Sushi is always a fun theme for hosting party at home. There are many kinds of sushi, maki, nigiri, sashimi and hand rolls. I teach sushi workshops at several cooking schools in the Boston area, including Cambridge School of Culinary Arts, Create A Cook, Culinary Underground and Brookline Adult & Community Education. Among all different kind of sushi that I make in these classes and at home, my favorite sushi is Temaki Sushi (Hand Roll) 手巻き寿司.
I love Temaki Sushi because it doesn't require a lot of equipment, such as bamboo mats or moulds. Plus, you can be creative with the fillings of your Temaki Sushi (Hand Roll) 手巻き寿司. If you're a vegetarian, you can use different kind of vegetables, such as carrots, cucumber, red bell peppers, yellow bell peppers and asparagus. The more color the better. It's not only visually pleasing, but it is also better for your health. Different color of food means different vitamins.
If you're a meat lover, you can grill some teriyaki chicken or ginger soy sauce pork. I love seafood, so I wanted to give you my favorite recipe to make a salmon cucumber hand roll! Let's go through the steps of making hand rolls, and you will realize making hand roll is so easy.
When I think about create a dish, first I think about the season. Even though it's fall now, thus far the weather has been mild. So, I think it's wonderful to have some refreshing cucumber. I also think about the mouth feel. Salmon is soft and fatty. Cucumber is crunchy and refreshing. So, they will go well together.
Plus, you can't forget considerations about the color. Salmon is orange, rice is white, seaweed (Nori) is black so it will look colorful. I will also use some Ikura (Japanese Salmon Caviar) to garnish the Temaki Sushi (Hand Roll) 手巻き寿司. The Ikura has a lot of Umami. It will make the flavor profile very interesting.
When I go to purchase seafood either my clients or myself, I think about a few things before choosing a fish source. How can I source it locally? What sources provide the freshest options? This is how I found Quarterdeck Seafoods in Maynard, MA.
Quarterdeck Seafoods is a fresh fish market located just west of Boston that you must check out and explore. The owner, Chris Basile, picks up fresh fish daily from the historic Boston Fish Pier. What's in stock may vary depending on the day's catch. So, make sure to call ahead to ensure your desired fish is available. While they stock a lot of the common fish, they do their best to continue bringing in unique fish for our more adventurous customers. So, they will also fill custom orders for anything they don't carry, so don't hesitate to call in ahead of time!
When you create a sushi dish, it is very important to handle the ingredients with not too much spice and seasoning. It's important to taste the intrinsic flavor of the fish. You can use some Japanese mayo and mix it with Sriracha sauce. But, don't over do it! Here's an important tip: the key for success is to cook and flavor the rice right. Then, you already 80~90% to success. After that, you just need to learn the skill set to make the Temaki. It's that simple - and that's where my expertise comes into play! Let me teach you the skill set that you need to take your sushi-making to the next level.
For Salmon Cucumber Temaki
- ½ cup sushi rice
- 1 sheet nori seaweed
- ½ cup fillings
For the Filling
- Sashimi grade fish of your choice salmon, tuna, Ikura, spicy tuna etc
- Persian/Japanese cucumbers
- Shiso leaves
- white sesame seeds roasted/toasted
Slice the raw fish into long sticks
Cup cucumber into long sticks
Cut nori in half.
put a thin layer of rice on left third of nori.
Place fillings (shiso leaf, cucumber and raw salmon) vertically across middle of middle of the rice.
Fold the bottom left corner of nori over and begin folding into cone shape.
Keep rolling until cone is formed. Put a piece of rice at the bottom right corner to use as glue and close tightly. Continue with the other half of the nori.
Top the hand roll with Ikura. Serve with pickled ginger, wasabi, and soy sauce as condiments.
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time15 mins
- 2 Cups Sushi rice
- ½ C sushi vinegar add Konbu for the umami flavor
To Cook Rice
Place rice in a fine sieve and place the sieve in a bowl of water. Rise thoroughly changing the water in the bowl at least 3 times until the water runs completely clean when you remove the sieve from the bowl. Drain well.
Place rice and water into the rice cooker, turn it on, and wait for rice to cook. Proceed to the Finishing Rice Section.
To Flavor Rice
Allow rice to rest for 20 mins
Invert rice into a large wooden bowl.
Fold the vinegar into rice with a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon. Use a cutting and folding motion when stirring rice to avoid squashing the rice grains and releasing their starch. Taste the rice. It should have a pleasantly sweet-acidic edge. If necessary, fold in more vinegar mixture.
Wet a dish towel and cover the rice. Let it rest for 20 mins to develop flavor.
Join Our Community at Patreon
Perks for Friends of Food Patrons only:
Friends of Food is a digital members-only community designed to empower and connect food folks alike.
- Invitation to private community & food folk directory
- Access to a highly vetted network of Chefs
- One hour Zoom cooking lesson once a month
- Cookbook club + happy hour once a month
- 30 mins cooking consultation
- E-mail us your cooking questions and we will get back to you with our best answer within a week.
- Shoutout
- Polls (Help us choose a topic for an upcoming video + more!)
- Behind-the-scenes / Bloopers
- Exclusive perks from brand partners
Like!! I blog quite often and I genuinely thank you for your information. The article has truly peaked my interest.
Thanks so much 🙂
Good morning, I’m doing related to your post and I have few questions to you. Where did you find informations for your blog post? In papers, maybe in rags or books, or just randomly on the Web? Please respond :).
I’ve been to those shops in person, and I know the owner of Quaterdeck Seafood in person. And yes, I do study cook books or read magazines to find inspiration 🙂