Love eating sushi for dinner, but find it too expensive for a weekly indulgence? Why not make it at home? I’m here to assure you that everyone can make solid, beautiful sushi in their own kitchen. It can be a fun activity for the entire family to come together and create beautiful memories. Your sushi may not be Instagram-worthy on the first try, but it will be so delicious that you won’t care!
What is Sushi?
First things first, the word sushi actually means “sour rice” in Japanese. To make great sushi, you need to start with the rice. We first cook Japanese short-grain rice and then season it with sweetened vinegar. Once the rice cools just slightly, we’ll shape it to make sushi.
Let's try 5 easy sushi recipes for beginners. They are made with simple ingredients you can find at any grocery store. The steps are easy to follow and promise loads of fun. So, let’s get started!
1. Dragon Roll
Crunchy shrimp tempura tucked inside sushi rice and nori, and on top, we have avocado slices and drizzles of spicy mayonnaise and unagi sauce. Dragon roll, a type of shrimp tempura roll, is as amazing as it sounds.
Ingredients:
- 1 Japanese or Persian cucumber
- 2 Avocados
- 1/2 lemon
- 2 Nori sheets cut in half
- 2 cups of sushi rice
- 8 pieces of shrimp tempura
- 2 tbsp Tobiko
Instructions
Step 1: First, prepare sushi rice by seasoning rice with vinegar, sugar, and salt.
Step 2: Peel cucumber, cut into four pieces lengthwise, remove seeds, and cut again to get 8 long strips.
Step 3: Remove the skin of the avocado, cut it into two halves, and discard the pit. Now, make thin slices of both halves and keep aside. Sprinkle some lemon juice on avocado slices to prevent them from turning brown.
Step 4: Put the bamboo mat on a plain surface and cover it with plastic wrap. Put the half Nori sheet, shiny side facing down.
Step 5: Take a medium ball of seasoned sushi rice and create an even layer on the Nori sheet. Press gently.
Step 6: Flip over the Nori sheet and now add cucumber strips, tempura, and tobiko to the bottom half of the Nori sheet.
Step 7: Start rolling from the bottom end by pressing gently to make a tight roll. Keep rolling until you reach the end of the Nori sheet. Seal the edges by smearing some water on them.
Step 8: Place the avocado slices on top of the roll, covering the entire surface. Use a bamboo mat to gently squeeze the roll so that the avocado slices stick around the sushi rice.
Step 9: Wet the knife and cut out 8 pieces. If the roll gets messy after the cut, use the bamboo mat to tightly squeeze the roll again. Now, remove the plastic wrap and serve with sauce.
Step 10: Adorn your dragon sushi roll with tobiko, spicy mayo, and black sesame seeds.
2. Futomaki Sushi Rolls
This traditional, thick, and fat sushi roll is a popular choice in Japan, as you can make it in advance. We also love that it brings a nostalgic and cozy feeling to a get-together.
Ingredients
Preparing cooked dried daikon radish(Kanpyo)
- 1 ounce dried daikon radish (kanpyo)
- Water (for soaking)
- 2/3 cup dashi soup stock
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp mirin (like this)
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
Preparing egg omelet (Tamagoyaki)
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp sugar
- Canola oil
To make the Futomaki rolls
- 4 sheets of Nori
- 2 cups of cooked Japanese short-grain rice
- 4 tablespoons of seasoned vinegar
- 1 small cucumber
Instructions
Step 1: Make seasoned sushi rice by mixing cooked short-grained rice with seasoned vinegar.
Step 2: To make Kanpyo, take all ingredients in a bowl. Rinse dried daikon radish and soak in fresh water until soft. Squeeze excess water and cut 8-inch-long strips. Mix with dashi soup stock, soy sauce, sugar, and mirin in a bowl, bring to a boil, and simmer until the liquid vanishes. Let it cool
Step 3: To make Tamagoyaki, beat eggs and sugar in a bowl. Heat canola oil in a pan and add the egg mixture to create a layer. Fold or roll the egg omelet to create a thick roll. Let it cool, and then cut into long sticks.
