I’ve been teaching BF how to make sushi, and it got me thinking: making food at home is a HECK of a lot cheaper than buying it in a store.
But you knew that right? 😉
…the only problem is what if you like specialty foods like sushi?
It seems quite difficult, and you’re not sure if you’re going to do it right.
For foods like that, most people go to the restaurant to eat something they just cannot make themselves at home.
The best solution is…..Learn how to make it
There are a TON of resources online, in the library, or even your friends that can teach you the basics of how to make a certain dish.
Take sushi for example. You just need to buy the mat, the seaweed, the sushi rice, vinegar, soy sauce, and go to town with WHATEVER you want in the middle.
That means if you only like the salmon with avocado, you can make a TON Of rolls of exactly what you want instead of having to deal with something CLOSE to what you wanted.
So as a breakdown, a roll of maki sushi (Cucumber Maki for example) is 6 pieces and costs about $4.99. Right?
A package of seaweed: $3 for 20 sheets = $0.15
A cucumber: $1 for a whole one (let’s say you use a quarter) = $0.25
Sushi Rice: $5 for a small bag maybe 1kg, and you use maybe 50 grams = $0.25
Soy Sauce: $3 for a bottle maybe 250mL, and you use a splash or so = $0.01
$0.15 + $0.25 + $0.25 + $0.01 = $0.75 a roll!
You could make about 6 and a half Cucumber Maki rolls for the price they’re selling it in a restaurant.
Of course, you need a rice cooker, and a rolling mat, but that stuff will pay itself off if you realllly love sushi and keep making this stuff daily. Plus it’s healthier..
And this guy is helping with a fab home video on how to do it 😉
Yes, yes, I TOTALLY understand that going to a restaurant will be a treat and it’s food that’s professionally made, etc, but if you are going just because you think you can’t make it, think again.
The main thing to remember is to not to spend money on restaurants that serve food that you can prepare on your own at home (couple of culprits would be BBQ chicken, steak, mashed potatoes, etc).
Go somewhere special if you’re going to go out. If you gave yourself a budget of $200 for the family to head out to a restaurant, pick a good one that’ll be a special moment rather than going to McDonald’s a bunch of times.
It’ll be easier on your wallet because you’ll be satisfied after the ONE outing. How many times have you gone (many times) to McDonald’s and then ended up ‘treating’ yourself at Ruby Tuesday’s or Swiss Chalet?
It’ll be more of a special occasion because it’s not every week and it’ll be something you cannot prepare at home without spending hours slaving over the stove.
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver.
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Meg: Real sugar for me.. I hate the aftertaste of Splenda and it gives me a headache. actually I ought to lay off the sugar, it’s been making me a bit bloated and sick lately..
Mmm .. I’m going to try that recipe when I get back home!
Yeah! I look forward to reading it!
BTW, I forgot one key ingredient to mention… definitely add some sugar if you’re making the cucumber salad if you’re using unsweetened vinegar. Actually, Splenda can work, too. But the real stuff still tastes better to me.
I just made a huge batch using two large cucumbers and both of my bottles of vinegar. I added some dried red peppers to the mix for some extra kick. I plan to make some more later using the same mix. That way I can reuse the vinegar for something.
Meg: Sounds delish *drooling*
And I’m going to write up a post on Sushi making.. :)!!
No worries, FB. I got a bottle — then noticed that I had a barely used bottle in the fridge already. I must correct that by making some cucumber salad (mix vinegar, cucumbers, carrot, cilantro, onion and let sit for while — very yummy).
I’d definitely appreciate a post! The online tutorials I found online were awful. They didn’t even mention the vinegar, though I already knew about it from Wikipedia’s entry on sushi.
Meg: I should mention that to make sushi rice, you’ll need to buy Rice Vinegar too.. because you need to mix it into the rice after it’s cooked and before it’s cooled down.. 🙂 That way, you get the correct taste of the rice with the ingredients.
If not, it’s going to taste really really flat/plain and weird. I tried 😛
Let me know how it turns out and if you need any pointers 🙂 (Maybe I ought to do a post..)
Don’t I know it! At least we still have the utensils the wok came with!
I had sushi for lunch today and boy was it yummy. I finished off all my wasabi with tears of utter bliss. I’m going to try to make my own, though, to save money.
Tonight I got some sushi rice to try out in the steamer, along with some other stuff. I’m ordering a silicone sushi mat, too. Now I just need to get some wasabi and seaweed. I’ll hit the more exotic grocery stores tomorrow — and try to find a bigger bottle of pickled ginger while I’m at it because I eat that stuff like it’s candy.
Savingdiva: No need for a class for something that simple 🙂 Youtube has plenty of videos! Or email and ask me.. I can make you a list of what you need 😀
Meg: Joyce Chen products are crap except for the bamboo utensils.. I’m so happy your steamer worked out!!!! 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 Ohh.. fluffy white rice..
@ FB,
The steamer arrived tonight and I used it to make steamed buns, then brown rice. It works great! There was definitely a difference when it came to the rice. It was fluffy and soft without being mushy. We had some friends over and one tried the rice and seemed genuinely surprised by how good it was. Plus, it was nice that I didn’t have to stir it and check it.
