Nigiri Sushi (continued)

Now On To Business

WARNING: Read through this recipe at least once before cooking!

Now, as briefly noted in the Equipment section above, I will be using a rice-cooker to prepare my rice. Why? Well, the short answer is that I have had poor luck using just a pot ad stove (it has trouble cooking evenly), and rice from a rice cooker is some of the best I have ever had. If you plan on cooking rice fairly often, a rice cooker can be a very sound investment. I personally recommend going the extra distance and buying a more expensive model that features “Fuzzy” logic; how exactly it works, I am not sure, but it has never ever burned my rice. Models from Japan, in my experience, work out quite nicely. So, in order to prepare your rice, use your rice cooker and follow its instruction, or if you don’t have one, I’m sorry but you’re going to have to find rice cooking instructions elsewhere, because I won’t include here a method that I can’t guarantee will produce good rice.

Get It All Ready
Sadly, when it comes to sushi, pre-game preparation is actually something you don’t want to do. Practically all of the ingredients involved in sushi need to be cut, prepared, etc. only moments before use, otherwise you will have problems. So go ahead and start your rice, get out your rice wine, sugar and salt (maybe even combine the two dry ingredients together in the measuring cup), and be ready to bide your time until the rice is done. If you are using a “Fuzzy” logic rice cooker, it may not immediately tell you how much time is remaining for cooking; it will probably only provide a countdown once it reaches its final cooking cycle. Only once you have only a few minutes left until rice is done, then you want to move into action. You should however get out all of the equipment have it ready (the knife goes with the cutting board, and the rubber spatula and paper plate go with the wooden bowl).

When the Rice Has Just a Few Minutes Left
With just two or three minutes left for your rice to finish, combine the sugar, salt, and rice vinegar (yes, I know it has an extremely pungent odor, but it will fade added to the rice) into the measuring cup, and perhaps give it a little bit of a stir. Microwave this mixture on high for 2 minutes. This will allow the solids to better combine with the liquid. However, they will not completely combine; do not worry, the moisture in the rice will make up the difference. Once this is done microwaving, take it out and have it ready to add to the rice.

When the Rice is Done
Once the rice has finished, immediately transfer it to the wooden bowl, and then poor the rice vinegar concoction on top. Use the rubber spatula to scrape as much of the solids as you can (if there is any stuck inside the measuring cup). With all “syrup” added, use one hand and the rubber spatula to “cut” and “fold” the mixture together. Think of it as if you are using the spatula to slice the rice, and slide the spatula underneath the rice and fold it over on top of itself. This will evenly distribute the syrup without damaging the rice. Stirring will damage to the rice, so don’t do it! In general, be gentle.
While doing all of this, your other hand should have the paper plate, and be using it to fan the rice. If you have an assistant, this is where they could be very helpful of course. The point of doing this is to have the rice cool quickly but evenly, resulting in just the right amount of stickiness, and proper bonding of the syrup to the rice.
Once the ingredients are thoroughly combined and at room temperature, stop fanning, and cover the top of the wooden bowl with a wet kitchen cloth. This will prevent the rice of developing that skin I talked about earlier. Throughout the entire process, you want to keep this cover on the rice. When you later take rice out of the bowl, remove the cover only enough to get your rice, and re-cover it. Also, make sure that the cloth is not so wet that it will drip on the rice, ruining it.

Making Nigiri
Making nigiri is a fairly simple process. Get your small bowl partially filled with water, just enough to give your hands a light soak, and then get out your toppings. If you are dealing with fish, I recommend using plastic wrap to cover all of the fish except the portion you are immediately cutting. Then, you should recover the fish (this is again to prevent the development of a “skin”). Once you have everything ready, here what to do:
1. Cut yourself a piece of topping, to go on just a single piece of nigiri.
2. Wet one hand (using the small bowl of water) and grab a small handful of rice, however much you want to use to compose a single “cake” (which you will put your single piece of topping on top of).
3. With the rice in hand, gently squeeze it to compact it into a sort of long, oval shape. Relax your hand. If the rice is falling apart, give it another squeeze, just ever-so-slightly tighter this time, hold it a little longer this time, and then relax again. You do NOT want to smoosh the rice together, just to stick well enough.
If you are going to put wasabi in your nigiri, add it to the “top” (the part sticking up if you are holding your hand out flat) of the rice cake now.
4. Place your piece of topping onto the top of the rice cake, press it on gently, and then plate/serve.
Now just repeat these steps until you’re out of toppings or out of rice (or both), and don’t be afraid to try using different shapes if you like, depending on what ratio you want between topping and rice. Now just enjoy!

Topping Cutting Tips
When cutting your topping(s) for nigiri, you typically want to do thin, roughly rectangular slices, so that the topping will fit nice and evenly along the top of the rice. When cutting fish, you want to cut it “against the grain” (many types of fish meat have a visible “grain,” or essentially lines of fat). So, if the lines of fat are running in one direction, you want to cut in the opposite direction. This will allow the fix to nearly fall apart in your mouth, instead of being a slab of meat lined with fat (making for a very chewy experience). Beyond that, just keep in mind the ratio of topping to rice and adjust to what you think (or discover) works well.