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Japanese Recipes: Maki-Zushi (Rolled Sushi)
Maki-zushi should be eaten as soon as possible as Nori soon absorbs moisture and becomes soggy, rather like paper.

There are tree different kind of Maki-Zushi in Japan.

1, Futo-maki: Thick rolled sushi with three or four ingredients is chosen for their complementary taste and color. Sliced into 8 pieces.

2, Chu-maki: middle sized rolled sushi with multiple ingredients. Sliced into 8 pieces.

3, Hoso-maki: Thin rolled sushi with only one ingredient. A sheet of nori is cut in half sideways. Sliced into 6 pieces.

Ingredients

<Gu>-Ingredients: contained in sushi roll Chu-maki

Rice for Sushi need to be a little harder than usual so that it can 　absorb the vinegar dressing without becoming too soft. Measured water should be 10% more water than rice as volume of rice.

　* Short grain rice 2cups　Ideally used “Koshi-Hikari Brand”
　* Water 2cups
　* Sake 2TBS
　* 5cm square kombu(kelp) optional

Kombu(kelp) gives “Umami”(savory) flavor to the rice as it has a natural glutamic acid.

　* Vinegar Dressing for 2cups of rice
　　rice vinegar 5 TBS(100ml)
　　sugar 3 TBS
　　salt 2 tps

　Dragon Roll
　Unagi eel fillets, egg crapes and cucumber

　California Roll
　Flying fish roe, cooked prawn, cucumber and 　avocado

　Fresh tuna Roll
　Sashimi Tuna, avocado and siso leaves

*Choose a firm cucumber as less chance to have lots of seeds. When you make cucumber to thin strip, take off seeds first as prevent soggy sushi roll.

　Garnish: Wasabi, Gari(Pickles ginger),soy sauce

Cooking
1.Make sushi rice -Mix vinegar, salt and sugar. Warm up rice vinegar until sugar and salt completely dissolved. -Remove the cooked rice into a big container, sprinkle mix vinegar dressing over the rice. Mix the rice by cutting across it in a fast slashing motion, then cool it with a fan. Quick cooling gives a glossy texture to the rice. Leave rice covered with damp cloth until cooled to body temperature. 2. To prepare ingredients. Cut all ingredients into long sticks about 0.5cm-1cm wide.
3, Make rolled sushi - Prepare the water in the small bowl next to you. (Put vinegar in the water for taste and hygiene reason) Each time when you touch sushi rice, first dip your fingers to avoid the rice sticking to your fingers.
-Place nori on makisu (thin bamboo mat) with the shining side down.
-Spread out a full of cup of sushi rice on the nori evenly.
-Leave some empty space at the ends.
-Take a dab of wasabi on your finger and wipe from left to right across center of rice.
-Arrange ingredients in the middle of the sushi rice.
-Lifting the nearest end of makisu, fold over rice and ingredients.
-Using the makisu to support the nori, roll the ingredients into a tight cylinder.
-Roll up all the way and lightly press. Place the outer end of the nori should be facing down.
-Leave a while, then cut into 8 pieces. (Wipe off your knife with damp tea-towels regularly when you cut the roll sushi into pieces to help make the edges sharp.)

Hints

1) Garnish: The type of garnish used will depend on the ingredients. Wasabi is good for tuna, salmon, the most of white fish and vegetables. Grated fresh ginger is good for yellowtail and mackerel.

2) Cooked green prawns without curling.
Cut off the heads, and pull out vein. Insert a wet bamboo skewer along green prawn from tail to head without touching flesh. Boil prawn into boiling water with salt and sake until cooked. Quickly soaked prawn in ice water until cold. Drain and carefully to remove skewer.