How to Make Nigiri Sushi

Making nigiri sushi (raw fish on molded rice, not a roll) requires some tricky hand maneuvers. Keep practicing and, by your fourth piece, you'll feel much more confident.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• sushi rice
• vinegared ginger
• fish and other seafood
• soy sauces
• wasabi
• rice vinegars
• Fish And Other Seafood
• Rice Vinegars
• Soy Sauces
• Sushi Rice
• Vinegared Ginger
• Wasabi

1. Mix 2 to 3 tsp. rice vinegar with 1 qt. water to make su water.

2. Dampen fingers and hands with su water. Clap hands once to remove excess moisture.

3. 

   Pick up about 2 to 3 tsp. rice in one hand and shape into a rectangle with rounded corners. (See "How to Make Sushi Rice," in the Related eHows section, for instructions.)

4. 

   With the same hand, dip your forefinger into wasabi while still holding the rice.

5. With your other hand pick up a slice of fish (or shellfish) and position it in the palm of your hand.

6. 

   Spread wasabi onto slice of fish.

7. Place rice on top of wasabi and press firmly.

8. 

   Roll sushi over and press the sides and top to place fish firmly onto rice.

9. Serve with wasabi, soy sauce and vinegared ginger.

Tips & Warnings

• If you wish, wrap a strip of nori (seaweed) around center of sushi with the seam on the underside.

• Omit wasabi if desired.

• Types of seafood to use are tuna (maguro and/or yellowtail), salmon (cooked or smoked), cooked eel (unagi or anagi), octopus, squid, shrimp and abalone.

• Remember to serve nigiri sushi in pairs. A pair of sushi symbolizes peace, whereas a single sushi symbolizes "kill" and 3 pieces symbolize "kill myself."

• All fish, including saltwater fish, may contain parasites. Although the risk is small, people at greater risk, including older people, small children and pregnant women, should be careful when eating raw fish. To kill the parasites, freeze the fish at -4 degrees F (-20 degrees C) for at least 24 hours (this may be lower than your home freezer can get, so you will probably need to buy the fish prefrozen; ask your fishmonger). The fish can then be thawed and used as sushi (and, in fact, your local sushi bar should be using fish frozen this way).