken hand, Duck legs” and end up in the bin
Hah! Must ask my daughter to come and see. She loves sushi…and so far, tried to make once – in NZ, They sell the whole set, including the mat and all the ingredients.
suituapui recently posted..Red red wine 2…
oh, so there goes my post on sushi making…
i never think making sushi is easy, because i’ve heard many japanese chefs need to learn and get experience for years before they can do a nice sushi..
[SK] recently posted..09082010 背脊骨落
I think slicing the salmon is not easy as i heard before. if not careful, can simply hurt your fingers. Anyway, seen u have done a great job there.
Mommy Ling recently posted..Not Enough
Now you have learned to make sushi. When are you going to make some for me
khengsiong recently posted..Photography – Men vs Women
The chef is cute
uLi recently posted..Durian Cravings @Raub
yeay.. next time can get sushi from witch!
no wonder my sushi not nice, my vinegar i only add salt no sugar!
Merryn recently posted..Its that time of the year again
so nice la can make sushi..
i went thru before. back in uni..
but simple wan la.. just roll the rice.. dump in some stuff..
no cutting salmon like yours la =P
ken recently posted..Please Donate Money for Charity Lah!
very usual tips learned that day to make better sushi
nrewq recently posted..Five Element Mooncakes @ Nikko Hotel
oops…meant to say useful tips…gosh…time to go to sleep!
nrewq recently posted..Five Element Mooncakes @ Nikko Hotel
wow you did that! amazing! I would have the slamon sliced thicker! yummy delicious!
Big Boys Oven recently posted..Eric Chong The Birmingham Cake Connection
i made sushi once few years ago . but it looked so hideous and no one wanted to eat -__- so i ended up eating all alone. i got so traumatized i think i can’t make sushi every again
xin recently posted..Newly Revamped Nagomi @ Jaya 33- Petaling Jaya
Me and my siblings tried making sushi back home and it was fun but we’d rather just go and dine in Japanese resto to better enjoy a more authentic tasting sushi
ayie recently posted..Cooking Therapy
I think if we end up teaching in Japan, I’m totally going to try and make my own sushi… or just go out and buy it.
Erica recently posted..World Wonder Collecting: Panama Canal
I’m sure you’d have fun making sushi on your own!