How to make rolls at home: tips and recipes

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Homemade sushi and rolls are quite cost-effective, although at first glance it seems the opposite. Most of the ingredients are sold in large packages and have a long shelf life. If you purchase rice, nori, rice vinegar and sauce, they can last a long time in your pantry. As a result, you will get 4-6 Japanese-style dinners for the price of one trip to a restaurant. Plus, making rolls at home can be really fun.

What do you need first?

So, how to make rolls at home? First of all, you need to buy the basic basic ingredients. These include:

• sushi rice;
• bamboo mat;
• plastic film;
• nori (seaweed sheets);
• soy sauce;
• toasted sesame seeds and/or chia seeds;
• sriracha chili sauce;
• wasabi + pickled ginger.

You can buy all of these products and equipment from Asian speci alty stores or any hypermarket. Once you have all the basics, you will need fresh ingredients for your planned toppings. As a rule, this is a fish element and some vegetables and fruits. Of the last to youmay fit:

• cucumber;
• avocado;
• asparagus;
• jalapeno;
• green onions;
• carrot;
• salad;
• sweet pepper;
• red onion;
• radish;
• canned pineapple;
• mango;
• apple.

What to add as main component?

How to make sushi and rolls at home using available products? As for the options for the main filler, here you can also turn on fantasy. Many people like to add shrimp to rolls, as this is the easiest. If fresh salmon is available to you, you can cook real Japanese rolls with raw fish. The same goes for sashimi fish, which is sold only in specialized stores. Such products are subjected to a single shock freezing, so they are completely safe. Do not eat raw fish and seafood sold in ordinary stores. You cannot be sure that they have not been refrozen, nor can you check their storage conditions. Lightly s alted and smoked types of fish fillets, as well as canned food in its own juice, are suitable for you as a filling. Alternatively, you can add tofu or cream cheese to the rolls in addition to fish or seafood.

How to make rice?

So, you are wondering how to make your own sushi and rolls at home. The very first step in cooking is preparing the rice. You must wash it very carefully. Ideally, clear water should flow from it. Then take twocups of water to one and a half cups of rice, place in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil. Once the water starts to boil, reduce the heat to low and cover the pot with a lid. Let the rice cook for 20 minutes, do not stir. Remove from the heat, but leave the rice in the pot covered for 10 minutes or so until the grains become sticky and soft.

Cooking rice is the only time-consuming part of the whole process. While it's cooking, save time by preparing the fish, vegetables, and sauces. This will allow you to quickly make rolls at home. The recipe can be anything.

How to prepare boiled rice?

If you don't have rice vinegar, you can use regular white vinegar and dilute it to taste with water. Add some s alt and sugar to it. The ideal proportion would be 1/3 cup rice vinegar seasoned with 1 teaspoon tea sugar and 1/2 teaspoon s alt. Pour this mixture into the rice, stir gently with a fork and taste. Adjust s alt and sugar as desired. Transfer the rice from the pot to a bowl and cover with paper towels.

While the rice cooks and cools, prepare the vegetables and fish. Slice them vertically into strips and set aside. How to make rolls at home? Photos and different recipes are presented below, but there are general rules.

To avoid dirt, wrap the bamboo mat with plastic wrap. Place a sheet of nori on top and take the rice. Homemade rolls can be made in two ways - rice outside or inside.

Types of rolls

How to make sushi and rolls at home? The first ones are prepared very simply - just make a bun of rice andput the fish on top. Rolls are of two types: rice outside and inside. The latter are subdivided into thick and thin.

Because it is easier to make rolls with rice inside, start with this kind. Take a spoon and spread a thin layer of rice on the seaweed sheet. If you want to make thick rolls and use whole sheets, add more rice, but be sure to leave an uncovered piece at the end.

Place the filling in the center, placing the individual pieces very close together. If you are using large slices or using a lot of ingredients, you can stack them on top of each other.

