Easy Homemade Sushi
Howdy y’all and thanks for stopping by the website! I know, you’re probably looking at the title of this recipe and thinking, “How the heck is the cowboy going to teach me how to make sushi?” Well, you’d be surprised at what you can learn how to do if you put your mind to it.
Where I live, we are pretty far away from the sea. You can’t just go to a food market and buy seaweed wrappers or bamboo rollers or any of that fancy equipment the professional sushi chefs use – and that’s ok! I am going to show you how to prepare the rice to be perfectly sticky, how to assemble the sushi, and how to roll it on up and the only thing you need is a good sharp knife and some parchment paper.
Step One: Prepare the Ingredients
Rice
To start any sushi roll, you’re going to need sticky rice. When you’re buying the ingredients for the sushi, make sure you pick up short-grain rice. You may even see it called “sushi” rice on the package. You can follow the directions on the package, but you will be better off if you watch my perfect rice video and do it that way.
Tip: It is essential, when making sticky rice, to rinse as much starch off as you can. Rinse the rice through a strainer until the water runs perfectly clear.
Once the rice is boiled, remove from heat and let sit for ten minutes or so. After that, you’re going to let the rice cool for at least 45 minutes. You don’t need to set it in the icebox. Room temperature will do.
Add the rice wine vinegar, sugar, and salt. This can be sweeter or sour depending on your taste. Add some extra sugar or vinegar, or stick with my recipe. However you like it is how it should be.
Shrimp
While the rice cools, marinate the shrimp in some Worcestershire “W” sauce.
Slice
Peel the cucumber and slice only the firm part of the cucumber surrounding the inner seeds. Cut the edges of the cucumber just like you would a pineapple, leaving the core behind. When you slice the jalapenos, get rid of the extra rind and the seeds and slice as thin as you can get them. Slice the salmon and the marinated shrimp, followed by the green onion.
Tip: Wear gloves or wash your hands real good after you handle a jalapeno. You don’t want to rub your eyes – or anywhere else – with jalapeno oils on your fingers.
Toast
While the rice is cooling and you’re preparing the sushi fillers, toast some sesame seeds in a good hot cast iron. As soon as they begin to brown, remove from heat.
Get Ready to Roll
Once you have all of your ingredients cooled and sliced and diced and toasted, it’s time to roll ’em up. Grab about a 8″x 8″ sheet of parchment paper and lay it flat.
Tip: Have a bowl of water nearby so you can wet your fingers and your knife frequently to prevent the rice from sticking and breaking.
Wet your fingers, and form rice into a ball just a tad larger than a golf ball. Place the ball in the center of the paper and spread to be flat, leaving about an inch of parchment all around. Once the rice is flat and square, it’s time to layer the ingredients, one by one, down the center of the square.
Tip: Do not overfill the rice. If you double up the meat or any of the vegetable slices, the rice will break when rolled.
Use the parchment to roll the rice once over. You want to move half inch at a time, mashing the roll together and rolling a little more. You’re going to mash and roll, mash and roll, until the roll is completely closed and mashed tight. Wet a clean knife to trim edges and remove any excess rice.
Now is time to finish off the roll. You’ll lay salmon and tuna over some, and toasted sesame seeds over the other. Sprinkle with black pepper.
Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and blend well.
To slice, you will clean and wet your knife after you cut each piece. This is essential for clean cuts with no mess. After you’ve sliced the sushi, drizzle with the sauce. Show everyone how beautiful the food is, and then chow down.
Cowboy Sushi – Cowboy Kent Rollins
Ingredients
- 2 cups short grain rice
- 2 ½ cups water
- 4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar optional
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 6 cooked shrimp diced and seasoned
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cucumber sliced thin
- 1 green onion diced
- 1 jalapeno diced and seeded
- 1 avocado sliced
- ½ tablespoon soy sauce
- 4 ounces raw tuna
- 2 tablespoons whipped cream cheese at room temp
- 4 ounces smoked salmon
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Sushi sauce
- 2 tablespoons mayo
- ½ tablespoon horseradish
- 2 tablespoons honey mustard
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
Instructions
- Pour the rice into a colander or wire sifter and rinse several times until the water is clear.
- Drain the rice and place it in a heavy saucepan. Add the water and place over medium heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Let simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove pot from heat and let sit for another 10 minutes.
- Let the rice cool for at least 45 minutes, then place in a mixing bowl and add the rice wine, sugar and salt. Mix well.
- In a small mixing bowl, add the shrimp and worcestershire sauce and coat well. Set aside.
- Make a ball of rice a little larger than a golf ball and then place on the parchment paper.
- Flatten the rice with your fingers. Make sure your fingers are wet so the rice won’t stick to your hands. Use a wet spatula to spread the rice evenly to about 7×8-inch rectangle. Add more rice, as needed.
- Add the smoked salmon, cream cheese, sliced cucumber, minced green onion, jalapeno and avocado slices. Last, add the chopped shrimp.
- Roll tightly over parchment. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds all over and roll again to make sure the seeds stay in place. Set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to cool.
- Slice and place strips of tuna on top and sprinkle with black pepper.
- Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl, whisking until well blended.
- Drizzle sauce over the top and serve.