Author: Allison

Categories
Maki Recipes

Philadelphia Roll

philadelphia roll

I first tried this roll at a sushi restaurant called Maki Maki, although it can probably be found at most sushi restaurants. Son took me there last year for my birthday, and we have been stopping by every time we are in the area ever since.

We almost always get the Philadelphia Roll when we go there, since it’s a very smooth, creamy roll. I believe that the roll gets its name from the cream cheese, as Philadelphia cream cheese is a popular choice. So yummy!

philadelphia roll

Makes 36-48 pieces.

Ingredients
Cooking Directions
  1. Cook sushi rice.
  2. Slice the smoked salmon into thin strips, about 1/2 inch wide.
  3. Cut cream cheese into thin sticks, about 1 cm wide.
  4. Roll the sushi, using smoked salmon, and cream cheese as your fillings.
  5. Serve with shoyu, wasabi, green onion, and ginger if desired. Enjoy!

Categories
Other Recipes

Inari-zushi


Inari-zushi, topped with tamago and green onion

Inari-zushi is a packet of fried bean curd, filled with rice. It tastes better than it sounds, I swear! 🙂 This was the only type of sushi that I ate all throughout my childhood, up until I was a teenager. Children generally love inari-zushi, as can be seen by the abundance of names that kids have for them. A few names that my family had for it are soldier hats and footballs.


Inari-zushi, topped with tamago and green onion

We used to always get inari-zushi when we would go over to my Japanese grandmother’s house, especially on New Year’s. The New Year’s sushi is always the best – we preorder our sushi from this small sushi restaurant in the Japanese area near us, which always has the longest lines on New Year’s Eve! Then comes the wait. We always pick up our sushi on New Year’s Eve, since the sushi shop is closed on New Year’s Day. The boxes of sushi just sit there in our kitchen, tempting us, but we aren’t allowed to touch a single piece! It’s torture.


Inari-zushi, topped with tamago and green onion

New Year’s comes, and the whole family completely pigs out on sushi! Holidays are always a food fest in my family, eating first around lunch, then snacking all afternoon and eating again before we divvy up all the food between the relatives to take home. I can’t wait until New Year’s!


Inari-zushi, topped with tamago and green onion

Ingredients
Cooking Directions

Depending on the package of aburaáge you buy, it might or might not have a small package of sushi vinegar seasoning included. If it does, then you can cook rice and just stir it in thoroughly. If not, cook the sushi rice.


Sushi vinegar seasoning packet


Pouring the seasoning in the rice

Bring a pot of hot water to boiling.

In the package of aburaáge, you will find the aburage in a clear plastic package. Do not open this package. Put this package in the boiling water, and boil for 5 minutes.


Aburaáge in a clear plastic package


Putting the package of aburaáge in the pot of boiling water


Boiling the aburaáge packets

Remove the package from the boiling water, cool for a few minutes.


Removing the aburaáge packet from the boiling water

Cut open the package, being careful not to spill any of the juices in the package.


Cutting open the aburaáge packets


The aburaáge packets

For each piece of aburaáge, carefully open from the cut side, being careful not to tear it. Open as fully as possible, to make it easier to fill. BEWARE: the aburaáge will be hot!


A piece of aburaáge


Opening the aburage

Fill with sumeshi. I usually use a regular spoon to fill them, as it is easier to get the rice in this way.


Filling the aburaáge packet with sumeshi


Filling the aburaáge packet with sumeshi

We topped ours with tamago and green onion, but traditionally, they are plain or topped with sesame seeds.

Eat! You can eat them plain, or with shoyu.

Categories
Maki Recipes

Firecracker Roll

firecracker roll

This roll is like a little explosion in your mouth. Red bell pepper gives a little spicy crunch, while the cream cheese and cilantro cool it down.

It kind of reminds me of how the weather is right now here in Southern California. Just as it’s supposed to be cooling down, WAM a heat wave hits you!

A little excitement to spice up your November.

firecracker roll

Makes 6 rolls, or 36-48 pieces.

Ingredients
Cooking Directions
  1. Cook sushi rice.
  2. Slice the red bell pepper into thin strips, discarding the seeds.
  3. Cut cream cheese into thin sticks, about 1 cm wide.
  4. Wash cilantro, cut or tear into small pieces.
  5. Roll the sushi, using 2-3 slices of red bell pepper, about 3 sticks of cream cheese, and about 1/4 tsp cilantro as your fillings.
  6. Serve with salsa. Enjoy!

Categories
Maki Recipes

Crunchy Shrimp Roll

crunchy shrimp roll

I love, love, LOVE this roll! This is probably my favorite type of sushi ever.

I came up with this when I was making tempura shrimp for a different roll. I had some extra avocado from making California Rolls, and we had some leftover green onions from something I had made a few days before for Son.

If you like tempura shrimp, you will definitely love this roll.

Makes 6 rolls, or 36-48 slices.

Ingredients
Cooking Directions
  1. Cook sushi rice.
  2. Bake tempura shrimp as directed on the package. I used this tempura shrimp, but I’m sure other types, or even homemade tempura shrimp will work just fine. You can also fry the tempura shrimp if you choose, but baking it is healthier, and you can prepare other things (such as the sumeshi) while it’s baking.
  3. Cut tails off the tempura shrimp.
  4. Slice tempura shrimp in half lengthwise, set aside.
  5. Cut the avocado in half, discarding the pit.
  6. Cut off the hard skin and discard.
  7. Slice the avocado into thin sticks.
  8. Wash the green onion, cut the long green stalks off of the white bulb-like things. Discard the white bulbs.
  9. Roll the sushi, using one green onion stalk, several avocado sticks, and 2 1/2 slices of tempura shrimp as your fillings.
  10. Serve with shoyu, wasabi, and ginger if desired. Enjoy!

