Random Thoughts – Randocity!

I love Sushi rolls from time to time, but I don’t often eat raw fish. This is a follow-on article from 2019’s Perfect Sushi Rice from the Microwave. This article focuses on how to actually make sushi rolls with the filling of your choice. Remember, you aren’t limited to what a Sushi restaurant offers. Let your imagination run wild and fill your roll with whatever tickles your fancy, sweet or savory. Let’s explore.

Let’s Begin

To make relatively authentic sushi, you’ll need some basic ingredients. Let’s get these food basics out of the way first:

• Nori Sushi Seaweed Sheets
• Short grain sushi rice OR medium grain rice OR Jasmine OR Brown OR Purple / Black Rice (Fan Tuan)
• Seasoned Rice Vinegar (Mitsukan / Mizkan or similar)
• Rice Seasoning (Furikake)
• Kewpie Mayonnaise (or any mayo of your choice)
• Wasabi paste or Wasabi Powder
• Sriracha Hot Sauce (optional)
• Sesame Seed (optional)
• Soy Sauce
• Pickled Ginger (red, pink or beige)

For choices of proteins, it’s really your call. If you want to make raw sushi, you’ll need to head to a Japanese market for sushi grade raw fish. Many Japanese markets cut sushi grade fish into small packages suitable for making sushi or sashimi. If you’re avert to eating raw fish, you can use whatever proteins you like.

For cooked alternatives, I like adding strips of cooked chicken, stripped and cut cooked ground beef, quarter cut hot dogs, cooked fish sticks, breaded and cooked fish, cooked and stripped fried chicken fingers, fake crab legs, etc. You can also make a vegetable roll with cucumber or even various pickles. You can even mix and match.

Yes, you can make protein salads to include inside of a roll like crab leg salad, chicken salad or even ham salad. Salads like these make excellent sushi rolls. Just make sure not to use too much mayonnaise in the salad or it may become too runny. The salad needs to remain thick and spreadable.

I’ve personally made hot dogs rolls complete with a small amount of chili as a topping. I’ve made hamburger rolls with cheese, onion, lettuce, pickle, tomato, mayo with a dollop of relish, mustard or ketchup. Just make sure the ingredients are cut into strips to fit across the roll. Or, alternatively add a small amount as toppings to the top of the roll.

The choices for what goes into your roll is endless. As long as it’s not runny or liquid, you can spread it across the roll and roll it up. Don’t feel constrained to the limited ingredients offered by Sushi Restaurants. Go forth and make new rolls.

Tools Required

You’ll also need some tools:

• Sharp Knife
• Cutting board
• Bamboo Sushi mat (for shaping rolls)
• Rice Cooker with paddle 
• Rice Washer strainer and bowl combo (Daiso)
• Vegetable Peeler (optional, for cucumbers)
• A small water spray bottle

Which Rice Cooker?

A quality rice cooker is a must to make any sushi. You can buy an electric one, use a stovetop pan or cook Sushi rice in a microwave. I personally prefer using the Microwave method because it’s set-it-and-forget-it AND you’ll get every last grain of rice out of it (zero waste). When cooked properly, there is no difference between the cooked rice quality using any of these cooking methods.

Unfortunately, cooking rice on the stovetop and, to a slightly lesser degree, an electric rice cooker, is likely to yield some rice loss due to sticking. Because the rice needs to retain a sticky quality, heating element based cookers will lose a small percentage of rice to some of it getting crusted onto the sides while cooking. 

The microwave method doesn’t have this waste issue. A proper microwave rice cooker will yield 100% rice out with no sticky baked on mess. If you’re paying to buy expensive Sushi rice, why waste any of it?

If your rice cooker doesn’t come with a plastic or wooden rice paddle, you’ll need to locate one. If you’re concerned over microplastics, then a bamboo paddle might be your best choice. Keep in mind that microwave rice cookers will be plastic. So, again, if you’re concerned over microplastics, you might want to opt for cooking your rice on a stovetop or in an electric rice cooker using metal components.

Rice Types and Rinsing

Many sushi chefs swear by using only short grain Sushi rice. I’ve used all sorts of rices to make sushi and while Sushi rice generally works well, it has a very soft chew, is not aromatic and is also very glutinous (making it quite sticky). Sushi rice needs to be washed until the water runs clear, about 3-5 rinses before cooking. Sushi rice cooks in the same time and in the same proportions as any other rice. When cooked, it’ll be more sticky than medium grain rice.

