How To Make Sushi Nori
Despite its escalating reputation over the past several decades, many westerners are still wary of the idea of sushi, and plenty of this trepidation is due in part to the ingredients, many of which sound strange and foreign to us, even though having been translated into English. Maybe chief among these is seaweed, or from here on out: roasted sushi nori. Sushi nori is a well-known ingredient in, and method of preparing sushi, typically comprising the wrap inside which all the other ingredients are stored.
Sushi nori dinner, though commonly simply referred to as sea weed, is really a type of algae traditionally cultivated in the harbors of Japan. The original method of harvest - scraping the algae off dock pilings, rolling it out into thin sheets and then allowing it dry in the sun - doesn't exactly sound delicious, but modern methods of cultivation and preparing are far removed from scraping it out of a filthy harbor. Nowadays, the process of shredding and rack-drying sushi nori is a highly sophisticated form of agriculture closer similar to paper making than anything else.
The growth of nori starts within a controlled environment, in harbors or bays especially designated for that goal, functioning like an aquatic version of a traditional agricultural field. On the surface of these waters, buoys are placed from which large nets are suspended, floating on the water's surface. The seaweed used in the production of sushi nori, a species of red algae referred to as Porphyra, is then able to grow naturally upon these nets.
Sushi nori - nori being the Japanese name for Porphyra - has a extremely small gestation period, only taking about 45 days from the first seeding to the harvest of fully harvested plants, and several harvests can be made from a single seeding, usually after intervals of about ten days. After the plants are harvested, they are processed using a range of machines specially made to replicate the process of shredding and drying by hand, with the benefit of enhanced efficiency and speed. The end result is a big, paper-thin sheet of dried sushi nori. These sheets may cost anywhere from six cents, where sushi is harvested within Chinese waters, to $50 for nori harvested from the traditional harbors off the coast of Japan, based on quality and the exact method of production.
Sheets of nori are usually cut in shapes of about 18 centimeters by 20 centimeters, making them the ideal size for preparing sushi nori. The sheets are laid out and the various ingredients - which include a large assortment of seafood and vegetables, depending on the exact type of sushi - are positioned on top. The entire sheet is then rolled up, enclosing the other components inside and the roll itself sliced into several sections, assuming the form and appearance that we most often associate with sushi.
Article by Paul Wise. When it comes to Roasted sushi nori, Paul recommends Sushimaven.com for great advice on Nori sushi for you
