How to make sushi rolls at home

(Japanese pickled plum and cucumber with shiso leaves hand roll) 梅ときゅうり手巻き

Umeboshi are pickled plums, found in jars in most Japanese homes. My grandparents had an ume (plum) tree in their garden and made their own pickles. I love to use umeboshi in sushi as they have a very sour taste that works well with other ingredients, such as cucumber and aromatic shiso leaves. They are also eaten with rice or as a side dish. As with jam or chutney, everyone has their own family recipes for umeboshi, but you can buy them ready-made at Asian supermarkets and some health-food shops.

Makes: 4 rolls

Ingredients:

a bowl of cold water for your hands
6cm-long piece of cucumber (see below)
4 teaspoons of ume paste, or 4 whole
umeboshi (destoned)
2 sheets of nori
4 small handfuls (roughly 200g) of sushi rice
4 shiso leaves

1. Cut the piece of cucumber lengthways into four and remove the seeds carefully with a spoon or a knife. Cut the sticks lengthways into half again, so that you have eight sticks of cucumber. You will need four sticks for this recipe, so wrap and store the rest in the fridge for 1–2 days to use in other sushi. If you are using whole umeboshi, mash them with the back of a teaspoon.

2. You will be able to see some thin lines on the nori seaweed sheets. Following one of these lines, cut each sheet in half with scissors, but be very careful as the sheets break easily. Place a half-sheet of nori shiny side down on your hand, with a short edge closest to you.

5. Repeat with the remaining nori sheets and filling ingredients.

Tip: Umeboshi can have a very strong acidic and salty flavour, so you might not need to use soy sauce as a dip when you eat your roll.

(Scallops and flying-fish roe with avocado sauce hand roll) 帆立とアボカドソース手巻き

This is my favourite experimental recipe and a great starter! I love the richness and creaminess of the avocado and scallops.

Makes: 4 rolls

Ingredients:

a bowl of cold water for your hands
1–2 fresh, sushi-quality scallops (roughly 30g shelled weight in total)
½ a ripe avocado, destoned
a few drops of lemon juice
¼ teaspoon of wasabi paste
2 teaspoons of Japanese mayonnaise; or 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise, ¼ teaspoon of
English mustard and ½ teaspoon of rice vinegar
a pinch of sea salt
1 tablespoon of tobiko (flying-fish roe), plus extra to garnish
2 sheets of nori
4 small handfuls (roughly 200g) of sushi rice
4 teaspoons of cress

1. Rinse the shelled scallops under cold running water and gently pat dry with paper towels. Slice them very thinly. Peel the avocado, put it into a small bowl and mash it with a fork until it is very smooth. Add the lemon juice, wasabi paste, mayonnaise and salt and mix well, to make the avocado sauce.

2. Add the tobiko and scallops and mix gently. You will be able to see some thin lines on the nori seaweed sheets. Following one of these lines, cut each sheet in half with scissors, but be very careful as the sheets break easily. Place a half-sheet of nori shiny side down on your hand, with a short edge closest to you.

3. Wet the fingers of your other hand in the bowl of water, and shake off any excess. Damp fingers help when handling sticky sushi rice. Pick up a small handful of rice (roughly 50g) and quickly spread it over the bottom half of the nori sheet. It does not have to be spread neatly. Place a quarter of the scallop mix diagonally in the middle of the rice, and top with a teaspoon of cress. You can add some wasabi to the middle of the rice before you add the other ingredients, if you like.

4. Bring the bottom corner of the nori that is closest to you over the filling to meet the rice on the other side, making a triangle. You can then roll the plain side of the nori sheet around it to make a nice ice-cream-cone shape.

5. Repeat with the remaining nori sheets and filling ingredients.

Tips: The scallops for this recipe must be very fresh. If you can find scallops in the shell, ask your fishmonger to remove them from their shells and clean them for you.

You can use cooked prawns instead of scallops.

You can use lumpfish roe or masago (capelin roe) instead of tobiko.

If you are not using the other avocado half straight away, sprinkle lemon juice on the cut surface and wrap it tightly with cling film. It will keep in the fridge for 1–2 days.