Sushi rice

Why do my sushi rice never turn out like restaurant sushi?

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Sushi rice
Have you tried making sushi at home, only to find that your rice never turns out quite like it does in restaurants?

You are far from the only one. Perfect sushi rice requires much more than just rice and water.

Many people think sushi is all about fish and beautiful rolls, but the secret behind great sushi actually starts with the rice. The consistency, temperature, and seasoning must be perfectly balanced. If the rice is too dry, too wet, or improperly seasoned, it affects the entire taste experience.

One of the biggest mistakes is in the preparation. Japanese sushi chefs use special techniques for washing, cooking, and cooling the rice. Even the smallest details make a huge difference. In addition, the quality of the ingredients is essential if you want to achieve the authentic taste known from restaurants in Tokyo.

It also takes technique to create the perfect sushi roll. Many people roll their sushi either too tightly or too loosely, which affects both texture and flavor. Sushi is a Japanese art form where balance, precision, and aesthetics play an important role in every single bite.

At a sushi course, you will learn the authentic Japanese techniques that professional sushi chefs in Tokyo use every day. You will gain insight into selecting ingredients, preparing sushi rice, and creating sushi with the right taste and consistency.

Read more about Sushi Courses for Beginners

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Zoë has held sushi courses and cooking classes for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

How quickly do sushi nori lose their crispiness?

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There are 3 countries that grow seaweed for sushi and that is China, Korea and Japan. There is a big difference in taste. The three countries are good at growing sushi seaweed. You should always buy sushi nori based on what you think has the best taste.

The manufacturer of sushi nori packages the seaweed in a way so that when you open the newly purchased package, the seaweed will be crispy.
As soon as a sushi chef applies rice and other ingredients to the seaweed, the sushi seaweed will still be crispy in texture. When the sushi chef has made the sushi roll, it begins to become smoother and softer in texture without affecting the taste or quality.
Instead, the sushi roll will be more firm as the individual ingredients fall into place in the roll itself after a very short time.

Sushi rolls should always be eaten at room temperature, that way you will get the full flavor experience.

Read more about Sushi course for beginners

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

Can sushi rice be used the next day?

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There are many people who store cooked rice for the next day. It’s a really bad idea to save sushi rice for the next day.

Sushi differs from other rice dishes such as the dish meatballs and Curry.
Sushi is not a dish that is cooked on a pan or in the oven and, this means that the quality of the ingredients used for sushi should be as good as possible.
If sushi rice is more than 1 day old or that vegetables have become a bit slack, then it can be tasted when used for sushi. You will make sushi of a poorer quality.

What happens to sushi rice when stored for the next day is that they become drier and looser in consistency while the rice kernel itself becomes harder.
Besides the fact that it is harder to make sushi with day-old sushi rice, it can also be tasted if the sushi rice is not freshly made.
This is not necessarily the case with day-old rice which is used for Meatball and Curry, as it is the sauce that hides the rice and its taste.

Read more about Sushi course for beginners

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

What is the Japanese view of soy sauce?

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White soya sauce plate with sushi
The Japanese have a slightly different view of soy sauce.
In Japan, soy sauce is considered a spice, it is a way to season the dish. In Japan, there are as many different kinds of soy sauce, just as many as cheese in a Danish supermarket.

Not only that. It is quite common in traditional Japanese cuisine to use different types of soy sauces in one dish. This is because soy sauce are produced and matured in different ways and that gives each soy sauce an unique flavour.

It does matter which soy sauce is used for sushi or for traditional Japanese noodle soup. These are 2 very different dishes, where it is important to choose a soy sauce which gives the dish an extra spice without compromising the good taste.

In the Sushi course for beginners, you will learn which soy sauce is best suited for sushi.

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

How many different types of sushi rice are there in Denmark?

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There are several types of sushi rice in Europe not as many as in Japan. In Japan, there are as many types of sushi rice as cheese in a European supermarket.

In Denmark you will find different types of sushi rice if you visit a large Asian supermarket. A European supermarket and small Asian shops often have one of a kind. It’s really good too.

There is a difference in the quality of sushi rice. Of course, it also affects the whole gastronomic experience.
In the large Asian supermarket you will find several sushi rice some are produced in the US, Europe and Japan.
In US, there are many Japanese-owned companies in the food industry. They produce raw materials including sushi rice for the Japanese market sushi which is of the same quality as the rice grown in Japan.

In Europe, Japanese sushi rice is grown.
They are grown by European companies that have learned the cultivation methods in Japan. In this way, the rice avoids the long transport time from Japan to Europe.

In the Sushi course for beginners, you will learn which sushi rice is best suited for beginner’s sushi rice which ensures that you made sushi of good quality.