Tomorrow or the next day, I hope to test it on larger portions of rice. It’ll probably be the day after tomorrow, though, because I have plenty of cooked rice right now, and I may end up going out for sushi tomorrow.
Looks like I have something else to write about now ; )
Savingdiva,
Those are the kinds I like! I don’t eat seafood, but just last month or so I learned that I can get veggie rolls and that they’re out of this world. I especially like them peanut sauce. Yummy!
I’m tempted to learn how to make the rolls, too. But on the other hand, the way it is now it’s a treat that I share with friends when we want to go out and it wouldn’t be the same at home.
Wow, FB, that makes you the second person I know who eats that much rice!
Today I went ahead and bought a steamer/rice cooker since I found one for fairly cheap online. I actually bought it because the coating of our non-stick wok is coming off and it had to be thrown out. (By the way, this is the second Joyce Chen wok to do this, and I know I could send this one back again, but it’s not worth the shipping.)
I realized, though, that the only thing I used the wok for was making steamed buns with a bamboo steamer. So, instead of getting another wok, I just got an electric steamer. I figure it’s also got to be easier, more versatile, and less messy than the bamboo steamers. Here’s hoping!
I’m a huge fan of sushi, but I consider it an eat out treat. I do want to learn how to make avocado and cucumber rolls…maybe I’ll try to take a class to learn to roll them…
Meg & Living: I buy the 50lb bags for sure and use the rice cooker almost daily… *shrugs* I’m also partially lazy. I don’t want to have to stir the rice LOL
I’ve used Basmanti, Mahatma, and the store brand. So long as I stir it a few times I don’t have any problems.
I might have to ask my new roommate about her rice cooker. She’s from China and is the only person I know that has bought one of the 50lb bags of rice from Sams (that’s about half her body weight, btw).
Definitely interesting cooking in the microwave. I agree the water isn’t absorbed right. Plus it depends on the rice. What sort of bagged rice as you buying? Basmanti? Kokoho? Quality of rice matters as well.
Meg: I’ve found that cooking the rice in the microwave, sometimes the water doesn’t absorb into the rice as easily, and it has hard spots (like uncooked rice) in some of the grains…
And I’ve found that the rice tastes funnier cooked in the microwave than in the rice cooker…
I use the regular bag stuff.
Hard spots?
Meg: Do you use instant rice or the stuff in bags?
I’m sure in the microwave it’s fine, but I’m super picky about rice and I’ve found that in the rice cooker, it always comes out perfect and soft (no hard spots)..
Lady N: Oh yea, the special rolls you can only get in a restaurant but if you eat and love to eat sushi every day, cucumber makis and that sort of thing, at home is the way to go..
Or my favourite, teriyaki chicken rolls 🙂
I tried to learn how to make sushi at home, some of them just aren’t the same at home as at the restaurant. But sometimes its fun to have friends come over and cook together and eat in. I agree with Val, its really about the company whether eating out or in.
I don’t get rice cookers. I cook my rice in the microwave and it turns out fine. My husband cooks it on the stovetop and it’s still fine. Maybe it’s different for sushi rice, though. I’ve only cooked Jasmine and brown rice.
Living: My point exactly. If you’re into cucumber sushi and things that are safer to eat at home (even cooked eel comes frozen), you might as well make it at home.
The point about going out is to eat speciality food, but I find a lot of people go out and ‘waste’ cash on restaurants that end up serving food you could’ve had made at home.
Val: Yup! Which is the whole point of going out… this post was mainly aimed at people who want to be frugal while still being able to have fun and treat their family.
When I go out to eat, its not just for the food. I go for the opportunity to get all gussied up, to be able to peruse an amazing wine list and select a bottle that I would never keep at home, to have dinner served to me so I can relax and enjoy the experience, to soak up the ambiance of the decor, candlelight, and people, and to not have to deal with a buttload of dishes afterwards. And having gourmet quality food is always a treat, too.
Believe me, if I could cook like Michael Mina, David Kinch, or Thomas Keller, I’d be eating at home way more often.
I’ve also found its more economical to eat out for me, since I live alone. Since food is cheaper when bought at larger quantities, I can get a way better meal at a much lower price than buying a ton of groceries and making a meal at home. But I can see where if you have eight kids it would make more sense budget-wise to prepare things at home.
Living is right, though. Proceed with caution when preparing raw fish at home. Try to stick to cooked sushi rolls and save the raw stuff to the pros. I’ve gotten food poisining from bad fish before, and believe me, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.
Eat sushi out. That sort of sushi, is easy to make at home. But the real stuff, the fish is impossible to come by and next to impossible to cut.
Plus real tuna costs a minimum of $19.99/lb sashimi grade, which is all you should be buying to make it. Otherwise you risk getting food poisoning. Also don’t eat sushi just anywhere, be careful. I love sushi, grew up in Hawaii and Japan, I know good fish. And I love eating raw seafood at the beach, but even my iron stomach has turned at “old” sushi at someone’s house.
I go out to eat foods I can’t make at home. Couple of things come to mind, sushi, indian tandoori, chinese peking duck, etc. Mostly it’s specialty foods.