Medium grain white rice can be used to make Sushi rice. This type of rice is firmer than sushi rice once cooked. It has definitive bite that can be felt. While short grain Sushi rice doesn’t have this bite, medium grain white rice does. And no, do not overcook medium grain rice thinking you can make it has a similar texture to sushi rice. The only thing that overcooking does is make the rice bad.

Basmati, Jasmine and other longer grain rices can be used to make sushi, but these are aromatic rices and impart an odor onto the roll. You may like the aromatic nature of these rices, but that odor may or may not work with the ingredients you wish to add to your roll. Additionally, longer grain rices offer less glutinous features, making the rice more dry and less sticky.

When using less glutinous rices (medium grain, Basmati, Jasmine) for Sushi, you must rinse the rice exactly one time. Rinse the rice to remove any unnecessary extras once. Rinsing only once allows much of the loose rice starch to remain. You need this loose rice starch powder to allow the rice to hold together when placed into a Nori sheet or if you want to make Nigiri and form the rice into small balls. Rinsing more than once will rinse all of these starch away causing the rice to become fluffy, but not sticky. For sushi, you don’t want fluffy rice, you need sticky rice.

Brown rice is an odd beast. It takes longer to cook and has less overall loose starch. You can use it to make sushi, but you should rinse it as little as possible. You may still find it doesn’t clump or stick together as white rices, though. If you have trouble keeping your brown rice together, you might need to include some extra rice flour (quarter teaspoon rice flour per cup of rice) to add some stickiness back into the rice. You won’t know you need the extra starch until after the rice has been cooked, though. I’m not a big fan of brown rice sushi, but if you like it, go for it.

Nori Sheets

Nori seaweed sheets are important for making any sushi. These sheets are made and used in Japan, South Korea and China. In Japan, it’s called Nori. In Korea, it’s called Gim. In China, it’s called Haitai or hǎi tái. Various similar kinds of rolls are made in all three countries.

In Japan, the rolls are called Makizushi or simply just Maki. In Korea, it’s called Gimbap or Kimbap. In China (specifically Taiwan), it’s called Fan Tuan or Ci Fan Tuan. However, Fan Tuan often uses purple or black glutinous rice instead of white rice. Most often, Fan Tuan is consumed as a breakfast food in China.

What this all means is that you have a number of choices in which to locate sheets of Nori. You can get these sheets in Chinese, Japanese or even Korean markets. I have typically found sheets sold in Korean or Chinese markets to be lower priced than those sold in Japanese markets. However, there are some quality differences in various sheets. What this means is that you will need to try various brands until you find a brand you can both rely on for quality and for availability.

Personally, I’ve found that the Yamamotoyama (Japanese) brand always offers consistent sheet quality. Unfortunately, this Japanese brand is not the lowest cost brand of Nori. However, I have also found some Gim sheets in various Korean markets that also work quite well and are much lower in price. By quality, I mean that the sheets hold up to the stresses and strains of being rolled. They do not rip and tear. However, some sheets made are of a lower quality and can and do rip and tear, both when wet and when dry. Again, you’ll need to shop the brands and find one that works for you.

Oh, and while you can buy 5 or 10 sheets at places like Walmart or your local grocery store, these are exceedingly costly per sheet. It’s better to invest in a large package of 20-50 sheets from your local Asian market to get your best price per sheet. You can order Nori from Amazon and from eBay also.

I might suggest the first time buying a small package of Yamamotoyama brand sheets so you can see what good quality sheets look like. Then branch into lesser brands and see how far you get with those.

Prepping

Preparing your ingredients and placing them onto plates in advance is strongly recommended. I recommend doing this while waiting for your rice to cook in about 18 minutes. When it comes time to assemble your rolls, it’s a simple matter of grabbing your ingredients, placing them on top, seasoning them and rolling it all up. If you’re having to prep in the middle of making a roll, your rice will cool down and the Nori wrapper will start to get flimsy. You need to work fast once you apply the rice to the Nori.

If you’re wanting to make cucumber rolls, for example, you will need to peel your cucumber, then slice it into small wedges. Cut the cucumber in half, then cut the half in half again. Then slice each quarter into two or possibly three wedges. You want the wedges long enough to span the entire roll length and thin enough not to make the roll be too thick, especially when using multiple ingredients. If not long enough, then place two pieces edge to edge to make it long enough.