Categories
Maki Recipes

New Zealand Roll

new zealand roll

The New Zealand Roll is similar to the California Roll. The only differences are that the roll is made with the sumeshi on the outside and covered with kiwifruit slices.

New Zealand Roll

If you’re a fan of sweet/savory combinations, you’ll love this roll. The fruit on top adds just a hint of sweetness that goes excellently with the savory California roll.

New Zealand Roll

Makes 6 rolls, or 36-48 slices.

Ingredients
Cooking Directions
  1. Cook sushi rice.
  2. Mix imitation crab and mayonnaise, separating crab pieces and mashing into smaller pieces.
  3. Peel the skin off of the kiwi fruit, and slice into thin pieces.
  4. Spread the rice on the nori as usual.
  5. Flip the nori over so the rice is on the bottom and the nori is on the top.
  6. Place the imitation crab mix and avocado on the bottom edge of the nori.
  7. Roll tightly, making sure the rice doesn’t stick to the rolling mat.
  8. Once the sushi is rolled (with the rice on the outside), place the slices of kiwi fruit on the top of the sushi.
  9. Using the rolling mat, press the kiwi fruit into the inside-out California roll, so it doesn’t fall off of the roll.
  10. Carefully slice into six or eight slices.
  11. Garnish with sesame seeds, and serve with wasabi, shoyu, and ginger (if desired). Enjoy!

Categories
Other Sushi Randomness

Happy Sushi Day!

Believe it or not, today, November 1st, is actually Sushi Day! So go out and try some sushi, and then come back and let me know what you thought! I’ll be waiting to hear all about your sushi experiences… 🙂

Categories
Maki Recipes

California Roll

california roll

California Rolls are the most popular and most well known sushi rolls in the United States. The California Roll isn’t exactly a traditional roll, but I am by no means a sushi traditionalist – I love them!

This is (in comparison to some more traditional sushi) one of the milder rolls, which makes it great for those who have never eaten sushi before. This was actually one of the only kinds of sushi I ate all through my childhood, up until a couple of years ago.

But beware: if you are allergic to fish, you should use real crab instead of imitation, since imitation crab is made out of fish.

Makes 6 rolls, or 36-48 slices.

Ingredients
Cooking Directions
  1. Cook sushi rice.
  2. Mix imitation crab and mayonnaise, separating crab pieces and mashing into smaller pieces.
  3. Cut the avocado in half, discarding the pit.
  4. Cut off the hard skin and discard.
  5. Slice the avocado into thin sticks.
  6. If you choose to use cucumber, slice it into long, thin sticks.
  7. Using avocado sticks, cucumber(if desired), and the imitation crab mix as your fillings, roll and slice the sushi
  8. Garnish with sesame seeds, and serve with wasabi, shoyu, and ginger (if desired). Enjoy!

Categories
Maki Recipes

Kappa Maki

kappa maki

This is by far the easiest sushi roll to make. Not only is it vegetarian, it is also vegan, so just about anyone can eat it!

Makes 6 rolls, or 36-48 pieces.

Ingredients
Cooking Directions
  1. Cook sushi rice.
  2. Wash cucumber thoroughly.
  3. If desired, peel cucumber.
  4. Slice the cucumber into 1/2-cm thick sticks.
  5. Lay a stick of cucumber on the sheet of nori.
  6. Roll and slice the sushi, using only 1/2 cup of rice for each roll instead of a full cup. These rolls will be smaller than most, as we are only using one ingredient.
  7. Serve with ginger, wasabi, and shoyu, if desired. Enjoy!

Categories
Maki Recipes

How to Roll Maki Sushi


Placing the fillings on the nori

It takes a bit of practice to roll sushi perfectly, so don’t worry if you don’t get it right on the first try. (I sure didn’t!) Just keep trying, and keep in mind – even if they don’t look great, they are still edible! Mistakes taste just as good as perfectly rolled sushi. If you prefer to make inside-out maki rolls (uramaki sushi), see my How to Roll Inside-Out Maki post.

Rolling the Maki

Lay a piece of nori on the rolling mat, shiny side down.


Nori on the sushi rolling mat

Place about 1/2 cup of sumeshi on the nori.


Placing rice on the nori

Wet your hands with water so the rice won’t stick to your hands. I find it’s useful to have a small bowl of water sitting next to my work area so I don’t have to keep running between the sink and my work area to keep my hands wet.


Wetting hands with water

Spread the rice over the nori with your hands, leaving a 1/2-inch strip of nori uncovered at the bottom.


Spreading the sumeshi

Place your desired fillings along this strip of uncovered nori on the edge closest to you.


Placing the fillings on the nori

Using the rolling mat, begin to tightly roll the sushi. Start at the side nearest to you, and roll away from you. Make sure you don’t roll the rolling mat into your sushi!


Beginning to roll the sushi


Rolling the sushi

When the sushi is completely rolled, use the rolling mat to squeeze the sushi so it does not unroll when you are trying to cut it.


Finishing rolling the sushi


Squeezing the sushi

Using a very sharp knife, cut the sushi into six or eight pieces, depending on how thick you like your sushi. It helps to have your knife freshly sharpened; otherwise it’s pretty easy to squish your sushi when you are cutting it. This can cause the sushi to fall apart when you are eating it, and become kind of a pain. Also, it helps to wet your knife before cutting the sushi, so the rice and fillings won’t stick to it.


Cutting the sushi


Almost done... all that is left is to eat it!

WARNING: Please be very careful using the knife! Do not allow children to use sharp knives, and keep fingers and other body parts away from the blade. I am not liable for any injury you might incur while using knives or other sharp objects.