My first exposure to sushi was in my Year 7 Japanese class, when our teacher (who was not by any stretch of the imagination Japanese -- nor, I suspect, did she actually speak much more Japanese or have a deeper understanding of Japanese culture than we did, but bless her, she was willing to teach us anyway) made and brought some in for us to try. Having a naturally sweet tooth and being fond of strange sweet-savoury combinations, I thought the squishy, sugary rice wrapped in seaweed with canned tuna in the middle, dipped in salty soy, was really quite tasty.
The next time I remember having sushi was about 6 years later, when I had freshly made temaki and nigiri at a high-class Hong Kong hotel. It was nothing like Mrs O'Callaghan's sugary tuna creation. It was also utterly delicious.
The Melbourne public must have (re)discovered sushi around the same time I did, because in the following years, sushi hand-roll chains began to spring up everywhere around Melbourne. Wrapt was memorable for its after-3pm $1 handroll specials -- and also for its antipasto roll, filled with grilled eggplant, roasted red capsicum and shredded parmesan cheese. I never would have guessed that parmesan and soy sauce would work so well together, but thinking further, it makes sense that their flavours complement each other: salty, fermented, umami-ful. Another early contender was Yoyogi, on Swanston St, which I think still survives; nowadays the Sushi Sushi chain has grown and come to dominate much of the market. And let's not forget Melbourne Uni's wonderful Plush Fish, home of delicious fresh salmon and avocado handrolls as well as the best coffee on campus (until Brunetti's opened a branch at the Potter) and an insanely rich white hot chocolate that would keep you on a sugar high all afternoon.
I first tried making sushi from the recipe in Charmaine Solomon's Complete Asian Cookbook. We didn't have mirin, so I just used the vinegar, sugar and salt; we did have a rice cooker, so I used that to cook the rice. We didn't have a rolling mat but I soon acquired one: they make it so much easier!
I've stuck to this method ever since, though my technique has improved considerably: early attempts suffered somewhat from too-hard rice, layered too thick, resulting in overstuffed rolls that would split down the sides. I learned a tremendous amount from watching the sushi chefs in some of the abovementioned sushi outlets: take a modest amount of rice, no more than a tennis-ball; form a hedge of even thickness the entire width of the nori sheet; fold the hedge down with your fingers to form a uniform rectangle, leaving a little strip at the bottom; add your fillings (not too much!) and roll neatly, with the bare strip at the bottom contacting the far edge of the rice; use the edge of the rolling mat to neaten up the ends of the roll. Or, more impressive, the method for making nigiri I observed from one chef: left hand grabs slice of fish, laying it flat in left palm; right hand grabs just the right amount of rice; right index finger scoops up dollop of wasabi while other three fingers squeeze rice into a neat block; right hand smears wasabi from index finger onto fish in left hand and then plops rice neatly onto wasabi-smeared fish; left hand deposits completed nigiri into tray. The entire process took no more than five seconds; rinse and repeat. I've never got quite that good...
Sushi rice
500g uncooked sushi rice (about 2 cups)
An equal volume water, plus a good splash more
Cook rice in a rice cooker until it pops; check, stir, add a bit more water if needed, leave to steam for another 5-10 minutes.
Dressing
80ml white vinegar
60g white sugar
2.5 tsp salt
Mix all ingredients together and heat in microwave, stir until sugar and salt dissolve.
When rice is cooked, remove from heat, pour over dressing, toss well to combine and leave to cool. (Traditional methods have you fan the rice while tossing it continuously until cool, which results in a glossier grain; I find the lazy way still works fine though.)
Fillings
You can put whatever you like inside. Some of my favourites:
- California roll: surimi (artificial crab meat) finely chopped and mixed with mayonnaise, avocado, cucumber, carrot and red pepper
- Garden roll: avocado, cucumber, carrot, red pepper, sweetcorn mixed with mayo and pink pickled ginger
- Teriyaki chicken: sliced cooked chicken breast, hoi sin sauce, cucumber and red pepper
- Salmon, avocado and cucumber
- Inari (sweet fried tofu), spinach and avocado/cucumber
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