Additionally, ensure you have your wasabi prepared and bloomed, your Kewpie mayo out and ready, your seasonings at hand, your rice paddle and spray bottle with water ready.

Seasoning the Rice

Once you have your rice properly cooked and with your Seasoned Rice Vinegar in hand, you will need to season your rice. Make sure that you’ve purchased Seasoned Rice Vinegar and not Natural Rice Vinegar. Seasoned Rice Vinegar is sweetened. Natural Rice Vinegar isn’t seasoned.

If you are watching your sugar intake, you can make your own Seasoned Rice Vinegar using Natural Rice Vinegar and low sugar sweeteners like Saccharin, Stevia and Splenda. Don’t use Equal / Aspartame because it will be applied to the rice while hot. Heating Aspartame above 86ºF / 30ºC begins breaking down Aspartame into constituent components, such as formic acid, aspartic acid / phenylalanine and formaldehyde. Only use Aspartame to sweeten cold drinks, never to sweeten hot foods or hot beverages. Keep in mind that rice is high in carbs and sugars, so reducing the amount of sugar in the Seasoned Rice Vinegar might not do much to reduce the sugar load in Sushi with rice.

Do not use unseasoned rice in a sushi roll! To season your rice and while still in your rice cooker, add in about a tablespoon and a half of seasoned rice vinegar and begin to mix (per 1 cup dry-now-cooked rice). Do this while the rice is still hot. Taste. If you can’t taste the vinegar, add a splash more to the rice, mix again and taste. You should be able to taste the vinegar, but it should not overwhelm.

Adding rice vinegar pulls some of the rice starches out of the rice and allows it to become sticky while mixing the vinegar in. This step is what helps out less glutinous rices, like medium grain white rice, to make them be useful in Sushi rolls. Absolutely do not skip this step if you’re using medium grain white rice! Remember, you don’t want fluffy rice, you want stickier rice.

Once your rice is seasoned, set it aside and let it cool a little bit more.

Rolling up your Sushi Roll

I do this next part on a paper towel because it makes for easier cleanup and offers an easy way to pick up the edge of a sheet to begin rolling it up. The Nori does not stick to the paper towel. You could use wax paper or parchment paper if you prefer.

1 cup of dry sushi rice yields enough cooked sushi rice to produce 3 full-sized Nori sheet rolls. If you want to make hand rolls, half rolls or any thing smaller than a using a full sheet of Nori, you’ll have to figure out the proportions of rice to seaweed. This article is focused on making 3 large “regular” Maki rolls using 1 cup dry cooked rice as a basic starting point.

You’ll want to use the rice paddle to divide the rice into thirds for easier visual reference and to make 3 rolls easier. Place your dry Nori sheet onto the paper towel and drop ⅓ of the cooked rice onto that Nori sheet. Using the rice paddle, begin pressing and spreading the rice to the edge of the Nori on 3 sides. When spreading, use pressure to flatten the rice onto the Nori. Use the paddle to evenly spread the rice out to 3 of the edges. On the fourth side, leave a 1 inch gap between the rice and the top of the sheet. Because the Nori sheet is rectangular, the rice will effectively make a square below the 1 inch gap.

Once you have the rice fully spread and pressed out onto the sheet, grab your Furikake and give the rice a light dusting. Now, with your clean finger or a knife, grab a dollop of wasabi and spread a small amount across the rice just below the middle. It should spread evenly all the way across. Make sure to use enough. If you have tube wasabi, you can simply use the tube nozzle itself to spread it across.

From here, grab your main protein or vegetable ingredient and place it across and centered, but running horizontally across the rice, making sure it covers all the way across. It should sit horizontally edge to edge in the middle of the rice. It’s perfectly okay for some of the protein to hang over the edge of the rice. The two cut end pieces will actually look better with a small amount hanging over. For reference, you can place two or maybe 3 different ingredients in the middle stacked neatly horizontally across the rice. Anymore than this and the roll is likely to end up too big.

On top of your ingredients, squirt a squiggly line of Kewpie mayonnaise horizontally across the ingredients. You can top the mayo with a bead of sriracha sauce, powdered cayenne pepper, pepper flakes or even chili oil if you want to make it spicy.

