| Nigirizushi (literally "hand-formed sushi") is another | | | | and quality of the fish. With nigirizushi, the fish is |
| of my favorite types of sushi. The combination of | | | | cut in a specific manner, placed with great care |
| the flavorful sushi rice with the sensory | | | | and arranged in the a way that is visually |
| experience afforded by the raw fish is truly | | | | appealing. And because there are no other flavors |
| inimitable. It's also not very difficult to replicate at | | | | to disguise it, the taste is of the utmost |
| home and requires only the bare minimum of | | | | importance. |
| specialty ingredients, so for those of you who are | | | | Preparation |
| creative or culinarily inclined this is my quick and | | | | As I mentioned, the way that you cut the sashimi |
| easy guide to making your own nigirizushi at | | | | (raw fish) is also important. If you're not planning |
| home. | | | | on going all out, that's fine; cut it any way you're |
| Ingredients | | | | comfortable with. If you'd like to learn the correct |
| Nigirizushi is simply raw fish on rice, and this is just | | | | procedure, that is another article altogether which |
| about all you'll need to make it. The rice must be | | | | I plan to write in the future (in the meantime, that |
| prepared in the traditional sushi-style which takes | | | | too can be found on many websites.) |
| approximately an hour, but once you've done that | | | | Once your sushi rice is prepared and the fish |
| the rest is simple. Sushi rice requires a | | | | sliced into the appropriate-sized portions, |
| short-grained white rice, rice vinegar, salt and | | | | everything else is quite simple. |
| sugar. If you're unfamiliar with the procedure for | | | | Using the first two fingers of the right hand, |
| making it, I've written another article that | | | | simply scoop a small amount of sushi rice into the |
| describes the process in detail. | | | | palm of the left, then squeeze and shape it into |
| While I generally advocate the usability of | | | | an oblong with the fingers and thumb. I usually |
| standard supermarket fish in sushi, in the case of | | | | have to squeeze quite tightly in order to get it to |
| nigiri it is beneficial to invest in the higher quality | | | | stay together. One you do, place the rice on a |
| "sushi grade" fish that you can buy at health food | | | | dampened surface (don't let individual rice pads |
| stores, Japanese markets and from some sushi | | | | touch each other or they'll stick) and spread a |
| bars. The reason I say this is that while all forms | | | | small amount of wasabi on top. Place a piece of |
| of sushi are truly an art form, the beauty of | | | | cut sashimi on top, arrange all the pieces of |
| them isn't so intrinsically reliant on the appearance | | | | nigirizushi artfully, and you're done! |