Temaki sushi, or temakizushi, is an easy and fun way to enjoy sushi at home. The name is very literal with the word “te” meaning hand and the word “maki” meaning roll making it “hand roll sushi”. It’s a great party food because the host can prepare the sushi rice and all the fillings beforehand and everyone can enjoy rolling their own sushi with the fillings they want. Whenever my family reunite in Japan we always have temaki sushi because everything is all laid out for everyone to help themselves picking what they like while we all chat and enjoy eating together.
It’s fuss-free, delicious, and super easy to do with no equipment or skill needed. Simply put the rice on a crisp seaweed sheet, choose your favourite ingredients, then roll it up into a little cone and enjoy! There’s endless possibilities for customising your sushi rolls as you eat making it an exciting culinary experience that everyone will enjoy.
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What is Temaki Sushi?
Temaki Sushi, also known as hand-rolled sushi, is a popular type of sushi that takes the form of a cone shape roll filled with fresh ingredients. The word “temaki” translates to “hand roll” in Japanese (te = hand, maki = roll), perfectly describing the technique used to create this type of sushi.
The notable thing about temaki sushi is its interactive nature making it a fun meal for friends and family. Unlike other types of sushi that are pre-cut or made into bite-sized pieces, temaki sushi allows everyone to take part in assembling their own rolls at the table. This makes it an enjoyable social dining experience where everyone can customise their own creations according to personal preferences.
Typically the ingredients will be served on a big platter for everyone to pick what they want as they eat. This means you can make as many rolls as you can eat with a variety of flavour combinations.
Popular Ingredients for Temaki Sushi
Proteins
Traditional protein options for temaki sushi are raw fish (sashimi) or cooked seafood.
1. Raw Fish (Sashimi grade fish): Raw fish is one of the quintessential fillings for temaki sushi. Some popular options include:
– Maguro (Tuna): Rich in flavour and texture, maguro is often thinly sliced and placed inside the roll.
– Sake (Salmon): With its buttery texture and mild taste, salmon is a favorite choice among sushi enthusiasts.
– Hamachi (Yellowtail): Known for its clean taste and firm flesh, hamachi adds a delightful freshness to temaki rolls.
– Scallops : Delicate, buttery, and brimming with flavor, scallops make for an exquisite addition to temaki rolls.
– Ikura : Vibrant, orange-hued pearls of salmon roe known as ikura, which burst with a briny sweet-saltiness upon each bite
– Tobiko : Tobiko refers to the vibrant orange fish roe that add a burst of flavour and texture.
– Sea urchin : Also known as uni, this delectable ingredient has a rich, buttery texture and briny taste.
2. Cooked Seafood: If you prefer cooked fillings or want to try something different from raw fish, there are plenty of delicious options available:
– Ebi (Shrimp): Boiled or grilled shrimp and shrimp tempura provides a succulent sweetness that pairs well with other flavors in temaki rolls.
– Unagi (Grilled eel): Tender and flavourful unagi cooked in signature eel sauce offers a delicious slightly sweet taste.
– Kanikama (Crab stick): Kanikama is imitation crab meat that complements the rice and other ingredients wonderfully.
– Canned tuna: This is a favourite in our house and always a go-to for children. Mix the canned tuna with mayo to create a creamy blend. Add sriracha or other hot sauce or pre-made spicy mayo to create spicy tuna.
– Octopus: cooked octopus is something that goes great in temaki sushi because of its tender texture and subtle flavour.
3. Other options: some vegetarian protein options include:
– Egg roll omelette: Rolled egg omelette (called tamagoyaki) is a traditional Japanese omelette made by rolling multiple layers of seasoned beaten eggs into a rectangular shape. It has a fluffy yet firm texture and subtle sweetness that tastes delicious with sushi rice and nori seaweed.
– Tofu: teriyaki-marinated strips of tofu is a great vegetarian option that will go perfectly with the fresh vegetables.
Vegetables and Condiments
1. Vegetables : Adding in a variety of fresh vegetables will make your temaki sushi rolls even more delicious! Some suggestions are: Avocado, cucumber, radish, radish sprouts, carrots, lettuce, and Shiso leaves.
