I’m relatively new to the world of sushi. I first dipped my toe in at secondary school, where my class learned a little bit of Japanese and made sushi on the drama room floor. Mine wasn’t the best and was a bit of a flop! But my second exploration into sushi was at Umi Middlesbrough and I really enjoyed it (as well as their other incredible food)! We had veggie maki and it was so fresh and delicious that I was itching to try more.
So when Kelly Loves asked me if I wanted to review their Ultimate Sushi Kit, I absolutely jumped at the chance. I thought it was a great opportunity to redeem myself after the first and only time I’d made sushi. And I can’t wait to show my results, so let’s get stuck in!
But first things first, let’s have a look at everything in the box, shall we? As the name might suggest, the Ultimate Sushi Kit comes with everything you need to make fabulous sushi, but specifically maki or futomaki. You will receive:
- 7 x nori sheets
- A sushi mat
- Sushi rice
- Wasabi
- Pickled ginger
- Spicy mayo
- Fried onions
- Sushi vinegar
- A cute bento box
The only thing you need to add the Ultimate Sushi Kit is your fresh ingredients. The Kelly Loves website has lots of recipe ideas for you to try, but if you want to make maki, you’ll only need one extra ingredient, such as avocado or cucumber. But if you want to make futomaki, you’ll need a few more ingredients to get your rolls nice and fat.
If you want to make a real meal out of your sushi creations, you could also grab the Kelly Loves ginger miso soup, a side of kimchi for that delicious pickled flavour, a bottle of their soy sauce for dipping, and some delicious Ramune to wash it all down with. These were also kindly sent to me and will appear throughout this review.
This might’ve been a bit ambitious of me, but I wanted to go the whole hog, so I decided to make futomaki. I chose smoked salmon, avocado and cucumber for my fillings, and set about getting started.
The sushi rice had really handy instructions on, which was ideal for a total beginner like me. But I have to be honest here, I got too ahead of myself and completely misread the directions. My first batch of rice ended up incredibly mushy and soggy, purely because I mixed up all the numbers. Thankfully, my second round of rice was spot on, I just didn’t have as much as I’d been silly and wasted half the box on my first round.
I hadn’t realised quite how much goes into making sushi rice. Of course, it has that distinct flavour to it, but did you know that comes from a combination of vinegar, sugar and salt? Thankfully, you don’t need to have these ingredients in the cupboard, as the Kelly Loves sushi vinegar is in the box and waiting to go. You simply add it in and stir, and this will coat your rice in the flavouring and help to preserve it. The taste was absolutely spot on!
While my rice was cooling down, I chopped up all my fish and veg, then it was time to roll. The sushi mat was firm, but flexible. It gave a really good grip on the sushi, which was definitely something I was hoping for. As a total newbie, I had visions of the filling spilling out everywhere or the seaweed sliding about. I’m pleased to say that none of that happened and everything went pretty smoothly!
As I was wanting to make futomaki, I used a whole sheet of nori. I added spoonfuls of rice on top, oiled my fingers a little and pushed it out to the sides, being sure to leave a gap at the top. I laid my avocado and cucumber strips side by side, then added strips of salmon on top. I slowly and gently (but firmly) rolled up my sushi, and I can’t even tell you how chuffed I was when I did the first one and it held its shape! It was so satisfying, but not as satisfying as cutting the first piece and seeing my fillings nestled in the rice. I was so pleased!
As I mentioned, I didn’t have a whole lot of rice, but I managed to cover two nori sheets with what I had and I accidentally made my rice layer a bit too thick. I also added some of the fried onions inside my second batch, which looked so fun and added a little extra crunch. Once it was all cut up, I had about 12 pieces of sushi and each one was pretty chunky, so I definitely could’ve got more out of it if I’d been more careful with the rice. But I was really pleased with what I’d made and I’m already excited to try make more!
I enjoyed some of my sushi alongside the pickled ginger and the reduced salt soy sauce. I hadn’t had pickled ginger before, but I LOVE ginger, so I knew I’d be a fan. It had the spicy punch of ginger that we know and love, but also a slightly savoury edge because of the pickling. It was delicious! And soy sauce is an absolute must with sushi, and this one was sensational. It had a beautiful umami flavour and it added a gorgeous depth to every bite. I’m so looking forward to using this in future recipes down the line.
I also enjoyed my ginger miso soup on the side. This was really easy to make – simply add the miso paste sachet and the garnish sachet into a bowl, then top up with boiling water and stir. This will give you a bowl of warming miso soup that you can enjoy alongside your sushi! My bowl was the perfect accompaniment, especially with the extra pickled ginger too. I’ve also heard that this is a fab option to have if you’re feeling a bit nauseous – the healing power of ginger!
And last but not least, I utterly loved the lychee Ramune. These bottles feature the traditional Codd-neck design with the glass marble inside. You need to use the little plastic popper on top to push the marble down into the neck (Kelly Loves have a whole guide on how to do it), which gives it a satisfying fizz and clinky sound. The drink itself was super sweet and a lot more gentle in fizz than our more carbonated lemonades. The lemon and lychee flavours were so perfect together, and I reckon I could’ve drank at least five more bottles. So tasty.
Of course, sushi is best eaten fresh, but I had some leftovers. Luckily for me, the bento box in the Ultimate Sushi Kit was really spacious and provided the perfect place to store my leftover pieces. I’ve always wanted a bento box and I’m so excited to use it more in the future. But for now, it was the ideal solution for storing sushi for lunchtime.
Overall, I really enjoyed the Kelly Loves Ultimate Sushi Kit. As a complete beginner to making sushi, it was great to have all of the essentials at my fingertips. So if you’re like me and have been wanting to explore the world of sushi making, this could be perfect for you! Alternatively, if you’re a bit of a pro at making sushi, this kit could be ideal for stocking up your stash of ingredients or for gifting to someone. Plus, the extras like fried onions and pickled ginger will be really handy for other dishes that you might like to make. In my opinion, it’s a total winner of a kit.
Would you have a go at making your own sushi with this kit?
I received free products from Kelly Loves in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own. The fresh ingredients were purchased with my own money.