“Nigiri” is a type of sushi, undoubtedly the most popular one. It means “hand grip” and is so called because sushi chefs use their palm to make a small ball of rice, on which the fish or seafood will be mounted. In Japan we usually leave this type of sushi up to the professional chefs and don’t dare try to make it home, because it is hard to get the particular variety of raw fish and seafood required, especially the premium fresh cuts (and of course, there is art involved in making Nigiri!). Having said that, there is nothing wrong in making it ourselves at home, especially if you love sushi and can’t afford being a regular at your local sushi restaurant. So, eager for affordable fresh sushi, I started making salmon nigiri on my own, which turned out surprisingly delicious!
Cooking time: 20 mins + Sushi Rice prep time
INGREDIENTS (2 Serving)
- Raw salmon: 250-300g
- Rice vinegar: 15g (1 tbsp)
or white wine vinegar - [Optional] Wasabi
- Sushi rice: 300g (see “How to Prepare Sushi Rice“)
This recipe yields about 15 pieces of nigiri (of approx. 20g of rice & 15g of salmon each).
BEFORE YOU START
Q. What type of salmon should I buy?
Make sure that the salmon you buy is “sushi (or sashimi) grade” and has no bones. Depending on where you live, there may be regulations that raw fish must be frozen before eating for a certain period at a certain temperature to kill parasites called anisakis, usually 48 hours in a home freezer (although I read that farmed salmons rarely have anisakis, and most salmons on the market are farmed).
Q. What part of salmon should I buy? If possible, find a block of at least 7cm (4 fingers) wide x 3cm height. Slice diagonally to get a bigger piece if necessary.
NOW, LET’S START!
1. Slice salmon. Remove the skin and slice the salmon1 into small rectangular slices (approx. W7cm x H3cm, with thickness of 0.5 cm). Don’t worry if they are not perfectly rectangle as we can adjust the shape later. Save any end pieces to eat them as sashimi later (or make salmon rolls)!
2. Prepare hand vinegar. Mix one table spoon of rice vinegar2 and one table spoon of water in a small bowl to make hand vinegar (called “tezu“), which we will use to wet our hands. Also, put wasabi3 in a separate small bowl.
3. Wet your hands. Wet your hands, palm and fingers, with hand vinegar.
4. Make a small ball of rice. The rice4 ball does not need to be perfectly shaped at this stage as we will shape it later once we assemble it with salmon. Don’t squeeze too hard.
5. Put wasabi on salmon. Put wasabi on salmon. Take a piece of salmon and put wasabi in the center with your finger. The wasabi will serve as a glue, not to mention that it will also add a touch of spiciness! (Skip this step if you don’t care for wasabi.)
6. Place the rice on the salmon. Place the rice ball on top of the salmon, and press down gently with fingers.
7. Flip it. Flip the sushi and shape the sides with your fingers to make it into an oval shape. Voilà, you made your first nigiri!
This recipe employs salmon but feel free to try other fish or seafood. Tuna is also a favorite. Just make sure to ask before buying whether it is safe to eat raw!
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