Sushi is the "Sticky Rice"
The defining element of sushi is not raw fish as many think, but the rice. Sushi to the Japanese is synonymous with seasoned sticky rice.

It is very important to use short or medium grain rice only.

Pre-prepare a vinegar-water solution called tezu. Mix together 1 cup of water, 2 TBS of rice vinegar and 1 tsp of salt. Set aside. You will use this to dip your fingers in before you stuff or assemble the rice in the appetizers.

Ingredients for Sticky Rice to make approximately 4 Rolls:
2 C raw rice (short or medium grain)
2 C plus 2 TBS of water
4 TBS of rice vinegar
2 TBS plus 1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Wash the rice several times until the water is clear. Move to a colander and drain for an hour. Transfer the rice to a heavy pot or electric rice cooker and add the measured water. Make sure there is a tight-fitting lid and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat allowing the rice to steam for 15 minutes more with the cover on at all times. Now remove from the heat, remove the lid momentarily to stretch a clean tea towel over the pot and replace the cover. Let it remain covered and without heat to finish steaming for another 15 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the rice vinegar, sugar and salt together in a small saucepan. While stirring, heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves. Set aside the mixture to cool to room temperature. After the rice has steamed properly, take a wooden spatula or spoon and cut and fold the rice. Do not use beating or stirring motions as you want to avoid smashing the grains.

Dampen a cloth using the pre-prepared tezu and rub the insides of a bowl. The traditional bowl to use is the flat-bottomed wooden sushi oke or hangiri. The wood absorbs excess moisture and the large surface allows the rice to cool more quickly and evenly. Put the hot rice into the bowl and quickly add the seasoned rice vinegar solution. Mix with the same cutting and folding motion. After mixing, fan the hot rice mixture in order to remove moisture as well as to cool it. This should take about 10 minutes. The rice grains will have a nice sheen. The result will be ideal sushi rice with a slightly chewy consistency and just a touch of stickiness.

The rice is not to be refrigerated and should be used within an hour after preparation. Keep the rice covered with a clean cloth and at room temperature until you are ready to make your rolls.

Prepare the fried bean curd by pouring boiling water over them to remove excess oil. A package usually contains 10 sheets of the aburage. Cut into halves and pull open the center of the pieces, making bags. (Yes, this is like preparing pita bread.) In a saucepan, combine 2/3 cup dashi broth, 3 TBS soy sauce, 2 TBS sugar, and 1 TBS sake. Bring to a boil and simmer the bean curd bags for 10 to 15 minutes until the liquid is almost absorbed. Remove from heat, drain and cool. Press out remaining liquid with a clean cloth.

You can add 2 tsp of heated sesame seeds to the sushi rice, and/or add small pieces of mushroom, carrot, dried gourd or other vegetables cooked in the same liquid as the bean curd. Fill the bags with the rice mixture and roll the top of the bean curd over the rice to enclose it.

Thick Rolled Sushi
This roll is about 2 inches thick, hence the name futo-maki, or fat roll. The other sushi rolls could be called hoso-maki or thin rolls by comparison. This roll contains six to eight ingredients, most often six, and often the same six. Ingredients can include bamboo shoots, cucumbers, egg, tuna fish, cooked carrots, and cooked spinach or other greens.

The nori sheets are cut in half and then quarters, so that a quarter sheet can be pasted onto the end of the half sheet to make a sheet half as wide as normal, and 1-1/2 times as long. The seam should be under the ingredients, and the sheets are pasted together with crushed rice grains. The roll is cut thinner into five slices.

The Thin Rolled Sushi uses one nori sheet rolled along the long side of the sheet. Slice it a little thicker than the thick rolled sushi.

Egg Omelet
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
Seasonings
    1 TBS sugar
    1/5 tsp salt
    1 tsp cornstarch
Oil

Break eggs into a bowl. Add egg yolks and seasoning, and mix well. Cool on a rack. Cut in half and roll up. Shred into fine pieces. This should make 5-6 omelets.

Shiitake Mushrooms
Shittake mushrooms
2 C water
2 TBS sugar
2 TBS sake
3 TBS soy sauce
1 TBS mirin

Break the stems of shiitake and soak them with caps in water. Put a plate as a weight to prevent them from floating. Put all the ingredients except mirin in a pan and cook until the liquid is almost gone. Add mirin to make the shiitake glossy. Remove the ends of the stems. Cut the stems and caps into fine strips.

Dried Gourd Strips
2/3 oz. gourd strips
2 C dashi stock
1 1/2 TBS sugar
1 1/2 TBS soy sauce
1 TBS mirin

Rinse the kampyo in water. Rub it with salt and wash the salt away. Boil and continue adding water until soft. Cook in the stock and sugar until soft. Add soy sauce. When the liquid has evaporated, add mirin. Cool.

Carrot
1/3 carrot
1 C dashi
2 tsp sugar
dash of salt
1 tsp mirin

Cut the carrots depending on what you are using them for. Cook in the broth until soft. Drain.