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

Is it a must to buy a rice cooker for cooking sushi rice?

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You do not a must to buy a rice cooker to cook sushi rice.

Rice cooker is a great tool for cooking all types of rice. However, it is not a “must” to go out and buy a rice cooker if sushi rice is only to be cooked for 2-4 people. You can cook tasty sushi rice by only using an ordinary pot. However, you need to keep a little more eye on a pot than a rice cooker.

The disadvantage of a rice cooker is that the rice can burn and the pot in the rice cooker can be difficult to clean.

Where a rice cooker is a must is in a sushi restaurant. Most sushi restaurants in Denmark cook approx. 10 kilos of rice a day. When cooking such large amounts of rice, it is important that the rice is cooked in a pot, where the heat is evenly distributed throughout the pot. A rice cooker really comes into its own.

Read more about Sushi course for beginners

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

Is porridge suitable for sushi?

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Sushi chef & sake sommerlier Zoë Escher

There are many different types of rice, and pudding rice is just one of them.
A question I am frequently asked is whether pudding rice can be used for sushi. My immediate answer is no even though pudding rice also falls into the category of short-grain rice.

That said, I should mention that I have not personally tried making sushi with pudding rice. However, I have made rice pudding many times, and the texture of cooked pudding rice is noticeably different from that of properly cooked sushi rice.

While it might not be something most people think about, the texture of the rice has a significant impact on the overall taste experience. If the sushi rice does not have the right consistency, it can affect the entire dish. Sushi rice plays a key role in the quality of sushi. It should be tender yet firm, never undercooked in the center, and certainly not overcooked. Achieving this requires a specific type of short-grain rice that is cultivated especially for sushi.

In our beginner sushi course, you will learn which types of rice are best suited for sushi and how to cook them properly to achieve sushi rice of the highest quality.

Read more about Sushi course for beginners

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

Which fish is the healthiest to eat?

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Sushi chef & sake sommelier Zoë Escher
Salmon is the healthiest fish. There are several reasons for this.
It is a fish that is described as fatty fish in the healthy way. It has a high content of omega 3, which belongs to the healthy fatty acids that are vital for the body.
Salmon also has a high content of protein 200 grams of salmon contains 44 grams of protein. Salmon is a booster for your health.

The Japanese population eats as much seafood as Europeans eat meat. In Japan, the variety of different types of fish is large, so most Japanese follow the season for fish.
During the year, the Japanese eat fish with a high content of omega 3 and at other times, they eat fish and shellfish which are not fatty, but instead contain other types of vitamins and minerals.

As a side dish, the Japanese eat many vegetables and cabbage prepared in different ways.

On the Sushi course for beginners, you learn step by step how to make tasty sushi with the most popular fish.

Read more about Sushi course for beginners

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

How long can soy sauce last?

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Soy sauce is fermented soybeans.

In Japan, there are as many different types of soy sauce as there is cheese in a Danish supermarket.
Yep, that’s true.

There are different types of soy sauces for the many styles in Japanese cuisine. For sushi, a specific Japanese soy sauce is used, a soy sauce that is not used for Japanese noodle soups.

All bottles naturally display a recommended expiration date indicating when the soy sauce should be used.
Since soy sauce is made from fermented soybeans, it has a very long shelf life and can usually be consumed even after the expiration date. If you’re unsure, you can always taste it to check the quality.

I store soy sauce outside the fridge too even though the bottle is open, I have always done that. So do Japanese sushi restaurants in Tokyo.

In the Sushi course for beginners, I talk more about which soy sauce is best suited for sushi.

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.

Do Japanese sushi restaurants use topping on the food?

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Sushi chef & sake sommelier Zoë Escher
In Denmark, most sushi restaurants use topping on the food. It is typically sushi rolls such as insite-out which are topped with various ingredients such as roe, seaweed salad, chili mayonnaise, pickled onions and crushed wasabi peas. Sushi rolls are often topped in many different ways.

In Japan, topping is not used in the same way as in Denmark.
The Japanese are very fond of fish of very high quality. They eat as much fish as we eat meat.
So that’s why Japanese customers and Japanese sushi chefs have a slightly different approach to sushi. The sushi pieces should preferably be as simple as possible, ie. with rice and fish are in the center so they are allowed to shine.

Sushi topping is used in Japan. It can be lemon, an herb or a specific type of salt, which is used to highlight fish unique flavors and aromas.

At the Sushi course for beginners, you will learn how to make tasty sushi like Japanese sushi chefs in Tokyo.

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Zoë has lectured and held sushi courses for A. P. Moller – Maersk, Hugo Boss Nordic, Novo Nordisk, Novartis, Velux, Gorrissen Federspiel, Beierholm revision, Elbek & Vejrup and many more.