Nigiri sushi with salmon or tuna

Nigiri sushi with salmon or tuna. Versione italiana. Nigiri is one of the simplest sushi dishes out there: just fish and rice. However, this does not mean that they are particularly simple to prepare, on the contrary they are one of the dishes that I have had the most difficulty preparing satisfactorily. In fact, the consistency of the rice, the size of the fish slice and the procedure for forming them are fundamental to obtain a good result.

I watched several videos of Japanese chefs, before finding one that taught me the trick to giving nigiri a beautiful shape: the ok sign. It may seem ridiculous to put it this way, but after having formed the “meatball” of rice and having placed the slice of fish on it, if you press the fish on the rice making a sort of ok sign with the hand that does not hold the nigiri, allows it to acquire the classic form found in Japanese restaurants.

Tips to get a good result

To obtain excellent nigiri the secrets, in addition to the manual skills that are acquired over time, are:

• A perfect sushi rice. Find here the recipe to obtain a perfect sushi rice without rice cooker.
• Excellent downed fish. We often read around that it is also possible to freeze fish in the home freezer for 96 hours, which is equivalent to chilling it in terms of food safety, but the result in terms of consistency and taste is no longer the same.

Nigiri sushi with salmon or tuna

Ingredients (12 pieces):

• 240g cooked sushi rice
• 60-70g salmon for sashimi (6 slices)
• 60-70g of tuna for sashimi (6 slices)
• Soy sauce (optional)
• Wasabi (optional)

Directions:

1. To prepare sushi rice, follow this recipe. The doses are for 500 grams of uncooked rice which is usually enough to make sushi for 2-4 people, depending on how much you eat.
2. Then move on to the preparation of the fish. You have to cut 12 thin 3mm slices of fish, about 2 cm wide and 6-7cm long
3. So wet your hands well with acidulated water and then take a 15-20 gram portion of rice. That depending on the size of the nigiri you want to make.
4. Create a sort of cylinder, compacting the rice ball in your hands and turning it on various sides.
5. Then place the fish slice on top of it and then, holding it with one hand, press the fish onto the rice with the other hand, while making the OK sign. To understand better you can watch this video, minute 29:00.
6. If you like wasabi, you can lightly brush the fish slices before placing them on top of the rice, on the side that you put in contact with the rice.
7. Serve accompanying with soy sauce. If you want, you can also dissolve wasabi in soy sauce, although there are controversial opinions as to whether it is the proper way to enjoy it or not.