2. Condiments : serve sushi with typical sushi condiments like wasabi, pickled sushi ginger, and soy sauce.
How to Make Temaki Sushi at Home
1: Prepare the Sushi Rice. – Follow my recipe for making perfect sushi rice.
2: Prepare fillings of your choice and nori sheets
3: Assemble the Temaki Sushi Rolls.
- Take one sheet of nori in your hand with its shiny side facing down. Place it diagonally across your palm so that one corner points towards you while the other extends beyond the edge of your hand.
- Spread a small amount of cooked sushi rice over the nori sheet.
- Lay your desired fillings on the centre of the sushi rice.
- Begin rolling the nori strip tightly from one corner of the nori sheet and continuing until you reach the other end.
- Use your palm to press down gently, shaping it into a cone-like shape.
note : There are no rules on how it should be rolled and no skill required. It doesn’t even need to be in a cone shape. Roll it any way that you like or even just fold it in half and dip in soy sauce.
Benefits of Eating Temaki Sushi
– It’s healthy and fresh and a delicious way to incorporate vegetables into a meal.
– It’s fuss-free and a great meal for a gathering because you don’t have to do much cooking, everyone has fun preparing their own sushi rolls.
– You can prepare these easy rolls for a convenient and portable meal on-the-go or for picnics.
My parent’s usually quiet kitchen was filled with family, laughter, and delicious Temaki Sushi that we prepared together. It was great to see my little sister’s family and share this lovely Temaki sushi lunch with them.
Temaki Sushi 手巻き寿司
Equipment
Ingredients
Sushi Rice
- 3 cups uncooked rice
- 1 10cm Kombu kelp strips *or kombu dashi powder
- ½ cup rice vinegar
- 1½ tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
Fillings *1
- 150 g Sashimi grade tuna
- 150 g Sashimi grade squid
- 150 g Sashimi grade octopus
- 1 a small jar of Salmon roe
- 4 eggs
- 20 Shiso Leaves
- 1 250g tin tuna
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 small cucumber
- 20 Nori sheets cut into smaller pieces I cut one sheet into 6
- Wasabi optional
- Soy sauce and mayonnaise for dipping
Instructions
- Cook the sushi rice as per your rice cooker instructions or in a pot. Before adding the water to cook the rice, mix in the dashi powder then pour over the rice or add a kombu strip. (making perfect sushi rice)
- While the rice is cooking, in a small pot, heat the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt together to make the sushi vinegar on medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
- Break eggs into a small bowl and pour into a frying pan over medium heat. Cook for about a couple minutes and flip it over. Turn the heat off and take it out on to a chopping board to cut into small size rectangle sheets. *2
- Slice tuna, squid and octopus into thin strips.
- Cut the cucumber thinly.
- Plate all the fillings on one big serving dish or if you have lazy susan type thing like we used in the photo.
- Once the rice is cooked, (remove the kombu strip if you used a kombu strip) pour the sushi vinegar over it and mix to flavour the rice while fanning it to cool down the rice.
- Serve the sushi rice along with the fillings on the table. Self roll the sushi.
Savour the flavor.
Looking great Very useful information
I really like this post…. Well done
Thank you Apple 😀
Would love to read more
Hi, there are many sushi recipes on Chopstick Chronicles. This is the ultimate guide here.
Love that serving dish. What’s it called or where’s it from? This all looks amazing!
Hi Kimberley Thank you. The serving dish is my mothers’ in Japan. They are called “Hors D ‘oeuvres Plate Rotating Hors D ‘oeuvres Pottery Koimari”. You can get them in Japan or online
オードブル皿 回転オードブル 陶器 古伊万里 尺二 和食器 美濃焼
so creative and good for sharing meal
yes it’s perfect to share 😀 thank you
Hi Shihoko! Found you site through FBC group. Love your blog. So elegant. I’m a big fan of Japanese cuisine and would love to discover more. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Wei 😀 Welcome to Chopstick Chronicles! Thank you for visiting, hope you found something you would love to try 😀