Making your own sushi at home is actually not as hard as one would think, and it can make for a very fun evening with friends or family…both young and old. My picky 3-year-old wouldn’t even think about touching a piece of sushi until the first time she saw
us making it at home (with brown rice of course). We had allowed our older daughter to be up on a chair at the counter with her own cutting board, bamboo mat, chopsticks, and fun little soy sauce dish (she already knew she liked vegetable sushi). Of course her little sister wanted to do the same, but we told her she couldn’t “make” any sushi unless she ate it. And what do you know…once our child (who barely even eats veggies in the first place) gave it a fair chance she actually liked it. I didn’t know if I should have been more shocked that she ate the sushi or the vegetables! She does love to “dip” her food so I am guessing the soy sauce aspect had something to do with it.
I do want to make sure I share that (especially if this is your first time making sushi) it can take some time to get the hang of it, and it also requires a lot of chopping. It can also make a little bit of a mess particularly if kids are involved. So we definitely like to reserve this event for a special occasion or weekend activity, but think it is worth the effort for such a fun and unique experience. Awhile ago I mentioned that I thought a child’s “first impression” of a food was important and making sushi at home turned out to be the perfect way to introduce it to my picky 3-year-old. She will now eat it anywhere!
Homemade Sushi (with brown rice)
Ingredients
- 3 cups short-grain brown rice (Some packages of white rice specifically say “sushi rice” on them, but you don’t see this label as often on brown rice. I’ve found that any short-grain variety is adequate.)
- 4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- ½ pound raw shrimp (or cooked real crab…please do not buy anything labeled as an imitation!)
- ½ pound raw sushi-grade tuna or salmon
- 2 carrots, peeled
- 1 cucumber, peeled
- 1 or 2 avocados (depending on how much you like them)
- 1 package of Nori (seaweed sheets)
- Necessary supplies: bamboo rolling mats, saran wrap, cutting boards, a very sharp knife, soy sauce (and little dishes for dipping), chopsticks (which can be modified with a rubber band and piece of paper for the little ones), and a flat wooden or bamboo spoon
- Optional supplies: toasted sesame seeds, wasabi, pickled ginger, toothpicks or skewers, and a bowl of water (to dip your fingers and spoon in to keep the rice from sticking)
Directions
- Cook the brown rice according to the package directions.
- Before cooking the shrimp stick a skewer or toothpick through each one from end-to-end so they will be “straight” after they are done cooking and will therefore be easy to cut into strips. Boil the skewered shrimp in the water for 3 – 5 minutes or until they are firm.
- Chop the cooked shrimp, raw fish, peeled carrots, and peeled cucumber into little julienned strips (pictured above). Similarly, slice the avocado(s), but save them for last since they could start to turn brown.
- Once the rice is done stir in the rice wine vinegar. Some sushi recipes also call for sugar to be added to the rice, but we think it tastes just fine without it. Also, it is best to use a wooden or bamboo spoon when handling the rice.
- Cut the sheets of nori in half long ways.
- Cover the bamboo mats with plastic wrap.
- Now it is time to get started (see pictures to the right and below)!
- We think it is best for each person to either have their own cutting board and bamboo mat or at least only have to share their items with one other person.
- Lay 1 of the half sheets of nori along the bottom of the plastic covered bamboo mat.
- Completely cover the top of nori with a thin, uniform layer of rice.
- If you prefer the nori to be on the outside of your sushi roll then leave it the way it is with the rice on top. If you like the rice to be on the outside (like me) then flip it over like I did in the picture.
- Make a nice and neat row along the very bottom edge of the nori with whatever ingredients you’d like on the inside.
- Using the bamboo mat as an aide roll it over as tightly as you can and keep rolling until it is closed up completely. Then squeeze down on the roll with a little force to really secure it together.
- If the rice is on the outside (like the picture) we think it is best to lay a little piece of saran wrap over the top of the roll before cutting it. Using a sharp knife cut through the plastic and the roll until you have the desired number of pieces of sushi.
- We believe in eating as we go when we have to work this hard for our food so enjoy!
Yield: 4 – 6 Servings
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Awesome
I’ve made sushi before but not with brown rice. I can’t wait to try your method. Yum!
Let us know how it turns out!
My kids like sushi, but we haven’t ever tried to make it ourselves. I am also concerned with feeding the raw fish to young children because they may not have the anti-bodies to handle any bacteria that may be on the raw stuff. The cooked fish I’m more comfortable with for the younger crowd. It does look pretty easy to make, though.
It should probably mentioned that you need to be sure to get sushi quality fish. Not any raw salmon or tuna will do. Non-sushi quality is far more likely to make you sick if you eat it raw. Of course, you also have to be extra careful storing and preparing the proper raw stuff, too, which is one reason I haven’t tried to make it myself.
Greg – that is a great point…I just updated the post to read “sushi grade” tuna. It is definitely safer to be as specific as possible when it comes to something like that rather than assume someone would know what to buy. Also, my 6-year-old wanted to try some of our “red” tuna so bad, but I wouldn’t let her. Luckily, both of my girls were happy with just veggie and shrimp rolls.
Sushi is really about the preparation of the rice and isn’t really about the fish. The nice thing about that is you can put anything in the rolls like veggies and such. You don’t even need the nori you can just place toppings on top of the rice and eat it that way.. just in case you have picky eaters that don’t like nori
Heck yea, thanks for posting! I have been wanting to make my own sushi for a bit now
Making sushi at home is so easy and actually very inexpensive. If you can find good fish, it is actually a lot of fun and you can make all your favorite sushi easily.
I have wanted to make sushi on my own for awhile now and I love salmon and Tuna, however I can never find where to buy the raw fish at. Where were you able to find “sushi grade” Tuna and Salmon
Here in Charlotte we usually buy all of our seafood from Earth Fare, but I’ve also seen sushi-grade wild caught tuna at Harris Teeter.
Made sushi tonight – it tasted great but it didn’t look nice and kept falling apart. I either used the wrong rice (frozen brown rice from Trader Joe’s) or I didn’t press hard enough. Guess I have to practice some more.
I made two different kind: one with shrimp, the other with smoked salmon. Both tasted really good.
Thanks so much for the recipe!
I’ve never used frozen rice before so not sure what the consistency would be. Was it short grain and did you add the vinegar?
It is short grain. You’ll have to try it sometime: Tj’s frozen Organic Brown Rice, microwave perfect in 3 minutes (sorry, I use my microwave a lot – at least for now), so good! I did use the rice vinegar – love it!
Anyway, I am pretty sure it was not the rice – I was fighting the sushi mat and probably didn’t press hard enough. I’ll practice some more and post again!
You definitely have to press down hard when you are rolling the sushi. And what they say is true…practice makes perfect! Good luck
I’m not a fish/seafood fan. What are you suggestions for vegetables instead?
My girls eat mostly veggie rolls too and their favorites are cucumber, carrot and avocado. You can also consider trying mushrooms, egg, mango, and/or cooked asparagus…don’t be afraid to get creative!
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I made these rolls on Friday! A great and easy treat! Now if I could just figure out the trick in rolling a ‘tight’ sushi roll, I will be in business!! Great recipe. Love your blog!
I would like to make this for “day 3″ of your 10-day pledge tomorrow. Do I need to get special soy sauce? Thanks! LOVE your blog.
Just make sure the soy sauce does not have sugar in it…good luck!
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What brand of rice wine vinegar do you use? I’ve always used Mirin which has sugar in it… What do you suggest? Thanks!
The brand we use is “Nakano” and the only ingredients are rice vinegar and water.
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