Homemade sushi

Teriyaki chicken filling with Wasabi mayonnaise

You can make the marinade ahead so the flavours get enough time to develop. This can easily be done a day ahead, especially when you're pressed for time.

Teriyaki chicken:
- 1 chicken fillet (150-200g)
- 1/2 cup soy sauce (half sweet and half salted soy sauce)
- 1 good sip of dry sherry
- 1 clove garlic, crushed
- 2cm piece of ginger, finely grated
- 1 tsp just chili (chili paste)
- 1 smidgen Asian 5-spice powder

Preparation:
Mix all the ingredients except the chicken in a bowl. Slice the chicken in fine long strips and add to the marinade. Mix so that every piece of chicken is evenly coated with the marinade. Cover the bowl with cling film and place in the fridge.

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a frying pan and (stir) fry the chicken until cooked through. Try not to overcook the chicken as it will become rubbery. Let the chicken cool completely before adding it as a filling to your sushi.

Wasabi mayonnaise:
- 2 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp wasabi paste

Preparation:
Mix the two ingredients together and taste before adding it to the sushi. You can make the mayonnaise as spicy as you like or even omit the mayonnaise.
Start by placing the rice on a nori sheet. Cover the rice completely with mayonnaise (like you would put butter or margarine on your sandwich) and place chicken strips in a small line. I like to add avocado as well, but that's entirely up to you. Roll the nori sheet and continue as with the salmon filling.

Tip: Instead of Teriyaki chicken you can also use smoked chicken (straight from the super market). Again use the wasabi mayonnaise with some avocado.

Homemade Sushi

Salmon Sushi

I must admit sometimes I buy sushi, but it's so easy to make at home. I always make more, which is relatively easy and won't cost the earth. I like to use cold smoked salmon and smoked chicken fillet or I marinade the chicken in a teriyaki style spice mix. When using chicken, I add wasabi mayonnaise which complements the chicken.

This recipe is for a lot of sushi, but you can easily halve the ingredients.

Ingredients:
- 4 cups sushi rice
- 6 cups water
- 1/2 cup rice vinegar
- 4 Tbsp caster sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 packet of Nori dried seaweed sheet (10 sheets)
- Wasabi paste
- 200g (cold) smoked salmon
- 2 Avocados
- Kikkoman (table) soy sauce
- Sushi mat


Preparation:
Start by washing the rice with cold water. This can take a while, especially if you use 4 cups. If the water turns clear you've washed the rice enough. Cook the rice. I must confess I use a rice cooker which makes my life a lot easier. But if you haven't got one, please follow the instructions on the back of the pack...
A soon as the rice has cooked, let it cool for 10 minutes with the lid on top and transfer it to a big mixing bowl. Mix the rice vinegar, caster sugar and salt in a small bowl and sprinkle over the rice. Start mixing the vinegar mixture through the rice with a wooden spoon until the rice has cooled completely. If you want to do it Japanese-style, try mixing with one hand and use a Japanese hand fan in the other, fanning and mixing at the same time. This can be really tricky, well at least for me it is really tricky as my coordination is not exactly as it should be. And for some reason I end up with spooning all the rice out of the bowl instead of keeping it all in the bowl.

Sushi rice stays really sticky, which is ideal when it comes to rolling but can make life hell when spooning it onto a nori sheet. Therefore, I like to use disposable kitchen gloves. I also use a big wooden chopping block to prepare the sushi as for some reason this works better than my bench top. But have a go yourself and see what works for you.

Start with your sushi mat on a flat surface. Place a sheet of Nori on the mat. Spoon rice on the nori and flatten it out with your fingers. Make sure about 2/3 of the nori sheet is covered with rice. If you cover only half of the sheet you'll end up with your filling on the side like I did the first time...

Place some smoked salmon and avocado on top of the rice and start rolling. Take the mat with both hands and gently roll the nori sheet away from you. Don't squeeze too hard otherwise all the filling will come out.

 



The shape of the mat makes sure you'll end up with a nice round sushi instead of a square morsel.

And voila, a delicious piece of sushi all by yourself!

Place the rolls seam side down on a platter or serving tray, cover with cling film and put in the fridge if you're not consuming them immediately. Cut in small bite size portions and place on a serving platter. Serve with a good quality soy sauce, some wasabi paste and pickled ginger to taste.


Tip: Vary the salmon with shrimps or tuna. Or for a vegetarian option use finely sliced (julienne) cucumber, carrot and avocado.