Easy Sushi - temaki zushi

Temaki zushi or hand-rolled sushi is the most popular sushi style for every Japanese family making sushi at home. Making Temaki zushi is very easy, so you don’t need to be a sushi master and you can also make delicious sushi at home. A large platter of fresh ingredients, a big tub of sushi rice and some sheets of nori are all that’s needed for a tasty and fun sushi meal. Ingredients

• Selection of sushi fillings to taste, such as sashimi-grade tuna, salmon roe, canned tuna with spring onion and mayonnaise, Japanese omelet, cucumber, onion, spring onion
• 2-3 large sheets nori (per person)
• Wasabi, soy sauce and miso mixed mayonnaise, to serve (optional)Sushi rice
• 125 ml (½ cup) rice wine vinegar
• 30 g caster sugar
• 5 g salt
• 800 g (4 cups) short-grain Japanese rice

Instructions To make the sushi rice, place the vinegar, caster sugar and salt in a saucepan and stir over low heat until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, wash the raw rice well and place in a heavy-based saucepan. Cover with enough cold water to reach about 2 cm above the surface of the rice. Bring to boil until the water level reaches the top of the rice and holes appear in the surface where steam escapes. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and reduce heat to very low, and continue to cook for 12 minutes. Remove from the heat and stand, covered, for a further 5 minutes.

Turn out the cooked rice into a large wooden rice tub or bowl (if using a wooden tub, rub the wood first with a little of the vinegar mixture to stop the rice from sticking). Working quickly, fan the rice to drive off any excess moisture, and separate the grains with a spatula, drawing it through the rice in a cutting motion. Add the vinegar mixture a little at a time, continuing to fan and “cut” the rice until it reaches body temperature. You can test this by feeling the rice with the back of your fingers – if it feels neither warm nor cold, it is at the right temperature.

Cover with a tea towel or piece of cheesecloth moistened with a little of the vinegar mixture, to keep the rice warm and moist. Slice the fillings into pieces or long strips and arrange them on a platter. If you are working with raw seafood, make sure to keep the work area clean and sanitary. Cut the nori in half and serve as a stack with the rice and fillings. To make each piece of hand-rolled sushi, take a piece of nori and place a small portion of rice to one edge of the rough side of the nori. Add any fillings you wish and roll into a cone. Eat immediately with wasabi, soy sauce and miso mixed mayonnaise, if you like.