Sushi, sushi, Sushi Hand roll!
Oh my god I love a Sushi Hand roll! I’m not even playin’. I honestly don’t remember the very first time it was really introduced in my life, but I do know for certain that it wasn’t something I grew up with. I didn’t try Sushi until I was a grown man. I’d even go a step further and say that I might have even been a grown drunk man. This was late night food for me when I had the munchies. At least that’s how I remember it. In my mid twenties I picked up some work that was paying a lot of money; a lot of money for me anyway. Plus I was single, and I was traveling to different jobs all the time, so I got to meet a ton of new faces that helped me pay out my ass with a ton of fresh experiences. One of my favorites was a club in Denver called, “The Church”!
The Church was an old Cathedral, Roman Catholic style building that was turned into the hottest club in town. Oh yeah, not to mention Sushi. Crazy Right? I’m telling you, nothing was a bigger surprise to me than to find a small Sushi bar in the very back of a 3 level floor, wall to wall, shoulder to shoulder college fest of drunken dancers. However, in the condition I was in at 1:00 in the morning, NOTHING could’ve made me happier either.
If you don’t know by now, there are all forms of Sushi Rolls, and these days, every bar out there pretty much makes up their own rolls. Sure there are many traditional’s with the same basic ingredients, but there always seems to be a little tweak here and there in the way they’re prepared. I never have the same roll made exactly the same at different restaurants. But one thing I have found, is that any true not in it for the hype Sushi lover, will order Sushi Hand Rolls. So breaking it down simply, I’ve chosen the Spicy Tuna Hand Roll to demonstrate how easy this can be for you to do on your own at home.
Sushi Ingredients
1 Ahi Tuna Steak
1 cup Sushi Rice
1 Green Onion (chopped scallions)
1/4 Sliced Cucumber
1/4 cup Mayo
1 tsp Sriracha (rooster sauce)
6 Half Sheets of Nori (seaweed)
Spicy Mayo Mix is just combining the Mayonnaise and Sriracha rooster sauce.
All good Sushi boils down to proper preparation of the rice. It is said that most chefs wash rice for months and sometimes years before they are ever trained to cut and roll sushi. The rice must be properly rinsed and washed, soaked, then brought to a boil, reduced to a simmer for twenty minutes, cooled, then mixed with salt, sugar and rice vinegar. The mixture and recipe for perfect Sushi rice can be found all over the web if you want a professional opinion from a Sushi Chef. Just know that if you decide to skip this step, or even purchase the wrong rice, the flavor of your rolls will MOST DEFINITELY suffer.
Sushi Hand Roll Instructions
1) Lay down the Nori smooth side down, texture side up, length wise left to right.
2) Wet your hands with water and grab 1/3 cup of Sushi rice.
3) Place the rice in the center of the left hand side of the Nori and press diagonally from the top corner until the rice is 3/8″ thick.
4) Make a Diagonal indention in the rice by pressing your index finger in the center of the rice, then garnish with cucumber.
5) Then spread one heaping tbs of spicy tuna over the cucumber leaving the bulk towards the top left corner.
6) Using two hands, pull the Nori to the edge of the table with the right hand, then use your left hand to catch the rice side.
7) With your right hand, roll the rice side first starting with the bottom corner of the Nori, rolling over the rice in a funnel like fashion. Make sure that the bottom of the roll goes to a point as you turn the roll in your left hand, leaving the top exposed like an ice cream cone. Continue all the way around until you reach the last corner from the end of the Nori. Stop there and place one or two pieces of rice on the corner and close the remaining Nori to the roll by sticking the rice corner to the cone.
8) Top off the Spicy Tuna with Scallions and Tempura crumbs if you’ve got them. Enjoy your Sushi Hand Roll and be sure to check out my Yakitori Chicken!