Small Business Insights

One of the best ways to save money and stay healthy is to prepare your own meals at home. Many times when people mention home cooking, it conjures up images of spaghetti, basic seafood and meatloaf. But cooking at home does not have to be limited to the traditional North American recipes. In fact, one of the best dishes you can make in your own home is sushi. Sushi is not only nutritious, but it is a lot of fun to make as well. However, there are some basic preparation techniques needed in order to make your own sushi at home. Prior to your trip to the seafood market it is important to read up on some of these necessities.

Find the right kind of equipment. Sushi requires specific equipment.  The items necessary can usually be found at an ethnic or Japanese market:

An electric rice cooker
A bowl large enough to use for cooling rice
A mat designed for rolling sushi
Knives (sushi knives are best, but you can also use standard knives)

Get the right ingredients – Choosing the type of filling will be a personal matter, however, there are some ingredients that are essential to the process of preparing sushi. These ingredients include:

Medium grain sticky rice
Soya sauce
Rice Vinegar
Wasabi
Pickled Japanese ginger
Nori or Seaweed wrappers

Find a seafood market like this website that has a good reputation for fresh seafood – Local supermarkets are usually not considered the best place to purchase sushi grade fish. Typically the seafood available at the local market is intended for cooking and is not meant to be eaten raw.
How to find a good seafood market:
Look in your local telephone book or do an internet search. Most major cities will have authentic Asian or Japanese grocery stores.
Ask Asian friends where they purchase their specialty groceries. Most Asians will know where to get authentic ingredients that are fresh.

Buy sushi grade fish that is of the highest quality – because the fish used in sushi is eaten raw it is crucial that it is of a very high quality. Fish that is not high quality can cause a person serious harm. When you visit a seafood market follow these guidelines:
Speak with the person handling the seafood counter. This person should be able to give you a good recommendation regarding sushi grade fish.
There might also be packages of raw fish intended for sashimi and sushi. Typically these packages will already have the fish cut into thin slices.

Start small – Your first attempts at sushi making should be kept simple. Start with some of the basic ingredients and forget about attempting complicated sashimi or rolls. You can practice with canned fish and sliced cucumbers.