Makizushi

Rolled in a bamboo mat with a bare strip of nori at the far edge to seal it.

Fish. Not vegetarian — contains fish.

Ingredients

• 600 g prepared sushi rice, as on its own page
• 6 sheets nori
• 200 g sashimi-grade tuna, in long strips
• 1 cucumber, in long batons
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 2 teaspoons wasabi
• soy sauce and pickled ginger, to serve

Method

1. LEAVE 2 cm OF BARE NORI AT THE FAR EDGE. That strip is what seals the roll -- it meets the rice as you finish and sticks. Rice spread to the end gives a roll with nothing to close it, and it springs open on the board.
2. The rice is made as on the chirashizushi page -- cut in with a slicing motion while fanning. This page is about the rolling.
3. A THIN EVEN LAYER, and far less rice than instinct says. About 100 g a sheet, spread 1 cm thick. Overfilled rolls cannot be closed and burst along the seam.
4. WET HANDS, SHAKEN ALMOST DRY. Dripping hands make the rice soggy and the nori limp before you start.
5. Nori ROUGH SIDE UP on the mat, shiny side down. The rough side grips the rice; the shiny side is the outside and looks better for it.
6. Spread the rice, then a faint line of wasabi across the middle, then the filling in a single line -- not a heap.
7. Lift the near edge of the mat with your thumbs, bring it over the filling, and PULL BACK gently against the roll while pressing down. That backward tension is what makes it tight; pushing forward makes a loose roll.
8. Roll forward onto the bare strip and press the whole length once.
9. REST SEAM DOWN for a minute before cutting, so it sets.
10. Cut with a very sharp wet blade, wiped between every cut. Half first, then each half into three. A dry blade drags and squashes the roll flat.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Japan · All recipes