Have you tried making inside out rolls?? When I make California Rolls, I found it easier making “inside - out California Rolls”
Sunshine loves sushi (especially California Rolls), so when the ingredients go one sale, I try to make it for her, I always keep Nori and Sushi Rice in stock.
Edited to add – the only specialized equipment I have is a sushi mat. I do put my mat inside of a gallon “zip-loc” gallon bag to protect it while I roll. When I’m completely finished, I throw away the “zip-loc” bag and put my mat away until the next time.
That and a sharp serrated knife for cutting the finished rolls. I have this sharp serrated knife with very small “teeth” that cuts the Nori nicely.
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ChristinaM
(Hungry in Asheville, NC (still plenty to offer tourists post Hurricane))
22
One easy way to get the feel for rolling is to make a ton of temaki. With enough practice you can roll a futomaki without a mat. Cut the nori in half, temaki-size, and practice rolling a short futomaki. If it turns into a huge mess, call it a temaki and declare victory. Rolling a futomaki on a half-sheet is actually easier than a full-length roll because it’s easier to control - less stuff to fall out.
Yes, that’s my base level. But, still… it takes me at least 2 rolls to get just the right amount of filling on it. I also have a sushi mat (two actually, got a kit at an office secret Santa years back) that I cover w/ plastic to roll…
I’ve seen a number of plastic gadgets that, in theory, squish the rice and bits into a cylinder that you then push out with a plunger and wrap in nori. I have seen them demonstrated and have serious doubts about their efficacy.
Something I HAVE seen work is specialized sushi-bots. Feed in a pre-measured amount of cooked rice, nori, fillings, press button, and out pops a roll. THey also have models that make the rice bases for nigiri. I imagine those are not exactly economical for home use.
My standard “just Ahi Tuna” rolls aren’t as pretty or uniform as my inside out rolls. But Sunshine loves sushi, so presentation isn’t as important as volume. My girl can eat some sushi!!
I just happened to see Ming Tsai make sushi on his show the other day. Of course on TV it looks so easy. I recognize that the real work is in prepping all the ingredients. He was using a different kind of rolling mat, not the bamboo slatted kind, that looked interesting. I took away from the show the correct side on the nori to have the rice placed. I will work on this next week.
The one I picked up at a Japanese store is like this one, no plunger — press the rice, toppings, and more rice in, press down to compact, and then pop out the cylinder and cover with nori.
The last part is not as easy as it sounds, but the compacting is effective.
In addition to having everything prepared in advance of starting, I take an dish towel, fold it, place it in a shallow bowl/deep dish, and wet it down. I keep my hands damp/wet when I’m working with the rice. I also wet my knife prior to slicing the the roll.
And the most important item is… “You have to wear a Sushi-Chef hat!!” (at least in my house, I do) LOL!!
I posted this to the NYE thread, but lower right is some assorted makizushi I made not too long ago. IIRC, though, Spawn2 made most of the little rolls (maguro scraps, takuan pickles, and spinach). I think I only did a couple.
You’re welcome. It’s sort of a nod to a traditional oshogatsu, but it’s not the real thing. I think I’ve only made ozoni (mochi ball soup) once or twice, and to my understanding of Japanese tradition, ozoni is a signature dish of the observance.
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CCE
(Keyrock the unfrozen caveman lawyer; your world frightens & confuses me)
35
Strangely, I am getting a notice with each post in thread. I scrolled to the nottom and it says
You will receive notifications because you created this topic
Not me, @linguafood Natascha is on the leaderboard. Maybe some glitch when this thread was spun off from the other one.
No worries, I know how to turn it off, just thought it odd/funny.
