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–+ servings

Temaki Sushi (Hand Roll Sushi)

Prep Time45 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
Author Yuto Omura
Servings 16 rolls

Ingredients 
 

Sushi rice

Hand Roll Sushi

  • 8 sheets roasted seaweed for sushi (nori)
  • wasabi paste optional
  • 250 g sushi grade fish of your choice tuna, salmon, etc.
  • 200 g vegetables of your choice cucumber, avocado, etc.
  • fillings of your choice
  • Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu) for dipping

Instructions 

  • Pour 300 g uncooked Japanese rice into a sieve placed over an empty mixing bowl. Fill the bowl with cold water until the rice is submerged. Swish, drain and repeat 3 times to remove the excess starch and dirt/debris.
    Washing rice in a bowl
  • Transfer the rice to a cooking pot and add 350 ml water and 5 g dried kelp (kombu) (optional). Leave to soak for 30 mins to 1 hour.
    kombu and rice soaking in a pot
  • Add 1 tbsp sake (optional) before placing the pot on the stove.
    adding sake to rice
  • Turn on the heat to medium and bring to a boil. Listen for bubbling and do not remove the lid. Once it's bubbling continuously, set a timer for 30 seconds. After 2 minutes, reduce the heat to medium-low and set a timer for 2 minutes. 
    cooking pot with lid
  • When 2 minutes are up, lower the heat to a simmer and set a timer for 5 minutes.
    After 5 minutes, turn up to the highest heat for 10 seconds and then turn the stove off. Leave the pot on the stove with the lid on and allow the rice to cook in the residual steam for 10 minutes.
    pot of rice with lid on stove
  • After 10 minutes, take off the lid, remove the kombu if you used it and lightly mix the rice without crushing the grains.
    mixing cooked rice
  • Mix the 2 tbsp rice vinegar, ½ tbsp salt and 1 tbsp sugar in a small bowl until fully dissolved.
    Rice vinegar, salt and sugar mixed in a small glass bowl
  • Transfer the rice to a wide container (wider=fasted cooling) and pour the sushi vinegar mixture over the top while it's still hot. Mix and fan to cool the rice.
  • Cover with a damp tea towel to stop it from drying out until it's time to serve.
    Japanese sushi rice in a wooden sushi-oke half covered with a damp tea towel

How to assemble temaki sushi

  • Cut 8 sheets roasted seaweed for sushi (nori) into halves and set one down horizontally in front of you.
    nori sheet cut in half
  • Add about 30g of sushi rice and spread it out on one half of the nori, leaving the top corner empty. (Wet your hands to prevent the rice from sticking.) The rice should be shaped like a right-angled triangle.
    sushi rice placed on nori
  • Spread a thin layer of wasabi paste diagonally through the middle of the rice triangle. (Optional)
    wasabi spread over sushi rice
  • Place your choice of fillings over the top of the wasabi.
    how to lay ingredients and roll temaki hand roll sushi
  • Bring the bottom left corner of the nori up to the centre so that short edges of the rice triangle meet.
    rolling temaki sushi hand roll
  • Roll the remaining nori around the back of the cone, try and line up the points for a smoother and more beautiful shape.
    final roll how to make temaki sushi hand roll
  • Dip in a personal bowl of Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu) (depending on the filling) and enjoy! 
    completed temaki sushi hand roll