Originally Posted by Sashimister (Post 833760)

lol That's so far from the truth. I challenge you. How much experience do you have eating at high-end sushi places in Japan?

Originally Posted by cranks (Post 833773)

I guess the argument is rather linguistic.

It doesn't sound right to me too that the rice should be "warm" and the fish "cold", but yuujirou said rice should be a bit over the room temperature which sounds right to me. 寿司の飯は人肌位で、ネタも冷たくはないけど暖かくも ないって感じでは？ I've never been to a $500 per person kind of Sushi restaurant, but I at least go to $150 per person places all the time.

And It seems like yuujiro has more hands on knowledge on how to make Maki which I don't really consider Sushi, but regardless, I sure can't make neat ones. I need to call my mom for that.:(

Anyway, if Nori is getting too wet, my guess will be that there is something wrong with the rice. It could be the amount of water (which you really should use a measuring cup) or the vinegar (you need to add just enough amount and fan like crazy while you are doing it) or the temperature, or the nori itself. Without seeing what's going on, it's hard to tell...

Originally Posted by cranks (Post 833773)

I guess the argument is rather linguistic.

It doesn't sound right to me too that the rice should be "warm" and the fish "cold", but yuujirou said rice should be a bit over the room temperature which sounds right to me.

Originally Posted by yuujirou (Post 833751)

Eh.... =\

Your problem isn't the rice...
It's not because you put in too much vinegar, and it's not because you too much water, and it's not because the rice is hot.

If you add vinegar to the rice while it's still hot, some of the vinegar will evaporate; the only way you've added too much is if your rice is literally sitting in it.

If you cook the rice w/ too little water, then the rice is going to be too hard and terrible to eat. Too much water and your rice will turn to mush. Regardless, rice absorbs a lot of water for it's size. So there's going to be a 'lot' of water in it even if you cook it right.

The temperature of the rice does affect the nori. However, sushi is meant to be served while the neta [toppings] are cold and the shari [rice] is warm [a little above room temp]; cold sushi rice becomes hard and difficult to mold as well as being less tasteful.

Your problem is your seaweed. The seaweed you buy at your local market is just really cheap and will get soggy within 2-3 minutes. Really nothing you can do about it. If I remember right, a 10ct. box of Yuuka grade nori from Yamasho costs about $500. It's one of the best grades of nori you can buy in the us.

And the shape of your sushi? The problem there lies in two factors. Firstly, I'm assuming you're using a roller with very thin and rounded bamboo strips. This makes it kinda hard to shape it 'perfectly'. Secondly, you're not doing it right. While rolling the maki, press down on the middle of the roll to form a square shape. Maki-mono shouldn't be a perfect circle.

The reason why your maki are falling apart is because a) you're adding too many toppings or b) you're using too much rice or c) you're just not rolling it right.
To roll it correctly: when you're rolling the seaweed over your toppings, make sure the seaweed side connects with the rice and that you pull the seaweed towards you to further compact the fillings.
Nori sticks to rice; but not to nori.

As for cutting the roll, you don't necessarily need a razor sharp knife.
Just make sure you're coating your knife in a bit of water to prevent the rice from sticking and it should be all right; although, make sure your knife can at least cut through butter. Otherwise, you may as well try using a mallet to cut it.

Also, your filling; make sure they're as dry as possible. Water causes rice to separate.

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by Columbine (Post 833857)

The other problem could be the rice itself; I've seen more than a couple of 'easy sushi' recipes in the uk that just specify short-grain rice. Typically though, the short-grain varieties available in supermarkets are european versions; cheap 'pudding' rice or risotto rice! So it doesn't stick right and makes more of a squishy roll, or falls apart easily. Makes your sushi really weird and harder to deal with.

Originally Posted by JustinRossTso (Post 833900)

This definitely helps, but I can see the problems through many sides now ;D maybe I'll have an idea of what's really wrong.

I'm making sushi again today, A LOT this time, so a lot of time for trial and error. I'll keep these in mind though... my technique is FAR from perfect I understand, but I'm still learning (from youtube videos LOL, I don't really have any other resource, so I'd probably never make restaurant level sushi)

Maybe I'll try the taco too ;P!

:S Sorry if I caused any argument... I'm just that bad at making sushi right now LOL.

Thanks again guys for the suggestions!

Originally Posted by yuujirou (Post 833928)

it's cool mate =D
just let us know how it turns out~