Homemade Sushi : Tuna Rolls! (With Photos!)

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UPDATE: This recipe has been updated and moved to the new Culinary Savant^™ website!
→ http://culinarysavant.com/recipes/sushi-tuna-rolls

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	Homemade Sushi : Tuna Rolls! September 10, 2005	Printable Version

	Here are the ingredients, cost, and recipe for making your own homemade sushi. We'll be making Tuna Rolls here. It's not too hard, and much cheaper than what you'd pay in trendy sushi bars.

Ingredients: 1 small handful of Sushi Rice ¼ of ¼ lb of Tuna ½ sheet Nori		Cost to Make ($1.84 per roll) 11¢ Sushi Rice $1.62 raw Tuna ($25.99 per pound) 11¢ ½ Nori sheet ($2.29 for 10 sheets)

The Basic Tuna Roll Process: Make the rice (a given, eh?) Cut a piece of Nori (seaweed/algae) in two.. Place the ½ nori sheet at the end (toward you) of the mat. Cut the raw sushi-grade tuna against the grain. Spread a small handfull of sushi rice on the nori sheet, leaving a ½ of an inch on either side.. Add the thinly sliced raw tuna in the middle of the rice covered sheet of nori. Roll gently with even pressure. Cut roll in half.. Align the 2 halves and cut twice into 6 even pieces.

Now onto photos of the process! Woo.

The tuna roll is pretty simple. We need only a bamboo rolling mat, some sushi-grade raw tuna (ask your meat guy at the store), some sushi rice, and a knife to cut the rolls with.. I don't own a sushi knife yet, so the trusty chef's knife will have to do..

Note: Never buy sushi meat (of any kind) without first talking to the guy behind the counter, and try not to buy packaged stuff out of the case at your local HEB/Fry's/Kroger/etc.. major chain store..

Sushi meat needs to be fresh, and of sushi quality. I asked my local fish monger at the Whole Foods a mile down the street from me for tuna suitable for sushi, and he gave me some tuna suitable for the task. For this sushi dish we'll be consuming some raw meat, so we want it to be not only safe but of the best quality we can get as well..

You can buy sheets of Nori (dried seaweed (or more accurately dried algae)) in most well stocked stores, even the local chain store down the street in most places.

Cut a sheet of the Nori in 2 pieces. A whole sheet is way more than we need for just 1 roll..

Here we have 2 pieces of Nori ready to make sushi rolls with..

Next we lay out our bamboo mat with the flat side up..

Wet your hands a little and add on some of the sushi rice, leaving ¼ of an inch on each side. And I wouldn't add any more rice that it takes to make the rice ¼ inch high. Any more than ¼ inch high and you probably won't be able to complete the roll and close it..

Note: Place the rough side of the Nori up, and the shiny side down.

Slice off some chunks of the raw tuna against the grain..

Lay the sliced tuna in the middle, or a little toward you, on the sushi rice.

Gently roll with even pressure until the roll is formed..

Remove roll from bamboo mat, place on cutting board, and cut in two pieces..

Then lay each piece beside each other and cut into 3 sections..

Add a small dab of wasabi, some soy sauce, and some chop sticks, and it's ready to eat!

Note: The small can you see near the coffee machine is the "wasabi". You mix it 1 to 1 with some water to make the dough/paste you're used to getting on your sushi platter at a sushi bar. And just like the stuff at your favorite sushi bar this stuff is just mostly horseradish, and contains almost no real wasabi root.

While mixing up the 'wasabi' paste I made the mistake of trying to smell it to see if it was what I was used to.. And yes, it was. My eyes watered for at least 10 minutes after I got away from the stuff.. woo.