Easy Sushi Rolls (Norimaki)



Easy sushi rolls served on classically Japanese looking blue and white plates. The plate on the left is from Royal Doulton's Pacific range and on the right is from Australia's David Jones' Kasbah range.

Sushi rolls are great to eat at home, for picnics, party platters, for taking a packed lunch with you anywhere. These are the same sushi rolls that were pictured in my last blog post, Cherry Blossom Picnic.

Nori means seaweed (the dried type that comes in sheets), maki means roll in Japanese.

 

These sushi rolls have salmon, egg and cucumber in them, which together make a lovely combination of spring-like colours. Purchased norimaki often have raw fish in them, which can be problematic for the home cook in Australia. For fish to be served raw it must be very fresh. I like to use smoked salmon, which I love, instead of raw fish. To make the rolls, sushi rice is rolled up in nori sheets together with one or more fillings. These are futomaki (thick rolls) which use a full sheet of nori for each one. By using only a half sheet of nori you can make thin rolls.

You will need:

a bamboo sushi mat
1 quantity sushi rice (see below)
6 sheets of nori
a few slices of Tasmanian salmon, torn into strips
2 eggs
pinch salt
½ small cucumber, cut into strips

to serve: pickled ginger (amazu shoga) and soy sauce

1.       Make sushi rice, set aside.

2.       Make thin egg omelettes. Whisking together the eggs and add 2 teaspoons water and a pinch of salt. Heat a large frypan to medium hot, lightly grease and pour egg mixture in all at once, after a minute turn down heat, and allow the egg to just set. Remove from heat and roll up omelette and transfer to a chopping board to cool.

3.     Arrange nori on bamboo mat, spread rice along one end. Using spatula make a groove along the length of the rice. Place fillings in the groove. Using bamboo mat for support, firmly roll up the sushi. Just before you finish rolling wet the last 1-2cm (½ in), then continue to roll up firmly. The water helps seal the roll.

Assembling the sushi roll on the bamboo mat

4.       Remove from mat and cut roll in half. Place the two pieces side by side and cutting two at a time cut the roll into slices. You can get 6 or 8 slices from one sushi roll, depending how thinly you cut them.

5.       Repeat with remaining ingredients. Makes 6 rolls, which yield 36 to 48 pieces.

6.       Serve with the pickled ginger and soy sauce.

Sushi rice

3 cups uncooked rice

3 cups water

100ml (3 fl oz) rice wine or white vinegar

3 tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1.       Place rice and plenty of water in rice cooker, rinse rice several times, then add the 3 cups of water. Cook in rice cooker. Alternatively cook by absorption method on stove top or in microwave.

2.       Mix together the salt, sugar and vinegar and leave to dissolve together while cooking the rice.  I find this is easiest to do in a measuring jug, then it is ready to pour in step 3.

3.       When rice is cooked and still hot, transfer it to a large bowl and pour the vinegar mixture over the rice. Stir in the vinegar mixture as you fan the rice. Have someone fan for you with a hand held fan or stand in front of an electric fan if that is easier. The goal is to encourage the excess liquid to evaporate off the rice as the flavours soak in. It is important to do this when the rice is still quite hot.

Perhaps you are wondering if it is correct in Japan to eat norimaki with fingers or chopsticks- either is fine.

Variations: Use drained canned tuna fish and Kewpie mayonnaise mixed together, and cucumber for good, quick, easy, kid-friendly, economical, and you probably have the ingredients in your pantry and fridge already sushi rolls. Fancy variations are endless, look at the selection in shops and search the internet and cookbooks for ideas.

#SushiRolls #Norimaki  #EasyAndRelaxedJapaneseFood