Step 4: Place the sushi mat on the working surface and cover it with plastic wrap. Place a whole sheet of dried and roasted Nori sheet on the mat.
Step 5: Take a medium ball of rice and evenly spread it out over the dried Nori sheet. Place the omelet, kanpyo, and cucumber sticks horizontally in the middle section
Step 6: Grab the bamboo mat from your end and start rolling it. Apply gentle pressure as you roll to get a compact cylindrical shape.
Step 7: Moisten the knife and cut the rolled futomaki sushi into 3-4 pieces. Serve with yummy soy sauce.
3. California Rolls
Filled with creamy avocado, sweet crab meat, and crunchy cucumber, the California roll is by far the most popular sushi roll outside of Japan.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups of cooked sushi rice
- ¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced into thick pieces
- 4 sheets of Nori
- 1/3 cup toasted sesame seeds
- 1 half cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into thin strips
- 4 crabsticks broken into pieces
- Wasabi
- Soy sauce
Instructions
Step 1: Squeeze lemon juice on the avocado slices if you don’t plan on consuming them immediately. This is to prevent them from changing color
Step 2: Mix sushi rice with seasoned rice vinegar and keep aside.
Step 3: Place the bamboo mat on an even working surface and cover it with plastic wrap
Step 4: Put the Nori sheet on the bamboo mat, shiny side down
Step 5: Take a handful of sushi rice and spread it over Nori, making an even layer.
Step 6: Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds over the rice to cover the area completely
Step 7: Flip the Nori upside down to have the rice side down and Nori on the top
Step 8: Arrange the slices of avocado, cucumber, and crab sticks in the middle section of the Nori sheet
Step 9: Hold the edge of the mat close to you and start rolling to make a tight roll, keeping the fillings in place
Step 10: Moisten the knife and cut the roll into 6-8 pieces. Serve with wasabi and soya sauce.
4. Inari Sushi
Ingredients
- 2 cups of short-grained rice
- 4 tablespoons of seasoned rice vinegar
- 2 sheets of Korean seaweed laver
- 10 square inari tofu pockets
Instructions
Step 1: First, you need to cook short-grain rice in a rice cooker or in a pot. When the rice is cooked well, not mushy, fluff it with a spoon and let it sit for 10-15 minutes.
Step 2: In a bowl, mix rice vinegar and sugar. Keep whisking until the sugar solids dissolve completely. Transfer the hot rice to a large wooden bowl to let it cool. When cooled, add the vinegar-sugar seasoning to the rice. Now take the crumbled Korean seaweed laver and mix it with the seasoned sushi rice.
Step 3: Cut the tofu pockets in half and keep aside. Moisten your hands and make 20 equal portions out of the sushi rice.
Step 4: Give each rice portion an oval shape and press it firmly inside the inari pockets. Serve with wasabi and soy sauce. Repeat the steps for the remaining ingredients.
5. Spicy Tuna Rolls
Sashimi-grade tuna rolled with sushi rice, garnished with sesame seeds, and topped with spicy sriracha mayo for extra oomph! You’ll need only a few ingredients to make a fiery spicy tuna roll.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups cooked sushi rice
- ¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar
- 4 sheets of Nori (half size)
For the fillings:
- 1 can of drained tuna
- 1 ½ tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 ½ tbsp sriracha
- 1 thinly sliced green onion
Instructions
Step 1: Season the cooked sushi rice with the rice vinegar and keep aside.
Step 2: Put the bamboo mat on an even working surface and keep one sheet of Nori over it, rough side up
Step 3: Take a small bowl and combine all the tuna filling ingredients. Set aside.
Step 4: Moisten your hands and take a handful of rice. Make an even layer of rice on the Nori sheet
Step 5: Now put the tuna fillings towards the bottom of the Nori sheet
Step 6: Now, grab the bamboo mat and roll it over the filling to make a compact log. Press gently to ensure that the roll is tightly made. Wet your hands and apply them to the edges to seal the ends.
Step 7: Wet your knife and cut the roll into 6-8 equal slices. Serve with wasabi and soy sauce.
Try these Delicious Sushi recipes, leave me a comment, and let me know! I always love to hear your thoughts.
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