Norimaki Sushi Roll
The Basic

Preparation:

Ingredeients:

• Sushi rice — 120g, 4.2 oz. for 1 stick/6-8 pieces for hoso-maki, which equalls to 3 pieces of nigiri (240g, 8.5 oz. for futo-maki)
• Dry seaweed (Nori) — 1 sheet (19 x 21 cm, 7.5 x 8.3 inches; 3 g, 0.1 oz.) for 2 sticks of hoso-maki (for 1 stick of futo-maki)
• Kanpyo/tuna/cucumber/avocado/crab, vegietables or meat, etc.
• Gragted wasabi or tube paste wasabi

Utensils, equipments:

• Bamboo maki-su (sushi rolling-mat) — 25 cm, 10 inches square
  
• Tezu (hand-vineger) — diluted vinegar solution, water:vinegar = 3 : 1
• Electric/gas element, hotplate
• Sharp kitchen knife
• Scissors
• Wet clean dish cloth
• Plastic wrap (for uramaki/inside-out method — California roll)

Other (sauce, garnish, drink):

• Soy sauce
• Sliced pickled ginger (gari)
• Hot green tea (agari)

How to Roll:

Toasting of Nori (yaki-nori):

1. Nori is a seaweed (laver, porphyra tenera, or Asakusa-nori) that has been strained and dried on a bamboo screen (sudare-mat) and made into thin black sheet. Nori is rich in protein, vitamins A, B, and C, and also abundant in minerals such as calcium and iron, and taurine. The darker of the color, the better in the quality usually. The size and weight are about 19 x 21 cm or 7.5 x 8.3 inches; 3 g or 0.1 oz. Use scissors to cut, or kitchen knife by pressing down on a cutting board.
   
2. The first thing to do is to toast the nori seaweed sheet all over the surface passing over a fire flame 2-3 times to bring up the flavour of the nori, most preferably wood charcoal heat, professionals always use this type because it derives the utmost snuff, or desirably high heat of electric element (roast on a hotplate) or otherwise usually gas burner flame at a distance, because the gas flame contains some moistuere by the combustion that is not good for the toasting. Commercially, ready-toasted nori (yaki-nori) is available, but it is recommended to do just before the cooking.
3. Mainly the glossy side of the seaweed nori sheet is to be toasted to preserve the flavour as much as possible for a few seconds, and do not heat to excess.
4. Stop just after the color changes from blownish black (or purple) to dark green in half. With toasting, the nori will become easy to bite off and chewed. Without toasting, it is tough and tasteless, so this process is necessary to improve the flavor and gives a crisp texture which is a very important point of the sushi roll taste, as well as fragrance.
5. After toasting, cut the nori sheet crosswise in halves for hoso-maki (thin sushi roll — 2.5 cm, 1 inch diameter) or use whole sheet for futo-maki (thick sushi roll — 6 cm, 2.3 inches diameter.)

Norimaki Sushi Rolling:

1. Bamboo sushi rolling mat (maki-sudare or maki-su) is placed in the direction that the one side with stitched cotton thread ends is far side of yourself in order not to enfold them in sushi roll, and flat surface of the bamboo is upturned.
2. Place the nori glossy side down, this valuable surface becomes visible after rolling, at your near side on a bamboo mat, with the edges of nori and mat are the same line.
3. Moist your hands with the tezu, diluted venegar solution.
4. Take a palm-full, 1 cup of sushi rice, and make it like a rugbby ball shape.
5. Place the rice ball on the left side center, or near side of the nori sheet.

       

6. Spread the sushi rice all over the nori evenly in a 1/4 inch (0.5 cm) thick layer by pushing gently by fingertips to the right, and then upper and downward. Upper far side edge of the nori should be left by 1 inch as an extra overlapping space to seal the roll tight and completly.
7. Pick and smear small amount of wasabi in a line across on the rice at the center.

