Gatekeeper Maki
Harry and James, James and Harry. Our dear Men with Pens. Both are really amazing guys that I’m proud to call my friends, and both are sushi lovers one is a sushi lover. I’m still working on the other one.
Harry was the easy one. He loves sushi, especially salmon. Salmon, salmon, salmon… he apparently can’t get enough of it. (I’m pretty sure he’s actually a cat, though I’ve never actually met him offline, so I can’t say for sure.) It was ever so simple to figure out a sushi he would love, and whaddaya know? I made it, and it was pretty gosh darn delicious.
And then… there’s James. The difficult one. Turns his nose up at sashimi, won’t go within 100 yards of a fish egg, and generally refuses to try sushi. So troublesome, that one, when all I wanted to do was make sushi for him! But, as we all know, I certainly do love a challenge, and of course in the realm of sushi… I always prevail.
Thus the Gatekeeper Maki was born. A non-sashimi, not-a-fish-egg-to-be-seen sushi, suitable for The Gatekeeper himself. It’s a bit of an Italian-style sushi roll, what with the tomato, olives, and pesto… with the addition of smoked salmon (which we’ve discovered he will eat), it’s quite fantastic indeed. Now to get him to actually make and eat the roll…
Don’t forget to enter my contest to win a copy of the book, Sustainable Sushi, by Casson Trenor. You have until Saturday night to enter!
Ingredients
- 6 sheets circular spring roll wrappers
- 2 cups sumeshi
- 6 oz smoked salmon
- 3/8 cup sliced black olives
- 1 small tomato
- 1 batch basil pesto
Cooking Directions
- Cook sushi rice.
- Slice the tomato, discard the seeds.
- Make the pesto.
- Wet the spring roll wrapper with warm water, making sure to cover every last spot on both sides of the wrapper.
- Lay the wrapper flat on your workspace.
- Lay some smoked salmon in the middle of the wrapper, leaving about 2 inches uncovered on either end.
- Scoop about 1/3 cup sumeshi onto the smoked salmon, patting it into an oblong shape with either end pointing towards the sides of the wrapper.
- Lay some tomatoand olives on top of the sumeshi.
- Fold both sides of the wrapper in, over the fillings.
- Fold the bottom of the wrapper tightly up over the fillings.
- Roll the sushi away from you, until you reach the top of the wrapper, and seal it shut. (The wrapper should be sticky enough to stick to itself. If not, dampen the end with a little water.)
- Using a sharp knife, slice into 4 pieces.
- Top with the basil pesto.
- Enjoy!
Serving Size: 1 roll Gatekeeper Maki
- Calories: 393
- Fat: 27g, 42% DV
- Saturated Fat: 4g, 22% DV
- Cholesterol: 25mg, 8% DV
- Sodium: 924mg, 38% DV
- Total Carbohydrates: 26g, 9% DV
- Dietary Fiber: 2g, 9% DV
- Sugars: 9g
- Protein: 13g, 25% DV
- Vitamin A: 34%
- Vitamin C: 14%
- Calcium: 11%
- Iron: 2%
- Magnesium: 15%
- Potassium: 2%
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. These values are only estimates based on the individual ingredients, and not meant to replace the advice of a medical professional.
13 thoughts on “Gatekeeper Maki”
This is a great sushi recipe especially by using the spring roll wrappers
My very own sushi… 🙂
I just want to note that I’m not *fussy*, but rather selective. And discriminating. With good taste, of course. Which this roll seems to have – olives, salmon and pesto? I could eat that. Mmhm.
You don’t provide chef services, do you? 😉
James Chartrand – Men with Pens’s last blog post… Sticky Business Contest Winners: Congrats!
sushisushi – Thanks.
James – Right. Yes. Good taste… of course. 😉
Sure I’ll provide chef services for you… come to Southern California and I’d be glad to make you your sushi! 😀 But seeing as that’s not likely to happen anytime soon (I though Friar was supposed to roadtrip kidnap you! I should bribe him with sushi…) perhaps someday I’ll make it out to your side of Canada and I can make your sushi for you.
You know, you *could* make it yourself… you *do* have the basic equipment for it… 😀
Yum… this looks good… I WANT to like sushi, but there is something in the texture… although smoked salmon or shrimp ones….yummy. I am strangely craving fish this week after serious flu bug… hm?…Have no idea what that’s about. Maybe this would be a good starter sushi recipe to make. Any other tuna or salmon ones you would suggest?
Janice Cartier’s last blog post… Cool Starts Here
This looks wonderful as I am a big pesto fan and there are endless possibilities for pesto that you could change up the inner veggies with – cilantro pesto with diced chorizo, red peppers ands thinly sliced jalepenos could be for someone with mexican taste…oh thanks for getting my thoughts going! I guess sushi can be filled with anything according to personal tastes! Thanks again!
Janice – I recommend a classic Philadelphia Roll. Buy the box (not a tub) Philadelphia cream cheese and some fresh (as you can get it) salmon. Prepare nori and rice as normal and lay strips of the salmon with strips (easier to cut off the block, hence the box) of cream cheese. Yum!
Allison, this looks wonderful! A buddy of mine’s wife won’t touch sushi, and I’m devising a roll like this to try and get her into it, too. James, you should try this and guest post on Sushi Day to tell us how much you loved it! ; )
Janice – Like Michael said, the Philadelphia Roll is a great one using smoked salmon. If you’re comfortable with sashimi (raw fish) then you can also try that with sashimi-grade salmon.
Another good beginner roll using sashimi is sashimi-grade tuna and avocado. Very basic, but very delicious.
The Crunchy Shrimp Roll is a popular one with my family, and it doesn’t use any fish – just tempura shrimp (which you can buy frozen at most grocery stores), avocado and green onion.
If you’d rather use canned tuna rather than raw tuna, try my Tuna Salad Sushi. It might seem simplistic, but tuna salad and lettuce actually go very well with the sushi rice.
Lastly, you mentioned liking sushi with shrimp… this Shrimp n’ Apple Roll is really delicious – it’s my brother’s favorite roll. 🙂
Motivated to try making your own sushi yet? 😀
Katie – Oh yes, there are so many different possibilities for sushi fillings, and you can come up with tons based on your own personal preferences. That one actually sounds pretty good… I may have to try making it sometime soon!
Michael – Thanks for the suggestion for Janice! I agree… we should get James to try this one and guest post about it!
Hmm, James? You up for it? 😀
That’s actually not a bad idea. I recently replaced my broken camera with a nice one that does work, and I’ve been trying to think of photos that might be interesting to people. Hm hm!!
Interesting.
At first, when I read that the ingredients called for spring roll wrappers, I was thinking those flour wrappers for egg rolls. But I think you actually mean the rice paper wrappers that you see used in Vietnamese summer rolls?
Nate’s last blog post… Sensational Sushi at Sakae Sushi (Burlingame), Part 2
James – Fantastic! You can be my first ever guest poster. 😀 And you’ll finally try sushi!
Hi Allison,
sorry to ask, but I don’t understand exactly: In your receipes is the amount of sumeshi raw oder cooked?
For example: 2 cup sumeshi – is this 2 cup raw oder cooked sushi rice.
Thanks and keep on with your wondeful website!
Felix
Felix’s last blog post… Sushi-Sorten –
Blasphemy!!! Salmon fishing in California has been banned for 2009. Here’s the story: http://www.acwa.com/news_info/water_news.asp?articleid=1808 It’s like the Prohibition for Salmon (instead of alcohol)
Darren’s last blog post… Sticking with the basics and RSS feeds
Felix – Cooked.
Darren – *gasp*!!!