This one is going to look like it has a lot of steps, and I supposed it does, but most of them end up being encapsulated during the preparation process. If you love sushi, then take a few minutes to review this one. There’s NO reason at all why you can’t make rolls at home. Also keep in mind that this recipe uses fresh-caught, frozen, yellowfin tuna.
You can get #1 tuna at most grocery stores in their seafood department. Also, some butchers and grocery stores sell “sushi-grade” fish, including tuna, salmon, grouper, and a few others. When asking always ask for “sushi grade fish,” and when preparing, make sure everything is thoroughly cleaned before, during and after preparation.
Tools / Equipment
– Rice cooker (recommended)
– 2 small bowls
– extra large bowl
– sushi mat (available at any Asian market)
– exceptionally sharp knife (sushi knife recommended)
– cutting board (plastic recommended)
Ingredients
– 2 cups sushi rice
– 2.5+ cups cold water
– 10 ounces diced, raw sushi-grade tuna
– 2-3 sheets of nori (seaweed wrap)
– 2-4 tablespoons powdered vinegar
– 2-3 tablespoons lime or orange juice
– 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
– 1 ripe (soft) avocado
– 1/4 to 1/2 cup masago (those orange or red eggs)
– 1/4 to 1/2 cup mayonnaise (Kewpie brand recommended)
– 1-4 tablespoons Siracha (depending on how hot you like it)
– 3 tablespoons black sesame seeds
– pickled ginger
Recipe
1) Rinse 2 cups sushi rice thoroughly in cold water until the water flows through clean. It’s shipped with talcum, and you want to rinse this off to keep it from burning in your cooker
2) Add rice to rice cooker
3) Add 2.5 to 3 cups of cold water to your rice cooker
4) Add in 1-2 tablespoons of powdered vinegar to the mix
5) stir thoroughly with non-metallic spoon
6) if you want dumplings, add them to the steamer tray that fits into your rice cooker (optional)
7) start rice cooker set to “sushi rice” or whatever equivalent is on your device
8) dice 10 ounces of sushi-grade tuna (any sushi-grade fish will work here)
NOTE: you need to make sure you are always using the sharpest knife you have. I recommend getting sushi-grade knives fro your local Asian market. They are generally inexpensive but sharpen up very easily. Keep in mind that these are rarely stainless steel, so you’ll always want to wash them immediately and dry them before you set them aside.
9) place diced tina in small bowl
10) add in 1/4 to 1/2 cup masago
11) add in 1-4 tablespoons of siracha
12) add in 1/4 cup mayonnaise
13) mix thoroughly – add more mayonnaise, siracha, or masago to get the color, consistency, and flavor that you prefer
14) set spicy tuna mix aside
15) lay down your rolling mat (wood or plastic) on top of your clean cutting board – shown here is both the bamboo rolling mat wrapped in cellophane and a new plastic rolling mat. This recipe was done with the plastic mat to try one out for the first time. Moving forward, I will be using my old cellophane-wrapped bamboo. It works better.
16) once the rice has finished cooking, leave it in the pot unopened for 15 minutes
17) empty the rice cooker into the very large bowl (use oven mits / pads to pull the rice cooker bowl out, because it will be HOT)
18) add 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice or orange juice to your rice
19) add 1-2 tablespoons powered vinegar to rice
20) add 2 tablespoons rice vinegar to your rice
21) mix together thoroughly
22) cover the rice with a towel and let cool for 15 minutes, mixing thoroughly every 5 minutes
23) cut 1 avocado in half, peel, and slick into thin layers as showl below
24) lay a piece of nori on your rolling mat shiny-side up
25) When your rice is at or near room temperature, wet your hands with faucet water and then scoop out about a baseball (slightly larger) ball of rice out and form it into a ball without compressing it
26) set the ball or rice on the center of the nori and spread out into a thin layer
NOTE: Be sure to leave about an inch of the nori on the side closest to you uncovered
27) sprinkle black (toasted) sesame seeds onto the rice
28) Carefully flip the whole thing over, keeping the “clean” edge of nori towards you and move it up to the close edge of the rolling mat
29) scoop out 3 to 4 tablespoons of spicy tuna mix into a line on the nori, about 1 1/2 inches in
30) lay down a layer of avocado slices along the spicy tuna
31) carefully grab the clean edge of nori as well as the edge of the map and fold it over
32) THIS IS THE PART THAT TAKES PRACTICE – the goal is to get that nori-flap over the avocado, lay the rolling map over that, and keep rolling. You’ll want to use both hands and shape the whole thing into a roll, applying pressure universally along the entire mass
33) once it’s rolled, compress it carefully so that the rice binds to the nori, tuna, and itself
34) watch the ends to make sure you’re not squeezing out too much of your tuna and avocado
35) trim off the “messy” ends of the roll so they are clean and neat
36) wet the blade of your sharpest knife
37) slice carefully down the middle of the roll, forming two portions of equal length
38) clean and wet the knife
39) slice carefully down the middle of one half of the roll, creating equal portions
40) repeat the cleaning, wetting and cutting until you have 8 (eight) equal pieces
41) place on serving dish and repeat roll-making process until your run out of spicy tuna mix
NOTE: the seared tuna shown will be in my next recipe. The steamed dumplings can be served as they come out of the rice cooker, or you can pan-sear them in sesame oil to give them a little flavor and crispness.
42) Picked ginger goes on the plate as shown. Soy sauce goes in something to “dip” the sushi pieces in. Also, you can get prepared or powdered wasabi to add to your rolls or even your soy sauce.
43) ENJOY!