       

8. Lay the ingredients of your choice over the wasabi, in the middle across the rice.
9. Lift up the edge of the sushi rolling mat of your side with your thumbs, and roll it over to enclose the ingredients and make a roll, pushing and withholding the core ingredients by other fingers to inside, and the edge of the nori sheet meets to the far side's.

       

10. Still there is unrolled edge part of nori, roll up tightly enough by pulling the farside over the maki-su with both hands for not to unfolding when cutting.
11. Thoroughly roll up, and shape it round or rounded-rectangle by pressing gently around and along the roll with both hands for a while.
12. Unwrap the sushi mat, place the roll's seamed side down on a cutting board.
13. Push in the both sides of the roll if there is extra crowed out rice while rolling.
14. Use very sharp kitchen knife, and to wet it slightly with diluted vinegar solution or damp with wet cloth to prevent of sticking the sushi rice too much. Try to wipe away any sticked rice and damp each time when cutting, otherwise it will soon get difficult to cut sharply and smartly.

       

15. Cut the roll into 6 - 8 pieces, firstly in half then place the two halves together, and cut them 1/3 or 1/4, which makes a pair of pieces the same height and looks good when served upright. Do not do like sawing, but cut firmly and straight down, or the roll will come apart and the rounded shape is broken.
16. Serve showing the cut side up, with accampanied soy sauce and gari pickled ginger, hot green tea agari. Chopsticks are not necessary for sushi rolls to eat, enough with fingers.

       
   

1. The procedure is almost the same as the hoso-mak. Whole nori sheet is used, sushi rice will be twice amount of the thin roll and the spreading action is also twice.
2. Firstly put a half portion (same as that of thin roll) of the rice on the upper part of the nori sheet, and spread it evenly in a 3/8 inches (1 cm) thick layer, next the second portion at the lower region.
3. Place ingredients evenly one by one, and roll as the same as above.

       

4. Futo-maki is thick enough, so cut it into halves and next cut the one half to halves and another one, and so on to 8 pieces, with a sharp kitchen knife that is damped each time.

California Roll — Inside-Out Roll (Uramaki/Reverse Roll):

1. The ingredients of California roll are usually avocado, crab meat, cucumber, and roasted sesame sheeds. The nori sheet is rolled inside the rice.
2. Place nori seaweed sheet on the mat.
3. Sushi rice is spread over all of the sheet in the same way above, without leaving a space, and wasabi is not used.
4. Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds over the sushi rice.

       

5. Cover the sushi rice layer with a plastic wrap first and turn it around to make rice-side down, or lift up the nori sheet with rice, and place a plastic wrap over the sushi mat, then turned it over to the plastic wrap.
6. The ingredients are placed on the nori sheet in the center.

       

7. Roll in the same way above. Be carefull to do not involve the plastic wrap inside.
8. After rolling, remove the plastic wrap carefully. Cut the roll into pieces one by one with a sharp kitchen kinfe that is damped each time.
9. Flying fish roe (tobiko) can be also used in place of the sesame seeds.

   

Temaki and Gunkan:

Temaki (te-maki — hand-roll) sushi is only made by rolling with hands, fingers and palms, in a same way of norimaki — cylindrical, or made its shape like a cone cup, using your palm in place of bamboo mat. 1/4 sheet of nori is good size to roll by hands, spread sushi rice over 2/3 of the sheet, place ingredients in the center of the rice, and roll.

Gunkan (battle ship) sushi is also made, just like nigiri-zushi without pressing with topping of fish fillet, but a sushi rice ball is rolled around with a ribbon of nori sheet, the height of the nori is larger than the thickness of the rice ball, and topped in the cavity with fish roe, sea urchin, etc. Scissors is easy to cut nori sheet into thin strips of a width of 1.5 inches, 40 mm.

Calories & Nutrition Facts:

After treatment:

Data for sushi rolls:

• Calories of California roll, cucumber roll
• Cooked and grain rice calories and nutrition
• The Longest sushi roll in the world