If you want to make rice rolls on the outside, turn the nori sheet over so that the rice is on top of the plastic wrap, then place the filling on top of the seaweed.

Then grab the edge of the mat and start rolling the roll. The first turn will bind the ingredients in the center. Roll about 1/4 of the length and gently squeeze, then unfold the mat. Repeat this process until you have rolled the sheet of rice, seaweed and vegetables with the fish into a spiral. Squeeze again to seal the filling. How to make your own rolls at home so that they turn out like in a restaurant?

Cut the resulting roll into bite-sized discs. This should be done with a very sharp, ideally freshly sharpened knife. If you made rice-side-out rolls coated with fish or avocado slices, first wrap the roll tightly with plastic wrap before slicing. This will allow you to cut the rolls neatly and beautifully.

How to make baked rolls at home?

You can also make hot baked rolls. ForThis will require you to make a hot sauce and use additional toppings. Take any ready-made cut rolls, grease with sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese or finely chopped other ingredients (shrimp, fish, etc.) and bake in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Sauce requires an average of:

• 1 tablespoon of homemade or store-bought mayonnaise;
• 1/2 tablespoon Sriracha chili sauce.

Adjust your ideal spiciness level from mild to very hot. Substitute base with vegan mayonnaise or plain Greek yogurt if needed.

What can you add to soy sauce?

Before making rolls at home, buy naturally brewed soy sauce. Do not use cheap substitutes in plastic bottles. Some people find soy sauce tastes too s alty. In this case, you can look for a light option or supplement it at your discretion. For example, mix soy sauce in equal proportions with mirin (white rice wine) or make ponza - soy sauce with lemon or lime. To prepare it, simply add citrus juice and zest.

Below are recipes on how to make rolls at home, step by step (photo attached). The article shows both the simplest and slightly more complex options.

Original recipes

As mentioned above, the filling for homemade rolls depends on your imagination. There are some varieties of this dish that have become a kind of restaurant classic. One of them is Rainbow. Despite the visual complexity, you can make these rolls at home. Recipe with photo below.

The distinctive feature of this dish is that each piece has its own taste and composition. In the classic version, the roll is cooked with rice on the outside, shrimp and avocado are used as a filling, and slices of salmon, tuna, eel and other fish are laid out on top. The finished roll is decorated with ikura.

How to make a rainbow roll?

How to make rolls at home with rice outside? We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the algorithm of actions:

1. Take a sheet of nori and cut it in half. Place the half on top of the bamboo mat, rough side up. Save the second half of the sheet in a dry place for the next roll.
2. Wet your hands with water and take a ball of prepared rice from the bowl. Put it in the center of the nori sheet.
3. Spread it over the sheet with your fingers to make an even thin layer. There is no need to press down on the rice, just flatten it. Then flip the nori so that the rice is on the bottom.
4. Wash and peel the avocado, then chop. You can use very thick pieces, but the vegetable must be very ripe and soft.
5. Boil shrimp for 3 minutes in s alted water.
6. Spread the avocado slices into a continuous line on the nori sheet.
7. Place shrimp on top or side by side, tail to tail to avoid extra space between them.
8. Pull up the end of the mat with fingers crossed and roll up. Tighten it with your hands from the ends towards the center (to avoid squeezing). Press down on the mat so that it slides over the roll and compresses it, holding all the components together. Unroll carefully.
9. Now you need to place the fish. Prepare wide and thin slices of fish. A very sharp kitchen knife must be used. You should place the fish pieces on top of the roll you just rolled. Try to apply them tightly, but in one layer. If you are using only 2 types of fish, alternate the pieces.
10. Now use the mat to tighten the fish slices on the rice. Press firmly so they don't fall off when you start to cut the roll.
11. Using the same sharp knife, cut the roll into 6 or 8 pieces.

How to decorate?

And how to make rolls at home to make it beautiful?

