Maki rolls

“I’ve never seen kids eat this much sushi!”, proclaimed a waitress once in a sushi restaurant. Indeed, my two little angels had eaten a total of 38 pieces, which is more than many adults manage. When heading out, they were still complaining that they’d wanted more - and I had a sudden flashback of the Simpsons episode where Homer goes to all-you-can-eat seafood restaurant..!

So you might understand the need for making sushi at home. I used to buy fresh salmon and tuna, but nowadays I make mostly vegetarian sushi. (Today I used a bit of canned Follow Fish tuna.) Their clear advantage over non-vegetarian ones is that you don’t have to worry about whether the fish is fresh enough to be eaten uncooked. I mainly make maki rolls, although I’ve tried avocado and omelet covered nigiris as well. Once you get the hang of it, it’s actually quite easy and fun! But still time-consuming…

First, you need to cook sushi rice. My normal portion is 500g uncooked rice. It makes sense to follow the recipe of the package you’re using, because the amount of water may vary from one brand to another. For the rice I normally use, 650ml water is perfect (for that half a kilo of rice). Wash the rice thoroughly until washing water comes out clear. Then drain the rice, place in a pan and cover with the required amount of water. Bring to a boil, let boil over a low heat for some 10 minutes or until water is absorbed. You don’t need to stir the rice at all. Then set aside and let rest for another 10 minutes or so before transferring onto a deep big plate to be seasoned.

For the seasoning, I use 50ml rice vinegar, 1 tsp sea salt, and 2 Tbsp sugar. Many recipes suggest more salt, but since soy sauce has quite a lot of salt already, for me that’s just enough. I mix the ingredients well, sprinkle over the rice, and stir with two wooden spoons or spatulas. Then the rice still has to cool before you can actually start making the sushi.

For a regular maki roll, take a nori sheet cut in half and place it on the sushi mat. Then wet your hands well and cover the nori sheet with a thin layer of rice, leaving about 1cm on the top end free (see the picture to get the idea). In the middle of the rice, use your finger to “draw” a fine horizontal line with wasabi (don’t exaggerate, it’s hoooot!) and on top of the wasabi, place any filling you’d like: cucumber, cut into thin, long sticks; carrots, cut into even thinner sticks; avocado, cut into thin sticks as well. You have to find the right balance between too little and too much filling; in both cases, it’s hard to roll it properly. Wet the not covered part of nori with water, using your fingers again. Then place your thumbs under the bamboo mat, hold the filling with the rest of your fingers, and slowly start rolling the mat towards the other end, then move your right hand on top of the mat to help in the rolling. Once you’ve reach the other end, roll the maki inside the mat under the palm of your hands a couple of times forth and back - be careful not to crush it! - and then open. If all went well, you should now have a beautiful roll waiting to be cut - if not, don’t worry - it took me quite a long time before I started mastering the right technique. And as you can witness, not all come out perfect even now.. There are great tutorials on youtube - or even better, maybe you know someone who could show you? That’s how I learned it.. (Thanks, Salla!)

Now you just need to cut the roll into 6 pieces. Choose a really sharp knife - it’s best to have several so you can try just which of them works the best. It's essential to wet the knife! First cut the roll in two pieces, and then each half still into 3 small ones. Voilà!

For inside-out rolls, you need to cover your bamboo mat with some plastic wrap. Place the nori sheet on a plate and cover it with rice, using wet hands. (You don’t need to leave that 1cm uncovered.) Then turn the nori sheet around and set it, rice side down, on the plastic-wrap covered bamboo mat. Place filling in the middle and roll as described with regular maki rolls. Inside-out makis are somewhat easier to roll, but they are very sticky, so be careful when cutting them! Before cutting, you can sprinkle some black and/or white sesame seeds on top.

Serve your makis with wasabi, soy sauce, and pickled ginger.

So today when the kids asked: “What?! Did you make so little sushi?” I could answer: "Obviously there’s more waiting in the kitchen!" I’ve finally learned my lesson.