← Nouns Cooking · Japanese

Ingredients

• 450 g Japanese short-grain rice
• 500 ml Water
• 90 ml Rice vinegar
• 3 tbsp Sugar
• 2 tsp Salt
• 10 sheets Nori, cut in half
• 300 g sashimi-grade tuna and/or salmon, cut into finger-length strips
• 1 Cucumber, cut into thin batons
• 1 Avocado, sliced
• 6 Crab sticks (kanikama), halved lengthways (optional)
• 10 Shiso (Japanese perilla) leaves (optional)
• soy sauce, to serve
• wasabi, to serve
• 2 tbsp Pickled sushi ginger (gari)

Method

1. Rinse the rice until the water runs nearly clear, drain for 10 min, then cook it with the measured water. Dissolve the sugar and salt in the vinegar.
2. Tip the hot rice into a wide bowl, pour over the vinegar and fold it through with a spatula while fanning the rice so it cools to body temperature and turns glossy. Cover with a damp cloth.
3. Arrange the fish, vegetables and other fillings on a platter, and put the nori, soy sauce, wasabi and ginger on the table.
4. To roll, hold a half sheet of nori shiny side down in your palm and spread a small handful of rice over the left third. Lay a shiso leaf and fillings diagonally across the rice.
5. Fold the bottom-left corner up over the fillings, then roll the rest of the sheet around to form a cone. Dip in soy sauce and eat right away, while the nori is crisp.

Tips

• Only use fish sold as sashimi-grade, keep it chilled until serving, and offer cooked fillings (prawns, teriyaki chicken, omelette) for pregnant guests and young children.
• Keep a bowl of water nearby for sticky fingers.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Just One Cookbook RecipeTin Japan