Once the super glossy rice was done, Ma started making the sushi rolls. I was purely the spectator / photographer for this!
Again Ma used Hideo Dekura‘s book ‘Japanese Cooking at Home’.
The rolls really should be eaten soon after being made as the nori loses its crispness. Before you start you will need: a bamboo mat or dry flat surface.
Slender sushi rolls (hoso-maki)
1 nori sheet, halved crossways
1 cup sushi rice
Wasabi paste
¼ Lebanese cucumber, cut lengthways, seeded and cut into long thin sticks
Salt-reduced soy sauce
Pickled ginger (optional)
To make the vinegar water (Te-zu), combine 1 cup water with 1 tsp rice vinegar.
Rolling method (right handed)
Place bamboo mat on a board or other dry flat surface.- Place half a sheet of nori on the mat, rough side up, one edge of the nori lining up with the front edge of the mat.
- Dip your right fingers into the vinegar water. With damp fingers, take sushi rice and spread evenly over ¾ of the nori, leaving a space at the back edge. With your index finger, draw a line of wasabi along the rice.
- Place strips of cucumber side by side along the wasabi line.
- Using both hands, lift the front edge of the mat and roll up to the end of the rice. While still wrapped, gently shape the roll, pushing rice in at both ends with fingertips.
- Keep lifting up the front edge of the bamboo mat as you roll the sushi on the remaining uncovered portion of nori, giving a final light press on the edge before removing the mat completely.
- With a wet knife, slice the roll in half, then into thirds.
- Served with pickled ginger and a dipping sauce
[...] month Cooking with Ma had a delicious Japanese theme. Ma showed me how to make sushi rice, sushi rolls, tofu pockets, some Japanese salads and my grandmother’s gyoza. I think my grandmother, [...]