Picturetastic Review of Sushi Magic
Two summers ago, I made a review of the Slap Chop and Magic Bullet. Now I'm back to review another food-making product: Sushi Magic.
I already knew how to make sushi rolls with a makisu efficiently, so the silicone wrap thing wasn't really interesting to me. Rather, the plastic mold to make nigiri sushi was what caught my attention. I've never learned how to make nigiri sushi, and I didn't have the confidence to make it by hand. I did a quick Google search for nigiri sushi makers, which led me to this Sushi Magic product.
As you can see, Sushi Magic comes with the silicone roller, the nigiri mold, and a handbook with instructions and a few sushi recipes. The handles on the silicone roller can be taken apart for easy washing - or so I was told. Disassembling the handles were a little frustrating, as I wasn't sure how much force I was supposed to put to take it apart without actually breaking it. Putting it back together was even more curious - you know how when you attempt to snap two pieces of plastic from a Gundam model together, and it leaves a weird gap in between, but you couldn't close it no matter how hard you try? It's the same case with this handle. Infuriating.
The nigiri mold looks a lot more straightforward to manage, as there are no assembly/disassembly required. The red mold is for putting the fish (or whatever topping you want) on, while the black mold rests on top of it for you to mold the rice.
For this review, I kept the ingredients pretty simple: Mock crab meat, cucumber, and raw salmon. I used Mitsuko's Perfect Sushi Rice recipe to make the rice. I had never sliced salmon for sushi before, so doing that was quite the experience. I ended up having only 20 or so acceptable slices for the nigiri sushi, and the rest ended up in the rolls. I think I'll have to obtain a sharper knife and practice more.
First up is testing the nigiri mold. The first step is to lay the fish slices onto the red mold as such:
Next is to place the black mold on top, then fill the holes with sushi rice.
After that, the rice gets compressed with the press tool/
Compressing the rice with the press tool was a little finicky, as the rice tends to stick onto the tool. I had to scrape the tool along with the edges of the hole, then press that extra rice in.
Removing the black mold from the red mold was also quite finicky, as the rice gets stuck on it. I had to use the press tool to push the rice out, which wasn't too bad to do. At this point, the nigiri sushi is done, and all I have to do is flip the red mold over and onto the cutting board, where the sushi should fall out by itself. The good news is that they did. The bad news is the final result:
...Damn, that looks fugly.
I clearly pressed way too hard on the rice, so the fish slices also get squished. Two of them came out fine, though, as they were the thicker slices (my slicing this time wasn't consistent at all):
I went for a second attempt - this time being a lot more gentle when compressing the rice. The results were a lot more satisfactory:
You can't see it from this photo, but the bottom of the sushi is really flat, which I wasn't too happy about. Handmade nigiri sushi is more well-rounded and elegant.
Next up is the silicone mat for making sushi rolls. The handbook teaches you how to make inside-out sushi rolls, but I decided to make the traditional roll, as I was most used to it:
The white stuff on top is a type of Japanese mayo, which is EXTREMELY tasty when used with mock crab meat.
It could be because I'm used to the makisu, but rolling the sushi with this silicone mat didn't feel as straightforward. Basically, you take the top handle, quickly fold the top part of the sheet over the filling, then you actually roll up the mat slowly by rotating the handle upwards. Once you reach the bottom part of the mat, you place the handle on the curved area of the bottom handle, then press downwards to tighten the roll.
I made three sushi rolls with this thing, and none of them were anywhere near as tight as using a makisu. In fact, by the end of the third roll, the top handle decided to disassemble itself.
Luckily, the sushi rolls didn't fall apart after cutting it, so they weren't as loose as I had feared.
With the exception of the silicone mat falling apart on me, the nigiri sushi mold certainly makes things easier by avoiding rice being stuck all over your hands. It's theoretically faster than making by hand, as you can make 8 pieces at a time. It's definitely designed for people who have little-to-no experience in making sushi, but believe me when I say I'm definitely sticking with a makisu for sushi rolls. Is this product worth $40? If the silicone mat was built better, then I would say yes. Otherwise, I just wish they would sell the nigiri mold separately for a lower price.
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