Nigiri Sushi

Introduction

Sushi, perhaps the most popular dish originating from Japan, is really more of a category of dishes than a single dish. Sushi, in its broadest definition, can be prepared in a wide variety of ways, but we will be focusing on nigiri sushi (or simply nigirizushi), which is essentially sushi rice with some sort of topping. Note that the term sushi is actually referring to the rice, not to the toppings (which, while often are seafood, do not have to be). Thus, we will be covering here how to make sushi rice (as it is in fact different from regular rice), as well as the basic for making nigiri using this rice.

Make this dish when…
Sushi, in its origins, was finger food. By that nature, sushi makes great hors d'oeuvres, especially with their subtle and elegant taste. However, sushi can of course act as a main course as well, but you will need to be producing much more. Note that sushi is best served fresh though, so you won’t have the opportunity to prepare it much in advance, and it cannot be refrigerated. The rice preparation, depending on your method, can take up to an hour, with the sushi preparation taking perhaps a few minutes per-piece after that. Thus, this dish isn’t the best if you are in a hurry, but if you have about an hour and a half of time before a party starts, you’ll be fine.

Don’t make this dish when…
Again, this dish is not good if you are in a hurry. However, I would not recommend preparing this dish for people who have not tried sushi before (unless they’re interested in trying it), or those who are squeamish about texture or raw meat (fish). Also, if you don’t have access to higher quality ingredients, don’t bother trying to make this dish: this dish derives its flavor from almost nothing but its ingredients; there is not cooking process or special sauce to cover up the taste of bad ingredients. If you do try to blot out bad ingredients with some powerful sauce, you’ll be completely defeating the purpose of sushi.

Statistics

Dish Type: Appetizer or Main Course
Health Value: Generally speaking, pretty healthy. The rice itself is little different regular rice in terms of healthiness, and typical “toppings” are usually fairly healthy as well
Serving Size: This recipe makes 4 cups of cooked rice; depending on how you distribute it, said 4 cups can make enough nigiri rice cakes to hold a lot of toppings (at least 20 pieces usually)
Preparation Difficulty: Fairly easy, once you get the hang of it
Preparation Time: 1:30 minutes, depending on how fast your rice cooks and how quickly you prepare your pieces
Shelf-Life: Realistically, at most 30 minutes. Fish and rice start to oxidize and develop a sort of “skin” after just a small amount of time, and while the food will be edible once it’s develop said skin, it’s just not the same
Freshness Requirements: Cannot be refrigerated: make how much you want, exactly when you want it; early preparation and storage (or left-overs) are not really an option
Vegetarian/Vegan Concerns: While a lot of the toppings for this dish traditionally involve fish and other sea critters (usually raw), technically speaking sushi can be topped with anything, but I can’t guarantee how well it will all work together
Pre-cooked Edibility: As far as the rice, well, it will be uncooked rice, which is really crunchy. Uncooked fish, on the other hand, is simply referred to as sashimi as a dish, and is still quite delicious. Any pieces of unused fish I highly recommend turning into a little side of sashimi for the chef, or if you have a lot, could even be turned into a poke (pronounced p-oh-key), but that’s another recipe.