Classic Sushi Rolls (Makizushi) 巻き寿司

Classic sushi rolls (makizushi) are the most well known type of sushi outside of Japan. You can put many different fillings in sushi rolls to suit your tastes and make homemade sushi to take for lunch instead of buying it at a store! Actually, many sushi shops in Australia are not authentic and not even run by Japanese people so the sushi isn’t made very well, so I am going to show you how to make perfect, authentic Japanese sushi rolls!

I went to a sushi shop the other day for lunch and the sushi was rolled terribly. I bought an egg roll sushi and when I bit into it the egg was wrapped under a layer of seaweed, so instead of the egg touching rice (as it should) it was touching seaweed. So the sushi shop had rolled the sushi wrong and part of the seaweed was rolled into the sushi rather than around it. When you eat sushi, you shouldn’t have any seaweed on the inside, it should be just rice. To ensure this, when you put the rice onto the seaweed, don’t place it directly in the middle. You need to leave about a 5mm gap between the rice and seaweed on one side and then on the other has to be about a 3cm gap (as shown below). You should also layer the rice about 5mm thick and flatten it out so the rice on the ends are slightly thicker than the middle.

Another tip is that the fillings have to be in the centre of the rice. Also, don’t layer the fillings on top of each other, they need to be placed next to each (like in the photo above). Before you roll the sushi, place a little bit of water along the edge of the seaweed so it acts as a glue to keep it together. Then, when you are rolling it, roll the side with more rice towards the side with less rice and sort of join them together. When you cut the sushi in half, wet the knife with a little water before every cut and wipe with a damp cloth after every cut. If you follow these tips, you’re sushi will turn out great!

These sushi rolls that I made are filled with traditional Japanese sushi roll fillings: egg, shiitake mushrooms, carrots, and cucumber. You can change the fillings to whatever you like! I see a lot of different flavours and fillings in sushi shops in Australia, which I NEVER see in Japan so they aren’t authentic but people seem to like them. Personally, I don’t like chicken in sushi (this doesn’t exist in Japan, people in Japan are actually really shocked when I tell them we have chicken sushi) but I know a lot of people here love it. My favourites are tuna and avocado and California rolls. Sushi is a lot of fun to make with friends or family, so I hope you have fun with it!

Traditional Sushi Rolls (Makizushi)

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

Author: Chopstick Chronicles

Cuisine: Japanese

Serves: 2 sushi rolls

Ingredients

• 2 seaweed (nori) sheets
• 3 cups of sushi rice
• 1 rolled egg (tamagoyaki)
• ½ carrot
• ½ cucumber
• 1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms
• 2 tbs sugar
• 2 tbs sake
• 2 tbs soy sauce

Instructions

1. Prepare the sushi rice by folowing the recipe link.
2. Soak the mushrooms in a bowl with 1 cup of water.
3. While the mushrooms are soaking, prepare the carrot, egg, and cucumber.
4. Cut the carrot and cucumber into long sticks and set aside.
5. Prepare the tamagoyaki by following the steps in the recipe link then cut into long sticks.
6. Squeeze out the excess water from the mushrooms into a bowl (save the water).
7. Slice the mushrooms.
8. Put 100ml of the water that the mushroom soaked in and 2 tbs of sugar, 2 tbs sake, and 2 tbs of soy sauce into a saucepan.
9. Put the sliced mushrooms and carrots into the sauce pan and bring it to boil then reduce the heat to low and allow it to simmer until the most of the liquid has reduced and the carrots are soft.
10. Remove from heat and allow to cool down before putting into the sushi roll.
11. Lay a seaweed sheet onto a sushi mat and place 1.5 cup rice on top and spread it out about 5mm thick.
12. Lay out the fillings on top of the sushi rice.
13. Place a little water on to the larger edge of the seaweed then roll the other side towards it and press down on the fillings as you roll then squeeze tightly.
14. Repeat for the remaining amount of rice and fillings.
15. Cut the sushi roll into smaller sizes and serve!

Notes

Prep time/Cook time does not include cooking the rice as everyones rice cookers vary on time.

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