How To Make Sushi

Sushi refers to the short-grain rice, cooked and seasoned with sushi vinegar. With practice and simple ingredients, anyone can quickly produce delicious sushi at home.

In this guide, we explain how to make sushi in two different ways: simple maki sushi rolls, and 'inside out rolls' with rice on the outside of your homemade sushi.

We'll explain how to make sushi sticky rice, and how to make making sushi rolls with fillings. Plus the classic pairings for serving with sushi rolls; soy sauce, pickled ginger and wasabi.

Once the rice is seasoned, you can use it in maki rolls - see our simple step-by-step sushi rice recipe below for this delicious Japanese food.

Alternatively if you prefer to make temaki or hand rolls just follow the same recipe but instead of rolling the maki, scoop rice and some fillings onto a nori seaweed sheet, and roll into one large cone to eat with your hands.

Fillings might include raw or cooked fish, cooked egg omelette, herbs, avocado, cucumber, mayonnaise, chilli. Alternatively form into balls, and serve as part of a bento box lunch.

What ingredients do I need to make sushi?

There are just three key ingredients that you need to make a good recipe for any type of sushi:

  1. Sushi rice - this is the short-grain rice that forms the backbone of any sushi that you make. You should always use ‘sushi rice’, as the grains are very short, and will hold together well to form your sushi. The rice is grown in both Japan and the USA, with great quality rice coming from both countries. The basic sushi rice is a great place to start, and as you become more of an expert at making your own sushi, you might like to try more premium sushi rice, prized for its flavour and texture.

  2. Sushi seasoning or sushi vinegar is a pre-mixed blend of vinegar, salt and sugar. Rice vinegar is an essential component in this blend, giving the sushi its distinctive flavour.

  3. Nori seaweed sheets are pressed sheets of seaweed that hold the sushi rice and fillings together.

Once you’ve assembled those ingredients, you just need to decide what to fill your sushi with! That might be egg, vegetables, fish or even meat.

If you’re new to making sushi, making this Sushi Making Kit has everything to start making authentic Japanese sushi - except the fish!

And if you’re looking to entertain friends then the Deluxe Sushi Set comes with chopsticks, sushi plates and dipping bowls for serving.

What equipment do I need to make sushi, including a sushi mat?

There are three basic pieces of equipment:

  1. A saucepan for cooking your rice or a rice cooker.

  2. A bamboo sushi rolling mat to help you make perfect maki rolls, that hold together well. 

  3. Hangiri rice barrel - a hangiri is a large wide wooden container, with shallow sides and a very large surface area, for mixing your rice and cooling it. Of course you don't need one of these when you first start, but if you decide decided that sushi making is really for you, then you'll want to use one for the ultimate seasoned rice. The ultimate Japanese hangiri is made from cypress wood and held together with copper bands, and is like a piece of art in your kitchen. 

How long can I keep sushi after making it? 

Prepared sushi rice will harden if it is stored in a domestic refrigerator for long, so it is best to serve sushi rice the day it is made.

In fact, special sushi fridges in Japan are kept at a slightly higher temperature to make sure the perfect sushi rice retains its great texture. That’s why European supermarket sushi will never taste as good as homemade.

If you’re using smoked salmon or raw fish, make sure you make the sushi just before eating. Raw salmon or fish shouldn’t be kept out of the fridge for any period of time.

However, if you’re not using raw fish, most other fillings are fine to include in a lunchbox that might be kept out of the fridge for an hour while travelling to school or work.

The sushi rice seasoning (made from vinegar, salt and sugar) acts as a preservative once the sushi rice is cooled. However, you should still refrigerate your sushi as quickly as possible on arrival.

To serve sushi at a dinner party, it can be fun to slice all the fillings in advance and store those in the fridge, and then prepare the rice and lay out the seaweed when guests arrive.

Then each person can roll their own sushi, and perhaps slice the rolls to share with others.

Making your own sushi rolls at home allows you to choose your preferred ingredients and enjoy a fun, DIY project.

Homemade sushi

Easy maki rolls recipe

Follow our step-by-step recipe below to make simple maki rolls - a perfect introduction to how to make sushi.

Making homemade sushi rolls is not only cost-effective compared to dining out but also allows for creativity in choosing fillings and can be a fun activity to share with loved ones.

How to serve homemade sushi

If you’re keen on making homemade sushi rolls, one of the most important tips is to use a sharp knife to slice through your finished roll.

This ensures a nice clean cut, preserving the shape of the roll and making your homemade sushi look just as neat as in sushi restaurants.

Remember to slightly wet the knife between each cut to prevent the sticky rice from adhering to the blade.

