You might wonder why I would like to share this kind of story with you, right? Actually, the answer is quite simple – sushi is my passion. How it came in my life and how it turned out to be so important to me, is worth a blog post.

Trust me, it’s worth a read! (or just see all the pictures)
P.S. A great way to kick off the first post in 2017!

How it all started

Cheese?

It all started back in the 2011 and I was 18 at the time. I had never been a foodie, to be honest. Actually, I had always been quite conservative about food. Might be so because I’m quite sensitive to exactly those flavours I don’t like. But there is a bright side – I really enjoy the food which I’m used to. So, that being said, I used to not eat cheese at all. Not in any shape, form or type. Wait, actually there was a traditional Latvian cheese recipe, which I liked (with cumins). But I only ate small pieces of it. You get the sense, I didn’t eat cheese back in the day. That includes – I didn’t eat pizza, burgers, sushi… you name it.

At the time I had a girlfriend who sometimes pushed me to try stuff. We started off with burgers. It went quite well, except for the fact that she knew I hate onions but didn’t tell me that they are present in the burgers. Nevertheless, I picked them out (yeah) and ate the burger which I enjoyed quite a lot, to be frank. Soon after the burgers, we tried a pizza, I remember. I was surprised how actually good it was. How was I able to live without pizza in my life? P.S. I still hate onions and I believe that my hate won’t disappear.

First sushi

It didn’t take long until we went to a sushi restaurant. In fact, it was the first time when I went to one, even more – my first time trying sushi. I was scared a little bit, to be honest. You know, I had a pressure from my former girlfriend, I didn’t want to let her down on this (no onions, no weird flavours – quite a safe bet but still). It was kinda weird to my taste buds, especially – soy, wasabi and ginger. I had never had those before. Yes, even soy. Another interesting flavour was that of the pressed algae or how I prefer, simply – nori.

First time making at home

Soon after visiting the restaurant she said that we could try to make sushi at home. It literally blew my mind, I would have never guessed that you can actually make such a thing at home! And so we tried…

(Her, me, my brother)

I watched a few tutorials on Youtube beforehand. The hardest part was the rice. You know what they say about sushi rice -it makes up 7o% of sushi. Rice is very important and honestly, my first time was terrible when I look back at it. The rolling part was terrible too. But I was amazed and proud of it anyway. It all started here!

Oh my, this is so embarrassing! Look how terribly rolled they are. And what are those little pieces on the light orange plate? I remember that the knife I used was dull and basically not supposed to be used to cut the rolls. It actually makes a huge difference on how they look. But okay, no reservations – I didn’t know nothing and this is just terrible.

Oh no, this is painful to watch. But I promise – I will get better at this and everything.I have seen many other “first sushi” pictures and they look way better than mine. Isn’t that ironic?

I have seen many other “first sushi” pictures and they look way better than mine. Isn’t that ironic?

Practice

After the first time I tried to make it at home, I didn’t know that it is going to be my thing but I knew for sure that soon enough I will make it again, again and again. I continued to watch Youtube tutorials, read articles and all that. I took notice of every little detail and aspect. It is crucial for me to get the closest possible result to real restaurant product. As I mentioned before – the hardest part was rice. I have even overcooked the rice till it’s brown and starts to smell bad, I have messed up the water proportions many times. One time I even found out that I had been washing the rice improperly. Even though I messed up so many times, I never gave up because I loved the process and also the result. You have to love what you have created (maybe we could omit the overcooked brown rice).

So, I made sushi at home with a gradual progress over time. First few years really were just a practice and getting to know stuff. Here is some stuff I made from the beginning till recently (around 1,5 years ago when I started to take this on a next level).

So far

As I said before, I really pay attention to every little detail and I try to improve my skillset and also my set of tools, gradually over time. So, in about last 2 years I have been trying new stuff, methods and really getting to know what I am capable of.

Just recently I made an Instagram account for my sushi. Okay, I know, it seems kinda weird, no? Ok, thanks, I feel better now. I needed a public place to showcase my work. Also, my followers sometimes encourage me to try out a new recipe.
Last time I posted in the caption that I would like to learn a spicy mayo recipe combined with warm sushi. That was tricky because I couldn’t find any tutorial on the internet on how to make a warm sushi at home. But I figured it out and it turned out just perfect! I was so proud, you can’t imagine!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPkfsghgW17/?taken-by=yungsushii

Few more nicer looking sushi with which I’m more proud of. In another words – my top work so far:

Follow my sushi account for more tasty sushi and neat looking pictures 

Future

To make diverse sushi recipes, honestly, it all comes down to just your personal skillset and to what you can afford. Okay, you don’t have to own some expensive rolling mat or expensive pot for rice cooking. But let’s be real here – ingredients tend to be quite expensive. Let’s break it down – good sushi rice, good nori, rice vinegar, decent soy sauce (wasabi and ginger could be just an extra), rolling mat and vegetable filling (which is cheaper than fish) – this is what you need for a basic sushi at home. If you want to expand, then you will need a bunch of other stuff, like – salmon, tuna, shrimp, some cheese… just to name few. Not even mentioning kitchen tools like – sharp knives, rice cooker, wooden bowl and many more gadgets…

So, me mentioning this under the headline of “Future” means that I will slowly expand my recipes, continue to learn and try out new stuff. I’m a self-proclaimed sushi (wannabe) chef and the whole post for me is just -getting this off my chest. I still have a lot of to learn and I’m definitely not bragging. Just sharing my story, experience and how did it actually changed my life. There might be a part 2 in the future!

Let me know if you liked the post, comment down below in the comment section and give this post a like!

P.S. I consumed five teacups while writing this post.

Thanks to Karolina for editing

All photos are taken by me