Nigiri Sushi and sashimi plate has it all. Delicious, healthy, fresh raw fish; the salty pop of fish roe; and the umami flavor of nori seaweed sheets.
Caught using trolling lines off the coast of northern California, King (Chinook) salmon is a Seafood Watch “Good Alternative.” Caught using trolling lines off the coast of northern California, albacore tuna is a Seafood Watch “Best Choice.”
If you don’t want raw fish other options are smoked salmon (not lox), cooked crab; lightly cooked shrimp, scallops, octopus, and squid; tempura; fried soft shelled crab; fried tofu; egg omelette cut into small rectangles; cucumber, and avocado. Use your imagination.
Serve with Japanese rice.
Nigiri Sushi, Salmon Hand Roll (Temaki), and Tuna and Salmon Sashimi
Cuisine: JapaneseDifficulty: Medium1
servings30
minutesDelicious, healthy, fresh raw fish; the salty pop of fish roe; and the umami flavor of the seaweed.
Ingredients
1 cup Japanese rice
2 toasted nori sheets
2 heaping tablespoons salmon, caplin, or other fish roe
3 slices SUSHI GRADE salmon*
2 slices albacore tuna steak
radish sprouts (optional)
julienned cucumber (optional)
avocado (optional)
thinly sliced green onions (optional)
prepared wasabi
prepared pickled ginger
Directions
- Sashimi
- Use a very sharp knife to first cut the raw fish in a rectangular shape and then slice at an angle of 45°. It really helps if the fish is partially frozen while you are slicing it. Arrange on the plate.
- Nigiri sushi
- Rinse hands in a mix of water and rice vinegar to keep the rice from sticking to your hands.
- Lightly form a ball of 2 heaping tablespoons room temperature Japanese rice in the palm of your hand. Press a bit of wasabi into the rice ball. Use your fingers of both hands too lightly form it into a slightly elongated shape. Repeat.
- Dry hands. Cut two 1 1/2 strips from one of the nori sheets. Wrap it around the rice balls and seal the edge with a little bit of the water/vinegar mixture. Fill the nigiri with the ingredients of of your choice. This can take some practice, but it’s fun to eat your mistakes. Arrange on the plate.
- Temaki (hand roll)
- Rinse hands in a mix of water and rice vinegar to keep the rice from sticking to your hands.
- Lightly form a ball of 2 heaping tablespoons room temperature Japanese rice in the palm of your hand. Press a bit of wasabi into the rice ball. Dry hands. Place on one of the nori sheets, shiny side down. Add a slice of salmon or tuna and any optional ingredients taking care not to add too much until you get the hang of it. Roll it into a cone shape. Seal with the water rice vinegar mixture.
Don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect, the more you mess around with it the worse it will get.
The reason they hand it to you at the sushi bar is said it’s meant to be eaten immediately before the nori gets soft. - If you are new at this, skip the optional ingredients for now. Otherwise, add them the same time as the fish.
- Arrange on the plate.
- Final plating
- Make a small ball out of the prepared wasabi and use your fingers to shape it like a leaf. Use a very small knife to make a couple of very shallow cuts. This one you can try more than once if you don’t get it the first time. Position on the plate carefully, it’s easy to squish it.
- Add a very healthy pinch of prepared pickled ginger.
- Serve with Japanese rice seasoned with Furikake and soy or tamurai sauce in a separate small bowl.
Notes
- I love these chopsticks. The tips of them have a very fine serrated edge which makes it easier to hold on to the food. The link is below.
- This is one of the few times “sushi grade” actually means something. Any fish that spends any part of its life in freshwater may have parasites. The FDA recommends freezing and storing salmon to kill parasites to be able to eat it safely: Freezing and keeping it at -4°F (-20°C) for seven days. Freezing at -31°F (-35°C) until solid and keeping it at the same temperature for 15 hours. Most refrigerator freezers can’t meet that requirement, but many standalone freezer can.
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