Make Sushi at Home: Tools, Techniques and Perfect Sushi Rice

Sushi can feel like a restaurant-only pleasure, a dish that needs a professional's touch with knives and raw food.

No one will judge if you leave nigirizushi to sushi chefs. But you can easily make chirashizushi and makizushi at home - and generations of Japanese have done so, especially for celebrations.

For sushi rolls, you don’t need a whole drawer of specialized tools. You just need something to hold the rice, a paddle that won’t crush it and a way to roll with steady pressure.

Below is a guide to making makizushi with minimum equipment and fixing common mistakes that make people swear off making sushi when it’s really just rice and fixings.

Basic Sushi Equipment: Hangiri, Shamoji and Bamboo Mat

A lot of sushi equipment exists because sushi is both food and presentation. But for rolled sushi, you only need three core tools - hangiri, shamoji and makisu - plus a sharp knife.

Hangiri: the sushi rice tub that fixes texture

A hangiri (also called handai or sushi oke) is a broad wooden tub used for cooling and seasoning rice.

The wood helps to regulate moisture, absorbing it from the rice as it cools. The result: light, fluffy sushi rice.

If you don't have a hangiri, use a tray or baking sheet. You can also use a mixing bowl but choose something wide. The whole point is surface area: you need to spread the rice out so it can cool to room temperature without turning into a steamy brick.

Shamoji: the rice paddle that 'cuts' instead of mashing

For sushi rice, the mixing technique is not stirring - it’s slicing and folding, so you distribute seasoning without crushing grains into paste.

A paddle makes that motion natural: you 'cut' down through the rice and lift from the bottom.

But a traditional wooden shamoji isn't an absolute must; you can substitute it with a silicone spatula or a flat wooden spoon.

Makisu: roll the sushi with a bamboo mat

Makisu bamboo mats help you to apply even pressure as you roll the nori and rice together.

Among makisu, there are versions sized for thin rolls (hosomaki) and thick rolls (futomaki).

There is also the oni-sudare, woven from thicker bamboo strips which leave deliberate ridges - useful for creating patterned surfaces, such as when shaping a rolled omelet.

If you can't find a makisu, a kitchen towel covered with plastic wrap is an acceptable workaround.

You can also try using cling film alone though this works better for rice-on-the-outside rolls.

Even if you have a bamboo mat, you may want to lay plastic wrap on it before you set the rice and seaweed on it. This saves clean-up and prevents rice from lodging in between the bamboo slats.

Knife: the art of sushi depends on it

You can do without a yanagiba for now but you do need a sharp knife to make clean cuts.

Remember to keep the blade clean and slightly damp in between slices. You can do this by wiping it on a damp kitchen towel or by dipping the tip of the knife in water and letting the droplets slide down the blade by holding the knife up and tapping the end of the handle on the table or board.

Making Sushi Rolls at Home

The defining element of sushi is the vinegared rice that brings everything together, both in seasoning and structure. 

You can make a delicious sushi roll with raw or cooked vegetables, with tamagoyaki or tuna mixed into something creamy and spicy. You can certainly leave out the raw fish.

But you can't ignore the shari because good sushi rice is what makes the homemade version taste like restaurant-quality sushi instead of just rice with stuff in it.

How to Make Sushi Rice

If your sushi rice is too wet, the nori turns soggy and your roll slumps. If it’s too dry, it won’t hold and the mouthfeel becomes oddly crumbly. The target is specific: tender grains, cohesive but not mashed, seasoned clearly and cooled to room temperature before you roll.

The type of rice is crucial. Use a Japanese short-grain rice such as koshihikari; long-grain rice such as basmati is too dry and not sticky enough.

Step 1: Wash the rice

Do this until the water runs clear. This removes excess surface starch, which can make your cooked rice gummy.

Step 2: Drain and rest

After washing the rice, drain it well and let it rest in a colander for about 30 minutes.

Step 3: Cook the rice

A rice cooker is the easiest path to consistency but a stovetop works too. The key is to control the amount of water because the rice will absorb more liquid when you add vinegar.

Step 4: Prepare vinegar for the rice

There's more than one way to make sushizu, or sushi vinegar. If you've yet to find a recipe that you like, try this one. The amount of sugar may be startling but this version produces well-defined, crisply seasoned shari.

(For 3 go of uncooked rice; about 450 g)

Rice vinegar: 100 ml
Salt: 25 g
Sugar: 125 g

Stir the vinegar, sugar and salt in a small saucepan over low heat until completely dissolved and syrupy.

Step 5: Mix sushi vinegar into the rice

The most important technique detail is this: do not stir. You slice and fold.

Pour the sushi vinegar over the rice while it's still hot so that it's absorbed well and the rice turns glossy as it cools.

Use the shamoji to cut and fold, lifting from the bottom and turning the rice gently so the grains stay intact.

Fan the rice while mixing if you can - this helps to cool the rice quickly and sets that shine.

Cool the rice to room temperature. If you're still prepping the filling, cover the rice with a slightly damp cloth so it doesn't dry out.