Serve your homemade sushi with soy sauce, pickled ginger, wasabi paste, and a pair of chopsticks.

Homemade sushi platter

If you are serving multiple types of homemade sushi, start with the lighter, milder flavours of homemade sushi such as cucumber rolls roll sushi or simple nigiri, and move towards the richer or spicier varieties like spicy tuna or eel.

You might also choose how strong your soy sauce is, depending on the of your choice of delicious sushi fillings.

Traditionally, sushi is presented on a plate in groups of two to six pieces, depending on the type of sushi and the setting of the meal.

In more formal settings or in sushi restaurants, you might see each type of sushi served in pairs or up to five pieces, beautifully arranged.

For casual dining or larger groups, the servings might be more generous, with sushi chefs presenting several types of sushi displayed together on a platter. With soy sauce, wasabi paste and perhaps pickled ginger.

But the key to immaculately smart sushi rolls is to slice them with a very sharp knife.


 Sushi rice ingredients Serves: 2

  • 250g sushi rice (short grain)
  • 350ml water
  • 55ml sushi vinegar

Ingredients for the maki rolls

  • Sushi rice, made as above
  • 3-4 nori sheets, cut in half

Filling ingrdedients ideas

  • Cucumber batons
  • Red pepper batons
  • Avocado, cut into strips
  • Pickled daikon radish
  • Sashimi grade tuna or salmon
  • Seafood sticks
  • Tinned tuna mixed with a little mayonnaise

To cook the sushi rice

  1. Rinse the rice in cold water and drain. Place water and rice into a cold pan, and bring to the boil. Lower heat to a very gentle simmer for 10-15 minutes. Keep checking to make sure it doesn't boil dry.

  2. Remove from heat, cover, and leave to stand for 15 minutes.

  3. Pour into a wide dish, add the sushi vinegar, and keep mixing until cool.

© Speciality Cooking Supplies Limited 2024

To make maki rolls

  1. Lay the bamboo mat in front of you, with the struts lying parallel to the edge of the work surface. Place a sheet of nori seaweed on top with the long side in line with the struts.

  2. Using damp fingers, scoop a little rice onto the nori sheet. Pat out the rice with finger tips, leaving the centimetre furthest away from you bare. This will overlap to seal the roll. The rice layer should be around half a centimetre thick.

  3. Place the chosen filling in a line along the edge of the rice closest to you. Lift the sushi mat with your thumbs, holding the fillings close with your fingers, and push forward firmly - lift and roll the rice away from you, to form a firm cylinder. Press to seal.

  4. Using a sharp knife, slice into 6 to 8 bite-sized pieces just before serving. Serve with soy sauce on the side, a little wasabi paste, and sushi ginger to cleanse the palate.

© Speciality Cooking Supplies Limited 2024

To make an inside out roll

  1. Line the mat with cling film, and then follow steps 1 and 2 above, covering the whole sheet of nori in sushi rice. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds, or plain sesame seeds.

  2. Flip the nori sheet over so the rice touches the clingfilm, and lay fillings directly onto the nori sheet. Use the clingfilm to help you form the rolls.

© Speciality Cooking Supplies Limited 2024

How To Make Sushi  Easy Maki Rolls Step-By-Step


For more detailed guidance recipe tips on homemade sushi and how to make sushi at home, explore various sushi recipes to perfect your technique. Make sushi at home once, and you'll want to make it every week!

To learn more about how to make sushi, read our Introduction to Japanese Cookery from Reiko Hashimoto, the author of Hashi: A Japanese Cookery Course. Or browse our huge range of Japanese Cookware and Ingredients to get your storecupboards sushi-ready!



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3 comments

  • The recipe is so clear and easy to understand that it is all made possible for the amateur in this Post-pandemic world.

    Thank you!

    camilla on

  • The sushi vinegar that is used in the recipe is a ready-to-use blend of blend of Japanese vinegar, sugar and salt. If you don’t have any sushi vinegar, that’s fine, you just need to do a little more measuring!

    nicola on

  • Ahhh this is perfect! My little one has really gotten into sushi (thank god it’s something that’s not chicken nuggets) so I’ve promised her that we’ll start having it for dinner (only problem being I literally have no idea at all how you go about making sushi haha). So this is such a great guide! Thank you! In terms of the rice do you need to add anything else? I’ve been going around the internet and printing out various guides I can find (I’m trying to build up a collection haha) and anyway one says that you need to add vinegar, salt and sugar to make sushi rice. Are there different ways to make it then or different versions of the rice? If so which would you recommend? X

    Izzy on

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