Sushi is so popular in restaurants and supermarkets but it’s actually pretty easy to make your own sushi at home – and good fun too! We've put together some simple recipes for the most common types of sushi.
All you need is a few ingredients, plus a few basic items of equipment to help you shape the sushi and you’re ready to get rolling!
What basic sushi-making kit does a beginner need?
These items can be bought quite cheaply from Asian stores or online.
- Bamboo rolling mat
- Dipping dishes – for Kikkoman soy sauce and wasabi
- Chopsticks (or just use your fingers!)
- Rice spreader or spatula
What are the main ingredients for homemade sushi?
Not all are needed, but if you have these, you’ll easily be able to make most kinds of traditional sushi fillings at home
- Kikkoman Soy Sauce or Kikkoman Sushi and Sashimi Soy Sauce
- Sheets of dried nori (seaweed)
- Sushi rice
- Kikkoman Seasoned Vinegar for Sushi Rice
- Wasabi paste
- Pickled sushi ginger
- Sushi grade raw fish (salmon or tuna) – check the label says “sushi grade” or “suitable for raw consumption” on the label. You can buy fresh or frozen sushi grade fish from the thefishsociety.co.uk
- Seafood/crab sticks
- Caviar or salmon roe
- Fresh crunchy salad ingredients for vegetarian sushi e.g. cucumber, peppers, lettuce, avocado
- Mayonnaise or cream cheese
- Sesame seeds
Recipes for the most popular types of sushi
Nigiri - Neat mounds of prepared sushi rice draped with a thin slice of raw fish or omelette (tamagoyaki) or another ingredient. Here’s how to make it yourself: Nigiri sushi recipe or watch the video
Maki Rolls – Probably the type most non-Japanese people think of when they think of sushi. Maki are made by wrapping up fillings such as fish or cucumber in rice and nori seaweed. Try this Vegetarian Maki Rolls Sushi recipe and practise your rolling skills or watch the video
Californian Rolls – these are actually inside-out sushi rolls! The sushi rice is on the outside and nori strips on the inside.Unlike other types this doesn’t contain raw fish – instead cucumber, crab or avocado are used. The outside layer of rice is often sprinkled with sesame or roe. This Californian Rolls Sushi recipe is very easy to make. Watch the step-by-step video
Temaki – also called a sushi hand roll, it’s a single large, cone-shaped piece of seaweed on the outside, with a variety of ingredients spilling out of the wide end. It’s most commonly eaten with fingers, as it’s too unwieldy to pick up with chopsticks. Have a go at our Vegetarian Temaki Sushi recipe
Gunkan Maki - Oval boat-shaped sushi consisting of a ball of rice, wrapped in seaweed, or in this recipe smoked salmon, and topped with fish roe. Try this classic Gunkan Maki Sushi recipe or give these vegetarian gunkan sushi and Gunkan Maki Sushi with Prawns and Cucumber recipes a whirl.
Sushi rice - ok, not a type of sushi, but the rice is the most important part to get right. If it doesn’t have the right consistency, everything will fall apart – literally. All you need is a pack of sushi rice, a little Kikkoman Seasoning for Sushi Rice to provide the correct flavour, and a cooking pot. Check out this Sushi rice recipe or you can watch a detailed video by a professional sushi chef here
Want more? Head over to our fantastic sushi recipe collection.
