# Sushi resources for a total noob



## Migraine (Sep 9, 2018)

I'd like to start learning to make sushi at home. I'd peg myself as a good home cook but sushi is something I've never tried to make (although enjoy eating).

Any recommendations on resources to start learning? Online, books, whatever.

Cheers


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## Ochazuke (Sep 11, 2018)

What type of sushi are you trying to start with? Maki? Nigiri sushi? Oshizushi?


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## Ochazuke (Sep 11, 2018)

Also, do you have much experience working with fish (just to gauge what level or resource to throw at you)?


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## Migraine (Sep 11, 2018)

Nigiri was what I had in mind for a first go. I have some experience cooking fish but that's about it. No filleting or anything.


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## Gjackson98 (Sep 11, 2018)

Talking about resources, whats you location?


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## Migraine (Sep 11, 2018)

UK


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## Ochazuke (Sep 11, 2018)

Ok, cool! So nigiri is probably the most difficult to do from a beginner level and achieve results you'll find satisfactory. If you have more than a passing interest I would highly recommend purchasing a hangiri made of hinoki cypress. They're used for mixing sushi vinegar with sushi rice and while you might not NEED one, it makes the sushi rice taste and texture much better (I assume being on this forum that you have a decent knife). You'll also probably get more out of it if you make your own sushi vinegar. I think the two easiest and closest to 'restaurant' recipes I've found are the sushi vinegar from Hiroko Shimbo's book The Japanese Kitchen and from Morimoto. All you really need is rice vinegar, salt, and sugar (konbu if you want). The Shimbo book gives a simple and easy-to-follow instruction for how to make shari. Please make sure to use Japanese short grain rice (koshihikari is best if you can find it). If you don't have good sushi rice, you don't have good sushi.

Instead of starting with nigiri, I might start with chirashi for a couple of runs. That'll allow you to really get a feel for making good sushimeshi and give you time to work on cutting fish. If you jump headfirst in to nigiri sushi without experience with making good sushi rice or cutting fish it'll probably be easy to get frustrated. I'll put a brief note about fish selection at the bottom. For chirashi it's all about learning those two basic skills: making sushi meshi and fish cutting basics. After that you just make arrange fish on top of sushi rice as you like. You don't even really need instructions -- you can just look at a picture and figure it out. It's just fish on rice but it makes an attractive dish and is easily adaptable for parties and date nights! There are even different styles of chirashi to experiment with!

For learning how to cut fish there's a really nice collection here. It has tutorials for more than you'll need: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8QheEuZR6-D_FG2ElItg4A/videos

After you get some confidence with that then maybe try nigiri sushi. Feel free to ping me for more resources.

For fish selection you really have to find a good vendor. Fish in the west have rarely had ikejime done but you can still find usable stuff. The eyes should be clear, the skin shouldn't be slimy, and the smell should be fresh -- not at all "ocean-y" especially in the gills. Make sure to use ocean fish, not freshwater fish, and stick to the classics in the beginning. As long as you choose a healthy-looking, fresh fish all you really have to watch out for are parasites and bacteria (I mean, there are other things, but they're less likely). Bacterial contamination happens mostly from age or improper storage. As long as they're fresh and kept in pretty clean conditions you should probably be fine as far as bacteria are concerned. Parasites are also less like likely in wild caught ocean fish compared to freshwater fish (though still definitely occur). Most of the time they live in the guts, so you're usually removing them (if they're there) when you remove the guts. However after fish have been dead for a bit, parasites will move in to the flesh area in order to live longer. Again, freshness is key. You assume risk of parasites any time you eat raw fish, but as long as you buy fresh from a reputable vendor your risk significantly decreases. Just inspect carefully and keep things cold and clean. It's not quite as dire as the rest of the internet makes it out to be, but at the same time there's no protection against carelessness. Your workload is drastically reduced if you happen to live near a Japanese market -- they'll often have pre-cut "sashimi" fish you can buy and use as you like. I've seen less-than-stellar options from pan-Asian markets here in the States so buyer beware. Japanese people are pretty finicky about their fish so you can buy from Japanese markets with some degree of confidence (I say this as a half-Japanese sushi chef). Good luck!


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## Migraine (Sep 12, 2018)

Wow thank you!


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## JayGee (Sep 12, 2018)

https://www.youtube.com/user/Yamatonara108/videos


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## Ochazuke (Sep 12, 2018)

Nice videos JayGee!


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## JayGee (Sep 12, 2018)

Ochazuke said:


> Nice videos JayGee!


Yah - they make me real hungry.


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## btbyrd (Sep 21, 2018)

I just ran across this video and thought of this thread.


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## strumke (Sep 21, 2018)

Subscribed!


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