Sushi

This is the ultimate sushi. A sushi master spends years perfecting his technique and produces each piece of sushi in what appears to be one smooth motion taking only a matter of seconds. In his expert hands, the pieces tend to be marginally smaller than Easy Hand-Formed Sushi, and use less rice but slightly more fish. As you become more practiced at the technique, you will find that you are able to make nigiri zushi more quickly.

MAKES 40–50 pieces | PREPARATION TIME 30–60 minutes, plus sushi rice and ingredient preparation

INGREDIENTS

For the vinegared water

2–3 tbsp rice vinegar | 1 cup water

For the hand-formed sushi

1 quantity sushi rice | 1lb (500g) skinless fillet of any fish, preferably of different types, such as red snapper, salmon, tuna, sole, tilapia, or sea bass, cut for hand-formed sushi | wasabi paste

METHOD

1 Mix the ingredients for the vinegared water in a small bowl and wet your hands in it to prevent the rice from sticking to them. Take a small handful of rice in your right hand and gently mold it into a rounded oblong.

2 Holding the ball of rice loosely in your right fist, pick up the topping with your left hand. Lay the topping across your fingers, and dab a little wasabi paste on it.

3 Hold the rice between your right thumb and index finger, and gently press it onto the topping with your left thumb.

4 Hold the sushi halfway along its sides, between your thumb and index finger. Spin the sushi 180° so the topping is on top.

5 Squeeze the sides of the sushi between your right forefinger and thumb to shape it and compact the rice.

6 Cup the sushi in your left hand and use two fingers to press gently on the top to compact it further.

7 Open your left hand and spin the sushi around, keeping the topping on top. Repeat steps 6 and 7 to shape the sushi.

Expert hand-formed sushi