Temaki-zushi (手巻き寿司, hand-roll night)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Rice cooker or heavy pot with a tight lid
• •Hangiri sushi rice tub, or a broad shallow wooden or ceramic bowl
• •Rice paddle (shamoji)
• •Sharp knife
• •Dry lidded container or tray for nori

Instructions

1. 1

   Wash the rice

   Put the rice in a bowl, cover with cold water, and stir with your hand. Pour off the cloudy water and repeat until the water is almost clear, then drain well for fifteen minutes. Washing removes loose surface starch, so the cooked grains stay glossy and separate instead of pasty. Wash it twice, wash it thrice. The old jingle is annoying because it's right.

2. 2

   Cook the rice

   Cook the drained rice with the measured water and the konbu, if using. Pull the konbu out before eating, not because it is dangerous, but because its work is done and its texture belongs elsewhere. When the rice is cooked, let it rest covered for ten minutes so the moisture settles evenly through the grains.

3. 3

   Season the rice

   Warm the vinegar, sugar, and salt just until dissolved, then cool slightly. Turn the hot rice into a hangiri, the wide wooden sushi tub, or a broad shallow bowl. Sprinkle the vinegar mixture over it and cut through the rice with a paddle while fanning gently. Cutting folds in the seasoning without crushing the grains, and fanning carries off excess moisture so the rice shines instead of turning wet.

4. 4

   Cool to warm

   Cover the seasoned rice with a damp cloth and let it cool until warm to the touch, not cold and not hot. Hot rice wilts the nori before the first bite; cold rice hardens and loses its fragrance. Warm rice is the middle path, which sounds like philosophy until the seaweed goes limp.

5. 5

   Prepare fillings

   Slice the fish into strips about the width of a finger, using one clean pull of the knife for each cut. Keep raw fish chilled until the table is ready. Cut the cucumber, shiso, sprouts, tamagoyaki, shrimp, and any other fillings into narrow pieces that fit easily inside a cone. Small pieces roll cleanly; large ones force you to overfill.

6. 6

   Set the table

   Arrange the nori in a dry covered container or a lidded tray, and set the rice, fillings, wasabi, sesame, soy sauce, and gari on the table. Keep the nori away from the rice bowl until the moment of rolling. That separation is not fussy manners. It protects the crispness that makes temaki-zushi worth eating.

7. 7

   Roll each cone

   Hold a half sheet of nori shiny side down in your palm, with a corner pointing toward you. Spread a small mound of rice over the left third, leaving the far edge bare. Add a little wasabi if you like, then two or three fillings in a diagonal line. Fold the lower corner over the filling and roll into a cone. The bare edge seals against the rice, and the empty space keeps the cone from splitting.

8. 8

   Eat at once

   Dip the filling end lightly in soy sauce and eat the hand roll immediately. Don't soak the rice side, or the cone collapses and the seasoning turns harsh. Temaki-zushi is made one by one for this reason: crisp nori waits for no one.

Chef Tips

• •Ask the fishmonger plainly what arrived today that they would eat raw. If the answer is uncertain, buy cooked shrimp, crab, tamagoyaki, cucumber, shiso, and simmered shiitake instead. There is no shame in changing the dish to suit what is fresh.
• •Keep the nori sealed until the table is set. If it has softened, wave each sheet briefly over a dry low flame or warm skillet to revive its crackle, but do not brown it.
• •Do not pack the hand roll. A little rice and two or three fillings are enough. The cone should close easily in your hand, with the nori still crisp at the first bite.
• •For a meatless table, use cucumber, shiso, takuan, natto, avocado if you like, tamagoyaki if eggs are welcome, and shiitake simmered in konbu and dried shiitake dashi with soy and mirin. That is honmono, not a consolation prize.
• •Gari is eaten between rolls, not stuffed into every cone. It clears the mouth so the next filling tastes like itself.

Advance Preparation

• •Cook and season the rice up to one hour before serving. Keep it covered with a damp cloth at room temperature; refrigeration hardens sushi rice.
• •Fillings can be cut two to four hours ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Keep raw fish especially cold and bring it out only when the table is ready.
• •Nori should be cut and kept sealed in a dry container until serving. Moisture is its enemy.
• •Simmered shiitake, tamagoyaki, and cut vegetables can be prepared earlier in the day, which makes the actual meal little more than setting the table.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 360g)