Ikura (salmon red caviar) is the perfect garnish for this dish, but you can also try black sesame seeds, finely chopped green onions, or whatever you like. You can also drizzle the finished roll with teriyaki sauce, especially if you use eel in cooking.

After studying this recipe, you can easily understand how to make Philadelphia rolls at home. The principle of their preparation is absolutely identical, only cream cheese and cucumber should be put in the filling, and only salmon slices should be put on top.

Classic Japanese tuna rolls

Sushi rolls, or Hosomaki (hosomaki) are very simple but popular sushi in Japan. Due to the simplicity of ingredients and techniquecooking they are very widespread. Hosomaki is made up of one main ingredient and is usually wrapped with nori on the outside. They are commonly served in restaurants and can of course be easily prepared at home. The two most common types of thin rolls are tekkamaki (tuna) and kappamaki (cucumber). The first type uses raw tuna, which is red in color and therefore stands out on white rice.

Hosomaki are much easier to roll than thick rolls, so they are ideal for beginners. You may only need a couple of times to practice cooking and you will get great results. So, you will need:

• 6 cups sushi rice (prepared);
• 4 nori sheets cut in half;
• 120 grams raw sashimi grade tuna.

How to make Japanese rolls at home?

1. Cut the tuna into thin and long strips 5 mm thick.
2. Lay the bamboo mat on your work surface in slats from left to right so you can roll it up and away from you.
3. Place the half sheet of nori on top, next to the front edge of the mat.
4. Spread about 3/4 cup of rice over the surface of the sheet, leaving an uncovered strip of seaweed on the opposite edge.
5. Place the tuna horizontally on the pic.
6. Roll up the bamboo mat by pushing forward to form a roll.
7. Roll from the front end, guiding the mat away from you.
8. Tighten and lightly press down with your hands.
9. Then remove the mat and removeroll.
10. Repeat with the rest of the rice, tuna and seaweed.

Serve immediately with Japanese garnish.

Classic California

California rolls are one of the most popular types of Japanese food and are credited with popularizing sushi around the world. They are usually made with rice on the outside, nori on the inside, which makes them more tender. The filling contains crab meat or its imitation, cucumbers and avocados.

There is some controversy about where California rolls were invented. Most experts believe that they were invented by the chef of the Little Tokyo restaurant in Los Angeles in the 1980s. However, another Canadian chef claims that it was he who named these rolls "California" because of their popularity among the Californian guests of the restaurant. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to make rolls at home of this variety.

Cooking California rolls

You will need a bamboo mat covered with plastic wrap. The twisting technique is not difficult, but it may take a little practice. Once you master this process, you can create any kind of sushi you like. For this Japanese dish you will need:

• 1 avocado;
• 3/4 cup real or imitation crab meat;
• 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise;
• half a teaspoon of table s alt;
• 1 cucumber, peeled;
• 4 nori sheets;
• 6 cups of cooked sushi rice;
• white sesame seeds.

How to cook "California"?

1. Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit.
2. Using the tip of a knife, cut the avocado halves vertically and then again horizontally down the middle.
3. Mash the resulting pieces using a spoon.
4. Tear crab meat into pieces and place in a bowl, mix with mayonnaise and s alt.
5. Cut the cucumber into strips no more than a centimeter thick.
6. Cover the bamboo mat with plastic wrap. Put a sheet of dried seaweed (half) on top of it. Spread 1/4 of the rice all over the sheet. Sprinkle sesame seeds on rice.
7. Using plastic wrap, turn the sheet over so the seaweed is on top.
8. Remove the film and place the avocado, crab meat and cucumber horizontally on the seaweed.
9. Roll up the bamboo mat, pressing the ingredients inside the roll.
10. After rolling, press down on it with your hands, unfold the mat, and then transfer the roll to the board.

Repeat this process with all ingredients. Wipe the knife with a damp cloth, cut each roll into 8 rolls.