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Supermarket Sushi

Sushi is just one of my favourite things and can be a lot easier to make than you would think. Whilst this is more of a "how to" rather than a recipe I hope it can give you a few ideas and break down how you can make this wonderful food at home. And guess what, you don't even need raw fish so no one should be scared of giving it a try.

 

One of the things I've found hardest in the UK is getting raw fish of a grade I can be certain is ok to use as I don't have a local fishmonger, so I have to rely on what I can get in the supermarket. If you are in the same position don't worry you can still make great sushi.

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I've done this a few times for parties and let everyone roll their own using cloth placemats instead of proper rolling mats. We had a few people who packed a bit much in and couldn't close them properly but it didn't take long for them to learn and the results were tasty and fun regardless.

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This is all about what flavours you like so I'm including what I often use, but it's all optional, have a play and fill them with anything you like.

Ingredients

​Serves 2

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Required

  • 200g sushi rice

  • 250ml cold water

  • 4-5 sheets of nori

  • 3 tbsp sushi seasoning

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Optional filling ideas

  • 1/4 carrot

  • 1/4 red pepper

  • 3 spring onions

  • 1 avocado

  • a few chive stalks

  • 3-4 small gherkins

  • 1/4 cucumber

  • 100g smoked salmon

  • 4-6 seafood sticks

  • 145g tin of white crabmeat

  • 1 tsp wasabi

  • 1 tsp salad cream

Method

Lets start with the rice. Measure out 200g and wash it under a cold tap 3 or 4 times until the water gets clearer. This will help the rice from just becoming a mush and keep some of the texture in the sushi. Add in 250ml of cold water and bring to a simmer, covered for 10 mins. Keeping it covered is important so don't remove the lid and after the 10 mins just turn off the heat and leave it untouched for 20 mins. This should give you perfect rice and time to prep your other ingredients.

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Now for the fillings, I really like to mix it up and pick different things each time but all you really have to focus on is cutting everything you are going to use into thin strips and inch or two long and a few mm wide so they can fit in the rolls. So here I'm cutting small amounts of carrot, pepper, spring onions, cucumber, avocado and gherkins lengthways (gherkins are weird I know but I think they go really well with the salmon).

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Now cut or tear the salmon into small strips and halve the seafood sticks lengthways. I'm doing small maki so full size the sticks will be too thick. To prepare the crab I just mix in 1 tsp of wasabi and 1 tsp of salad cream just to bring it alive (cut down the wasabi if you don't like it too hot as this much you will notice)

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Once done you can lift the lid off the rice and gently fold in the 3 tbsp of sushi seasoning (which is now sold at almost all supermarkets) being careful so as not to mash the rice too much.

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Now you are ready to roll

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Tips and Tricks

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  • Vinyl gloves can really help when handling the rice as it's very sticky

  • If you can't find them just rub a bit of olive oil into your palms as that will also stop the rice just sticking to you rather than to the nori

  • If you don't have a proper rolling mat any bendable placemat will work, here I'm using a balsa wood one but a stiff cloth one can also work.

  • When making inside out rolls cover the mat with clingfilm to stop the rice getting stuck

  • When slicing rolls use a very sharp knife rinsed in water but not dried as this will again stop the rice sticking to it

I prefer the smaller rolls as that way I get bitesize sushi. So for all of the rolls we are making we need to cut each of our nori sheets in half.

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You can skip this and make them with a whole sheet but I just find them a bit too big

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On the un-shiny side the sheet will have a few deep indents in it and a lot of shallow ones. You want to cut the sheet in the same direction as the deep indents. So you keep the deep indents horizontal for rolling.

Maki - sushi rolls

Place half a nori sheet shiny side down on the mat. Spread a thin layer of rice over  leaving a couple of centimetres on the far side free.

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To ensure it sticks when rolled you can put just a couple of grains along that edge

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Now load the middle with your ingredients. Here I've used salmon, avocado, spring onion and a thin line of salad cream. You just need to be careful of the amounts you use as it will make it harder to roll the more you have.

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Start to roll the bottom up tucking the middle in with your fingers. If it won't close over cut down the fillings.

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Once closed roll it back and forth in the mat a few times to seal it down

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Slice the roll into bitesize sections

Ura Maki - inside out rolls

Place half a nori sheet shiny side down on the mat. Spread a thin layer of rice over going right to the edges.

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Flip the sheet over and load the fillings onto the shiny side. Here I've used seafood sticks, gherkins and avocado

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Start to roll the bottom up tucking the middle in with your fingers. If it won't close over cut down the fillings.

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Once closed roll it back and forth in the mat a few times to seal it down. The pressure here should spread the rice enough so that it seals across the join

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You can roll the finished roll in sesame seeds to decorate then slice into bitesize sections

Temaki - hand rolls

Lay half a sheet of nori shiny side down on the mat.

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Place a handful of rice in a rugby ball shape so one end points to the corner and the other to halfway along the sheet

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Add in your fillings on top. I've used that delicious crab mix we made with some carrot and spring onion

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Now fold the small corner over the filling and then wrap the large bit around forming a cone.

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To stick it down put a couple of grains of rice in the corner

Gunkan - wrapped nigiri

Cut a half sheet of nori into three strips

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Lay one of the strips shiny side down on the mat then get a small handful of rice and shape it into a ball.

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Place the ball near one end of the strip then roll the nori around it, using a grain or two of rice to seal it.

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Now turn it on it's side and push down a little on the rice so you get a flattened bottom and a bowl shape on top.

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Fill the bowl with your choice of filling and decorate with a few bits of veg. I've used the crab mixture and some red pepper and chives

Now just make as many as you can, filling them with any sort of mad combinations you can come up with. Grab some soy sauce, dip and enjoy

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