Kelly Loves Sushi Making Kit Review

Reviewed by Colin Hewitt 

We’re always trying to make different, convenient lunchtime dishes to take to work. We both like sushi; however, small trays of shop-bought items can be pretty expensive. Therefore making your own is a great economical alternative; it’s also a lot of fun. I must admit, during the pandemic lockdown, I attempted to teach myself Sushi making. The results weren’t too bad, certainly edible, but I was restricted with the ingredients I could find at that particular time. I wish I’d discovered the Kelly Loves range during that period.

Kelly Choi is the founder of Kelly Loves and the Kelly Deli group of companies. Her full biography can be found on the Kelly Loves website. It’s worth exploring their comprehensive and competitively priced range of products.
https://kellyloves.com/

I have an international supermarket very close to home; however, their Korean/Japanese products range is not even close to those offered by Kelly Loves, which can supply a stunning range of meal kits, individual ingredients, drinks, and snacks.

In addition to sushi ingredients, their Instant Noodles and Miso Soups range could also become a staple for original lunchtime meals. I’m intrigued by the Katsuo Udon Noodles and the Kimchi Ramen Noodles.

Note that they offer free delivery on any order over £25.00

I received the following items to review:-

The Sushi Starter Kit – which consists of
A Sushi Mat
Sushi Nori (Toasted seaweed sheets)
Sushi Rice (500g)
Sushi Vinegar (150ml)
Spicy Mayo (285g)

In addition, I was also sent the following:
Fried Onions (150g)
Sushi Ginger (150ml)

Unfortunately, of the items I received, the Sushi Ginger was past its best before date by over three weeks, and the Sushi Nori was only within its best before date by three days.

I’m not a stickler for best before dates, preferring the more sensible ‘use by date’ to gauge whether a product is safe to use or not. However, I’m surprised that a company is prepared to deliver such items. I hope this was in error and that paying customers who purchase directly will receive longer-dated items. Please note that all the other items supplied were long-dated.

That grumble aside, how good were the products?

I attempted the Maki recipe (Nori on the outside) as detailed in the recipe section of their website. Firstly I prepared the Sushi rice, again full instructions, and a video is on the website, simply using (obviously) the rice from the kit and the Sushi Vinegar. This was extremely straightforward.

For the Maki filling, I used prawns and cucumber. After chilling in the fridge, these were delicious.

I then tried the Vegan Sushi rolls (rice on the outside) using carrot and some cucumber strips that I’d pickled in red wine vinegar for about 20 minutes. I covered half the sushi rolls in sesame seeds (I prefer to toast the sesame seeds first, but this is purely personal taste), and the rest were rolled in fried onions. Again, after thoroughly chilling, the final product was delicious.

I also discovered that, although not their intended purpose, the fried onions are also a delicious snack on their own.

The beauty of sushi is that you can experiment with any ingredient combination (I’m sure there are purist rules, but rules are made for breaking). I can already tell that my lockdown attempts were poor because I didn’t season my rice well enough with Sushi vinegar.

I would highly recommend these products.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

(Unfortunately I’ve deducted a point and a half due to the best before dates issue, which hopefully won’t happen to most purchasers – if this hadn’t occurred this would have been a 5 out of 5 review.)

RRP:
The Sushi Starter Kit is £13.00, which is currently reduced to £11.99. All items from the starter kit can also be purchased individually.
Fried Onions £2.75
Sushi Ginger £3.35

This product can be purchased here.