Master Sushi Rolling Techniques

There are countless makizushi recipes but rolling is the one skill that makes all of them possible.

Once your hands learn the motion, you can make maki that holds its shape, slices cleanly and shows a neat cross-section instead of a rice landslide.

Nori on the outside

Check the orientation of the bamboo mat: place the makisu with the smooth side up and the string knots positioned at the back. If you're using plastic wrap, lay it on the mat.

Place the nori on the wrap with the rough side facing up - this grips the rice better. The smooth side also ends up outside, making the roll look glossier.

With wet hands, spread an even layer of rice over the nori. Don’t compact it like you’re plastering a wall - the rice should stay airy.

Leave a strip of bare nori - at least 1 cm - at the far edge so the roll can seal neatly. For thicker rolls, leave about 3 cm bare.

Place the filling slightly closer to you than the center of the rice.

This is a small fix with a big payoff. If the filling goes dead center, beginners often roll unevenly and end up with the filling drifting off-line.

Start the roll: tuck and tighten

Lift the near edge of the mat with your thumbs. Bring the nori up and over the filling, tucking it in.

Now the key move: press once to set the shape. You’re not crushing. You’re making contact - rice meets filling, filling stays put.

Roll forward, using the mat as a guide. After the first tuck, it becomes easier: continue to roll, gently pressing along the length to keep the log even.

Seal the roll by moistening the bare strip of nori lightly - water is fine - and finish rolling so it adheres.

Let the roll sit for a few minutes so the shape sets.

Rice on the outside

Inside-out rolls can be harder to make - mostly because sticky rice sticks to everything - but plastic wrap is your ally.

Cover the sushi mat with cling wrap and lay a half sheet of nori on top. Spread rice evenly onto the nori, then flip it so the rice faces down.

Add the fillings and roll your sushi while pulling it slightly toward yourself to tighten it.

If you sprinkle sesame seeds on the rice before flipping it, you get better grip and a cleaner look.

Sushi Rolling: Common Beginner Mistakes

Most sushi disasters are predictable - and preventable.

Mistake 1: Rice too warm, nori turns soggy

Why it happens: rolling while the rice is still steaming hot.

Solution: cool the rice to room - or body - temperature.

Mistake 2: Rice or fillings spill out, roll won’t seal

Why it happens: rice was spread all the way to the far edge of the nori, or too many ingredients were loaded on the sheet.

Solution: leave a bare strip of nori at the far edge (about 3 cm for thicker rolls; 1 cm for thin rolls). Keep fillings modest.

Mistake 3: Roll is loose and collapses when sliced

Why it happens: uneven rice thickness; weak tightening at the first tuck.

Solution: spread rice in an even layer and give one confident shaping press right after the first tuck. 

Mistake 4: Roll gets crushed when cutting

Why it happens: dull knife; dirty blade; pressing straight down.

Solution: sharpen your knife, wipe it on a damp cloth between cuts and slice with a gentle back-and-forth motion rather than forcing the blade through.

Classic Sushi Fillings

This article isn't a collection of sushi recipes but it’s worth repeating this here: you can make great sushi without raw fish.

Makizushi is often more about balance, color and convenience than luxury. Here are some filling options to try: cucumber, avocado, tamagoyaki, fresh and pickled vegetables, crabsticks and cooked tuna.

Anything that can sliced into thin, even sticks is a potential candidate because the sticks make the cross-section aesthetically pleasing and sushi is something you eat with your eyes first.

Sushi Presentation Principles: Color, Space and Platter Choice

Presentation is where homemade sushi becomes party food. Here are a few guidelines on how to make sushi a centerpiece on your dining table:

Build in color contrast

Balancing red (tuna, salmon, crabstick, sakura denbu fish flakes), yellow (egg, fried tofu), green (cucumber, shiso), white (sushi rice) and black (nori) creates visual rhythm and avoids monotony.

Apply this principle both when composing your makizushi and plating different types of sushi: if you’re serving tuna rolls, don’t line them up beside something red-heavy.

Arrange according to plate shape

Rectangular or oval plates make rolls look orderly: line them up, slightly angled.

For round plates, consider a radial layout: arrange the pieces in a loose circle, leaving the center open for garnish.

Use white space as an ingredient

Sushi looks more expensive when it has room to breathe. Don’t crowd the plate. Leave gaps. Let each piece be seen - and room for a pair of chopsticks to glide in.

Make the cross-section the star

For makizushi, the cut face is the whole point. Arrange sushi rolls so the cut sides face up and forward.

If you’re plating a variety of sushi rolls, group them in small sets so the patterns can be seen clearly.

The Sushi Experience You Make at Home

Makizushi travels well, brightens a lunch box and turns dinner into a small event: the kind where people gather near the chopping board and start helping in ways that mostly involve eating the cucumber sticks before they ever reach the mat and nori.

And that’s when sushi at home becomes what it has always been in Japan: not a stunt, not a trophy but a celebration.

By Janice Tay