A popular Japanese dish today is convenient in many situations: as a light lunch for adults and children, as a picnic meal or even as a snack. Learn the basic recipes for rolls at home, and you can fill them with endless combinations of vegetables, meat, tofu and omelettes. It’s also a great way to use leftover food!
Popularity and tastes
This dish comes from Japan, but worldwide popularity came to him in the United States. It was from there that it began to spread throughout the world, and it was there that they came up with new types of rolls. And actually the name we owe to America, because in Japan, rolls are called "poppies."
Usually this dish is prepared from special rice, but ordinary round-grain can also be suitable. If you use leftover rice, heat it and add rice vinegar.
This recipe will detail how to cook rolls at home. A recipe with a photo will help you do this easily and without errors. Let's start with the simplest roll - hosomaki, which consists of one main ingredient and, as a rule, is wrapped in nori from the outside. In general, there are a lot of recipes and variations of fillings. The simplest rolls usually have one or two ingredients in the filling, for example only cucumber, tuna, salmon or eel.
Western ones consist of several ingredients, and most of them are “inverted” (uramaki) . In such roles, rice is outside, and nori is inside. There are also futomaki - these are the largest rolls in which there is not much rice, but the amount of ingredients in the filling reaches five.
Many restaurants create their own versions, combinations and unique names. And in the future, these dishes become very popular. Here are some of the most common rolls whose recipes are known all over the world:
- "California";
- "The Dragon";
- "Rainbow";
- "Caterpillar";
- "Alaska";
- "Boston";
- "Philadelphia".
Now let's do the rolls!
Today we will make hosomaki - the traditional and simplest rolls, at home, and a step-by-step recipe will help with this. They are much simpler than multi-component, so they are ideal for training sessions before moving on to California and Dragon. Rolls with tuna and cucumber are the most popular hosomaki, and you probably saw how they are eaten in Japanese restaurants. If you do not accept raw fish or cucumber, you can replace them with other ingredients of your choice. And if you like a lot of fish, find out how to cook Philadelphia rolls at home with a step-by-step recipe. But it’s better to start with traditional hosomaki.
What is necessary?
The ingredients and cooking utensils are actually easier than you might imagine. You need only four things to make rolls: rice for sushi, a filling of your choice, a nori leaf and a bamboo mat for sushi.
1. Fig.
This is the most important ingredient. Rice for rolls in the recipe at home, as in a restaurant, should also be seasoned with special vinegar. So it will acquire a flavor and will be more "obedient".
2. Fillers.
Traditionally, fillers for hosomaki are raw or boiled seafood and vegetables. However, if you do not eat raw fish, you can use other ingredients that you love. Experiment to understand what you ultimately prefer.
3. Nori.
There are many types of seaweed used in Japanese cooking, but for rolls we need dried ones. They are fried and look like sheets of dark green paper. We use half a nori leaf for this recipe, but it depends on its size.
Please remember that nori absorbs moisture and softens easily. Therefore, if the packaging has been opened, store it in an airtight container or plastic bag (remove air before closing) and keep it in the refrigerator.
4. Bamboo mat.
This is a special rug made of narrow bamboo stripes. It is used to twist rice into rolls. It is better to buy one with thin and flat strips - it is more elastic and easier to work with.
If you do not want to buy a bamboo mat, you can use a thick, thick dishcloth folded to the same size.
Product set
Ingredients:
- 2 cups raw Japanese rice for sushi;
- 4 tablespoons (tablespoons) of vinegar (preferably rice);
- 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar;
- 1 teaspoon of salt
Filling:
- 1 cucumber;
- 200 grams of tuna;
- 1 box of fermented soybeans.
Hand Wetting Solution:
- ¼ cup of water;
- rice vinegar (tablespoon).
All the rest:
- 5 sheets of nori (seaweed);
- soy sauce;
- wasabi (optional);
- pickled ginger (optional).
Cooking rolls at home (recipe with photo)
Cut a cucumber from both ends. Then cut along and again in half - so that four strips come out. Remove the seeds with a knife and cut again in half lengthwise. Ultimately, you should get eight cucumber strips.
Remove the beans from the container and season with the soy sauce or condiment that was in the bag. Stir everything until the paste is smooth. Cut the tuna into slices, and then cut into thick long strips. Make a wetting solution by combining vinegar and water in a small bowl. This solution will prevent rice from sticking to your hands.
Cut the nori in half. Remember that algae easily deteriorates, so store unused sheets in an airtight bag and take as much as you need. Lay the sushi mat on the work surface. Lay half a sheet of nori on a bamboo mat. Leave free about 3-4 mat slats closer to you. Lay the algae with the shiny side down.
We form rolls
Moisten your hands before touching sushi rice. Spread the rice. Try to use a measuring cup. Thus, the amount of rice for each roll will be the same, and the rolls will be the same size. Make sure that the measuring cup is also moistened - so the rice will not stick to it.
Put the rice on the left in the center of the nori. Now lay it out, leaving a little space along the top edge of the nori. Spread the rice evenly. Dip your wet fingers in water if rice begins to stick to them. Put the filling (tuna, cucumber, beans) in the middle of the rice. If the tuna or cucumber is too short, add extra pieces.
After that, holding the filling with your fingers, roll everything all in one quick roll. At the edges you should have a little nori without filling. Press them with your fingers so that the rice does not fall out. Create a shape - square or round. Then finally raise the sushi mat and rotate the roll again to seal the edges of the nori. Squeeze the edges again.
Cut this roll in half by dipping the knife with a damp towel. Wet the knife again and cut each half into 3 more pieces.
Baked rolls at home (Volcano recipe)
Structure:
- rice (glass);
- nori (a pair of sheets);
- 4-6 stalks of green onions;
- 1/3 ordinary cucumber (without peel);
- 2 tablespoons of cream cheese (optional);
- 1 tablespoon sesame;
- salt, sugar, rice vinegar.
Topping:
- eight to nine shrimp, 150 grams of raw salmon or 150 grams of scallops.
Hot sauce "Volcano":
- two-thirds cups bought in a store or home-made mayonnaise;
- 2 tablespoons of hot sauce (chili).
How to cook baked rolls at home (step by step recipe)
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
- Cook rice, add vinegar and salt and sugar to it, then mix.
- Cook the topping while the rice is cooked. Grind raw shrimp, scallops, salmon into small pieces and throw in the volcano sauce.
- Pour the mixture onto a square of aluminum foil and wrap the edges slightly so that it does not leak.
- Bake until fish or seafood is cooked.
- While the sauce is baking, cover the bamboo mat with cling film and lay a nori leaf on top.
- Cut the cucumber into thin strips.
- Using a spoon, lay the rice in a thin layer on a sheet of seaweed, and then spread the cucumber, onion and cheese.
- Twist, chop and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- The sauce is ready for this moment. Put it on rolls. You can bake a little on top to get hot rolls at home. The recipe can be adjusted to your liking.
As you can see, cooking is nothing complicated. Sushi and roll recipes at home are affordable and you can often delight yourself and your loved ones.