Sushi is the most travelled food in the world — a Tokyo street snack that became a global obsession, from conveyor belts in São Paulo to train-station fridges in Oslo. The professional version takes a decade to master. The home version, done with respect and a sharp knife, is entirely within reach in one evening.

What is sushi?

Sushi is not raw fish — that is sashimi. Sushi is seasoned rice: short-grain rice dressed with vinegar, salt and sugar, paired with fish, vegetables or egg. It was born as fast food in Edo (old Tokyo), where hand-pressed nigiri was served from street stalls within seconds of ordering. The family tree: nigiri (a finger of rice topped with a slice of fish), maki (rice and filling rolled in nori) and temaki (a hand-rolled cone).

Ingredients

Makes about 24 pieces (4 servings) · prep 45 min · rice cooling 30 min · assembly 20 min

  • 500 g sushi rice (short grain)
  • 60 ml rice vinegar
  • 2 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1 tsp fine salt
  • 300 g sashimi-grade salmon or tuna
  • 4 sheets nori (half-size)
  • 1/2 cucumber, cut into matchsticks
  • 1 ripe avocado, sliced
  • Soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger, to serve

How to make sushi, step by step

  1. Wash the rice. Rinse in cold water until it runs almost clear — usually four or five changes. This removes surface starch and is the difference between glossy grains and glue.
  2. Cook the rice. Simmer with an equal volume of water, lid on, 10 minutes; rest off the heat 10 minutes more. Do not lift the lid to look.
  3. Season. Warm the vinegar with sugar and salt until dissolved. Turn the hot rice out into a wide bowl, drizzle the seasoning over, and fold with a slicing motion while fanning it cool. Aim for body temperature — sushi rice is never refrigerated before use.
  4. Slice the fish. With your sharpest knife, cut the salmon across the grain into strips about 8 cm long, 3 cm wide and 0.5 cm thick. One smooth draw per cut; sawing tears the flesh.
  5. Shape the nigiri. Keep a bowl of water with a splash of vinegar beside you. With wet hands, take 18–20 g of rice and gently press it into an oval — firm enough to hold, loose enough that it still breathes. Dab a whisper of wasabi on top, drape the fish over, press once.
  6. Roll the maki. Lay a nori sheet on a bamboo mat, shiny side down. Spread a thin layer of rice over two-thirds of it, leaving a bare strip at the top edge. Line cucumber, avocado and fish across the centre.
  7. Close the roll. Lift the mat from the near edge, roll up and over the filling, and squeeze gently along the length. Continue rolling to seal on the bare strip — a few grains of rice there act as glue.
  8. Slice. With a wet knife, cut the roll in half, stack the halves, and cut into eight pieces, wiping the blade between strokes.
  9. Serve. Arrange with pickled ginger beside, not on top of, the sushi. Soy sauce and wasabi on the side — dip fish-first, lightly.
“The fish is the expensive part; the rice is the important part. Master the rice and you are eighty percent a sushi cook.”

Rules that actually matter

  • Sashimi-grade only. Ordinary supermarket salmon is not safe to eat raw. Ask your fishmonger, keep it cold, and use it the same day.
  • Wet hands, wet knife. Dry hands and dry blades rip rice and fish alike.
  • Press less than you think. Compressed sushi rice tastes dense; it should almost fall apart in the mouth.
  • Room-temperature rice. Chilled rice hardens and dulls the flavour; season it, fan it, use it.

Keep travelling the dinner table: our tacos al pastor recipe and pad thai recipe run the same step-by-step treatment — the world’s famous foods, cooked properly at home.