At this point, your roll is complete, but not yet rolled. Grab the bottom edge (opposite side of the 1 inch gap side), lift the Nori and rice carefully, then place that rice edge just over and in front of the ingredients to begin the rolling part. Push the edge under the ingredients somewhat tightly as best you can and then begin to roll towards the 1 inch gap. Leaving the empty Nori edge unrolled, grab your water spray bottle and spray the gap seaweed to wet it. Wait a moment, then slowly finish rolling over the gap edge, pausing and allowing the Nori to begin sticking to itself while the roll sits.

From here, lift the roll up and flip it over or roll it over if you’re uncomfortable lifting it. The gap edge may not yet be fully sealed to itself. Grab the spray bottle again and wet the outside of that loose gap edge to wet it fully and smooth it down. Now, set the roll down onto a plate gap edge down. The weight of the roll will seal the roll closed while you make more.

Grab the Sushi mat, place the roll into the mat, lightly squeeze and roll the mat to make the sushi more round. Note, you can skip this process if you don’t really care how your Sushi roll is shaped.

Repeat this process for the remaining two rolls. After doing this a few times, you’ll get the hang of the rolling fairly quickly and will understand the nuances of exactly how to roll it tightly. You’ll want to roll each roll somewhat tightly so that the roll holds itself together. If it’s too loosely rolled, the roll will fall apart.

Cutting the Rolls

Once all three rolls are complete, grab the first roll made, a very sharp knife and a wet towel or wet paper towel. A roll cuts into about 8 pieces. Six full pieces and two edge pieces. At this point, I’d suggest using the knife to lightly indent the Nori to make 8 potential cut marks. Just indent on the seaweed, but don’t cut it. Indenting the roll gives you a reference point to make your most even cuts, while allowing you to adjust the indents to give you the thickness you prefer. Remember, a piece needs to fit in the mouth comfortably. Eventually, you won’t need to make indents on the roll, but when learning, indenting on the roll makes it easy to create even thickness roll pieces.

Once indented, begin cutting on the indent marks with a light sawing motion. The knife should cut through the roll easily. If it doesn’t, your knife is too dull. Use a sharper knife. Use the wet towel to wipe the knife occasionally when it becomes dirty. This cleaning prevents smearing ingredients on the outside of the roll.

Place the cut rolls onto a plate in whatever arrangement looks best. It’s your plate. Present them as you prefer. If your roll is falling apart when cut, you either didn’t roll it tightly enough and/or the rice isn’t sticky enough to hold the roll together. Rinse the rice less next time, add more vinegar when seasoning and/or press the roll more tightly when rolling. You want your roll to be relatively tightly rolled, but not so tight as to rip the Nori.

From here, top your plated rolls with sesame seeds, a small dollop of Sriracha, a sprinkle of cayenne or any other topping you might think goes with your roll type. When I make hot dog rolls, I top with a tiny dollop of mustard, ketchup and relish.

Enjoying your Rolls

Once you’ve got your rolls cut and plated, to the plate you’ll want to add a ball of Wasabi, a pinch of pickled Ginger and have a small bowl of Soy Sauce handy for dipping. If you like eating with Chopsticks, then you’ll need to get a pair. You still want your sushi to be lukewarm, but not hot. The rice should still have a some warmth when consuming the roll. A little warmness makes the roll taste so much better. Don’t let them get cold before serving.

You can turn this into a full meal by adding a bowl of Miso Soup and/or steamed Edamame. You’ll need to pick these additions up and prepare them separately.

Yes, you can and should refrigerate leftovers. If you want to eat refrigerated leftovers, you might want to microwave them for about 15 seconds to slightly warm them. For safety, don’t let them sit around and warm up on the counter as they contain mayonnaise. Eat leftovers within a few days.

Final Notes

This Maki recipe above does not produce “inside out” rolls. The rolls produced here are rolls with seaweed on the outside and rice on the inside. These rolls are easier to make when just learning to make Sushi rolls.

If you wish to make “inside out” rolls, you will need to wrap your Sushi mat in plastic wrap to keep the rice from sticking to to it. Then follow the above instructions. But, after you have paddled and packed the rice onto the Nori (use a thinner layer of rice), cover in sesame seeds, turn the sheet over, add a smaller amount of rice onto the Nori to “wrap” your ingredients, then add your ingredients on top of this rice. Then roll up so that sesame seed rice is on the outside with some rice and filling on the inside with your ingredients. You may need to make a bit of extra rice for “inside out” rolls if you still want 3 total rolls.

“Inside out” rolls are often topped with Masago (tiny reddish orange roe fish eggs) and sometimes black sesame seeds.

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