Recipe of the week: Maki Sushi

Last week I had an excellent tutorial on how to make Maki Sushi from my friend Yoko. The instructions were really great and she showed me how to make it without any seafood or even sea vegetable. (I'm a picky eater and do not eat anything from the sea, including sea vegetables. There is one exception, canned tuna. I don't know why so don't ask me.) So, I decided to make sushi for my roommate Kate and take it to her for lunch today. It was great and she seemed to really enjoy it!

Making Maki Sushi is not really that complicated, once you know how to do it. It just takes a little bit of time. There are really three major things to do for sushi; cook the rice, prepare the fillings and roll and cut the sushi. From start to finish it took me about 2 hours to make today.


Making the Rice

Ingredients needed: Sushi Rice, Sushi Vinegar and Water

It's easy to find Sushi Rice at most grocery stores. Prepare rice as directed on the package. If you cannot find Sushi Vinegar you can just combine vinegar, sugar and salt in a saucepan. Once the rice is cooked you mix the Sushi Vinegar into the rice. Rapidly mix for a few minutes. This gives the sushi a little bit of sweetness.

Total time to make rice: About 1 hour

Preparing the Fillings

Ingredients needed: Avocado, Cucumber, Eggs, Carrots, Shitaki Mushrooms, Soy Sauce, Water - And whatever else your heart desires.

Cut into thin slices the Avocado, Cucumber, Carrots and Mushrooms. Put the Avocado and Cucumber aside.

Blanche the Carrots in water and then remove, set aside. Cook mushrooms in carrot water until soft (My friend Yoko added some kind of wine-vinegar at this stage. I did not but it still worked out anyway). Remove the mushrooms and soak in soy sauce for a few minutes.

In a skillet, cook 3 eggs omelet style. Cut the omelet into thin strips and put on a plate with all other fillings.


Total time to make the fillings: 20-30 minutes (can be done while rice is cooking)


Rolling and Cutting the Sushi
Items needed: Bamboo Sushi Roller, Wax Paper or Syran Wrap, Sesame Seeds, Nori Sheets and a good sharp knife

Lay out Sushi Roller flat on a cutting board.

For Nori-less rolls: Lay piece of wax paper/syran wrap on top of roller. Cover half of the width of the roller with rice. Make a thin line down the middle (but be careful not to go all the way through the rice. Add thin slices of a few of the fillings (ie. Avocado, Carrot and Cucumber). Use the roller to fold over the edge of the paper and create a roll. Make sure that the fillings don't squeeze or fall out in the process. Press on the sides of the roller to make the roll firm. Remove the roller and paper/wrap. Sprinkle with Sesame Seeds. Cut the roll into inch long pieces and stand up on a dish.







For rolls with Nori: Lay a sheet of the Nori on the roller. Cover half of the Nori with rice. Make a thin line in the middle as described above. Add the fillings and use the roller to fold over. Make sure that the Nori completely covers the roll and press the roller to make the roll firm. This will also seal the Nori. Cut away any excess Nori. Cut the roll into inch long pieces and stand up on a dish.


Total time to make about 5 rolls: 30 minutes.

Note: It's a good idea to keep a towel near you while rolling the sushi. The rice is very sticky and some of the fillings will dirty up your hands as well.




I made the rolls with Nori for my roomie and and the ones without for both of us. I took some soy sauce for dipping. In addition, I made some Edamame, by simply boiling some frozen pods in lightly salted water.

Kate takes the classy route using chopsticks to eat her sushi.

I decide to use my hands instead.