Your nori is chewy most likely because its damp in some way. Could be your kitchen humidity, excessive handling, wet hands, too-wet rice or something.
I have toasted my nori before [just because] and its fun and different. 5 or so mins in a 350 oven.
The Nori is stale
I’d eat that for a dollar.
Little tip : cut your onion strips in half. That way, it stacks up more easily and there’s no “hole” because of it
Rice is too wet and you have too much of that white creamy stuff. Nori is dehydrated, if you put it in contact with liquids it hydrates and gets chewy.
yeah the rice looks over cooked so it being really wet probably soaked the nori. try having the same nori without the rice or sushi and see if it’s still chewy
I love the green onions like that!
Sometimes I buy nori from the store and it’s already soft and chewy. It’s infuriating because I’m unaware of any technique to test its structure. You can always run the nori over a hot stove top or lightly char it with a torch but tbh there’s nothing like opening a new pack of brittle, crunchy nori.
It’s the quality of nori you’ve purchased.
The only way to keep your nori crisp is to roll your maki really really quick , cut it and eat it right away. The colder your rice the more time you have before it gets chewy.
1.) Rinse the gluten off your rice first, rinse it till the water runs clear while agitating the rice with your hand.
2.) Get a quality rice cooker.
Aside from other comments it can also only sit for so long. If you have an eel Handroll you can tell from the seaweed how long ago it was made. It can be real crispy or not crispy and more like a wrap.
The onions are a nice touch
Homemade seaweed wraps are chewy, I think it’s the preservatives
Toast it
You ever seen them old dudes with bandanas sitting in front of a coal chimney slapping their nori? They’re toasting it to prepare it for use Edit: spelling
[removed]
I like my seaweed chewy tbh
This triggered my trypophobia
Your rice looks too wet/mushy to me which will cause that moisture to soak into the nori and make it limp.
Nice looking sushi definitely a rice issue, you should clearly see each grain of rice in a sushi roll. Before cooking wash rice until water runs clear, use less water next time when cooking. To get nice fluffy rice start cooking rice in cold water bring to boil with lid on pot simmer for a few minutes then turn heat off and let rice cook in the steam created within the pot. Once ready season with vinegar whilst hot and then cover seasoned rice, don’t put in fridge at any point it will ruin the rice.
The green onion idea is genius
Trypophobia triggered
most important and overlooked part about making sushi is having PERFECT rice
Also, sushi is meant to be made, served and eaten right away. It was never meant to sit in a container or wait 20 minutes to eat in a platter. That’s why omakasi is the best way to have sushi, so even your rice was not too wet the nori will eventually turn rubbery.
Another potential cause is that you’re rolling the sushi while the rice is still hot. You need to let the rice cool before making sushi.
Is this smoked salmon, cream cheese and onion chives sushi?
Use more expensive nori. The price mostly contributes to the thinness of the nori, not the flavor. Even the same brand will have different levels of thinness, which are different prices.
Packages may not say the thickness, but look for the same brand and opt for the more expensive types (within the same brand)
​
to add to this, many restaurants have different nori for different things. Like they will use the expensive nori for handrolls since handrolls have a lot of extra nori and so quality makes more of a difference
Looks good for a first roll, it’s actually round which is an achievement of it’s own
The green onions are triggering my trypophobia though (don’t google it, it’s the fear of clusters of small holes, you’re guaranteed to run into photoshops of feet with holes shopped on them)
29 comments
Looks really good – I’d eat it!!
Your nori is chewy most likely because its damp in some way. Could be your kitchen humidity, excessive handling, wet hands, too-wet rice or something.
I have toasted my nori before [just because] and its fun and different. 5 or so mins in a 350 oven.
The Nori is stale
I’d eat that for a dollar.
Little tip : cut your onion strips in half. That way, it stacks up more easily and there’s no “hole” because of it
Rice is too wet and you have too much of that white creamy stuff. Nori is dehydrated, if you put it in contact with liquids it hydrates and gets chewy.
yeah the rice looks over cooked so it being really wet probably soaked the nori. try having the same nori without the rice or sushi and see if it’s still chewy
I love the green onions like that!
Sometimes I buy nori from the store and it’s already soft and chewy. It’s infuriating because I’m unaware of any technique to test its structure. You can always run the nori over a hot stove top or lightly char it with a torch but tbh there’s nothing like opening a new pack of brittle, crunchy nori.
It’s the quality of nori you’ve purchased.
The only way to keep your nori crisp is to roll your maki really really quick , cut it and eat it right away. The colder your rice the more time you have before it gets chewy.
1.) Rinse the gluten off your rice first, rinse it till the water runs clear while agitating the rice with your hand.
2.) Get a quality rice cooker.
Aside from other comments it can also only sit for so long. If you have an eel Handroll you can tell from the seaweed how long ago it was made. It can be real crispy or not crispy and more like a wrap.
The onions are a nice touch
Homemade seaweed wraps are chewy, I think it’s the preservatives
Toast it
You ever seen them old dudes with bandanas sitting in front of a coal chimney slapping their nori? They’re toasting it to prepare it for use
Edit: spelling
[removed]
I like my seaweed chewy tbh
This triggered my trypophobia
Your rice looks too wet/mushy to me which will cause that moisture to soak into the nori and make it limp.
If you’re looking for a sushi rice recipe, [here’s mine.](https://craftycookbook.com/simple-sushi-rice/)
Nice looking sushi definitely a rice issue, you should clearly see each grain of rice in a sushi roll. Before cooking wash rice until water runs clear, use less water next time when cooking. To get nice fluffy rice start cooking rice in cold water bring to boil with lid on pot simmer for a few minutes then turn heat off and let rice cook in the steam created within the pot. Once ready season with vinegar whilst hot and then cover seasoned rice, don’t put in fridge at any point it will ruin the rice.
The green onion idea is genius
Trypophobia triggered
most important and overlooked part about making sushi is having PERFECT rice
Also, sushi is meant to be made, served and eaten right away. It was never meant to sit in a container or wait 20 minutes to eat in a platter. That’s why omakasi is the best way to have sushi, so even your rice was not too wet the nori will eventually turn rubbery.
Another potential cause is that you’re rolling the sushi while the rice is still hot. You need to let the rice cool before making sushi.
Is this smoked salmon, cream cheese and onion chives sushi?
Use more expensive nori. The price mostly contributes to the thinness of the nori, not the flavor. Even the same brand will have different levels of thinness, which are different prices.
Packages may not say the thickness, but look for the same brand and opt for the more expensive types (within the same brand)
​
to add to this, many restaurants have different nori for different things. Like they will use the expensive nori for handrolls since handrolls have a lot of extra nori and so quality makes more of a difference
Looks good for a first roll, it’s actually round which is an achievement of it’s own
The green onions are triggering my trypophobia though (don’t google it, it’s the fear of clusters of small holes, you’re guaranteed to run into photoshops of feet with holes shopped on them)
This is impressive 👏🏻 I’m proud of you ☺️