EATS: Temaki Sushi Hand Roll Recipe

Awhile ago I mentioned making Temaki sushi hand rolls in the post on Food and Family Traditions. This Japanese meal is elegant, bursting with flavors and textures, simple and a great way to get every dinner guest involved in meal time. In the emails and comments I received when I initially posted Food and Family Traditions, it was interesting to note how so many of us have traditions around meals that you build together. Tacos, dumplings, crepes, and so on. Being involved in the process not only changes your experience with the food that you eat but also with how you interact and relate to others during meal time.

In just a few weeks, my three sons will be joining us for the summer. It has me making meal plans and Temaki sushi hand rolls are among the family food traditions I want to introduce them to and continue (we’ll have some less traditional roll in options because not all of them like sushi, but that’s a post for another day!).

In that spirit, I decided to share with you my recipe for Temaki Sushi hand rolls. The largest prep will come from the rice and spicy sauce (which are both simple enough processes). The rest is more or less slicing and arranging fillings, toasting your nori sheets and enjoying a great interactive meal.

Temaki Sushi Rice

6-8 servings

• 3 cups of sushi rice

• 31/2  cups of water

• ½  cup of Rice vinegar

• 2 Tablespoon white sugar

• 2 Teaspoon fine sea salt

Temaki Sushi Rice Instructions:

• rinse the rice well (until water run off runs clear)

• place rice and water into a rice cooker and cook

• while the rice is cooking in a sauce pan put vinegar, sugar, and salt over medium high heat. Cook until the sugar and salt dissolve and then remove from heat and allow to cool.

• Once the rice is cooked put into a medium mixing bowl while still hot, sprinkle the vinegar mixture into the rice while cutting with a rice paddle.

Temaki Spicy Sauce

• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

• 2 Tablespoons sriracha sauce

• 3/4 cup kewpie mayonnaise

Temaki Spicy Sauce Instructions

• Place all ingredients into a small mixing bowl and whisk together

Temaki Filling Suggestions

• a variety of sushi grade raw fish. Suggestions include: uni (sea urchin), salmon, ikura (salmon roe), hamachi (yellow tail), tuna, octopus, shrimp, tobiko (flying fish roe)

• avocado slices

• thin lemon slices

• daikon sprouts

• takuan (pickled daikon radish)

• cucumber sticks

• carrot sticks

• roasted sesame seeds (black and white)

Temaki (other ingredients)

• nori sheets (to hold the temaki fillings), lightly roasted over an open flame

• soy sauce (individual sauce dishes for each guest recommended)

• wasabi

• pickled ginger

• thinly sliced green onion

• Shiso leaves

• seaweed salad (as a side dish)

• miso soup (as a side dish, you can also add some soft tofu to your miso soup which I usually do to add some more texture and flavor)

• edamame (as a side dish)

Assembling Temaki sushi hand roll

• Set all ingredients out on the table or serving counter (wherever it is easiest for guests to access/reach all the ingredients). Allow guests to assemble their own Temaki sushi hand roll.

• To create the Temaki Sushi hand roll you can instruct guests to begin with one sheet of toasted nori (dried seaweed). Roll in the sushi rice and any additional fillings (vegetables, raw fish, etc) that you wish. Top with spicy sauce and other toppings (sesame, seeds, green onions, etc) and dip in a side of soy sauce (with wasabi if you choose) as you eat. It’s nice to try a lot of different combinations and toppings so I recommend having a variety of toppings for everyone to choose from. Share with others what’s working well and try out some of their favorites too.