Futomaki Large Sushi Rolls

Futomaki Large Sushi Rollls

Are you a sushi lover? If you are, why not try making your own sushi at home? In case the thought hadn't already occurred to you, making sushi rolls yourself will cost you a fraction of the cost of a takeaway or eat in dining (and they'll be fresher and tastier than a takeaway too!) You can eat these rools for lunch or dinner with maybe a bowl of miso soup. Futomaki sushi rolls also make great finger food at a party or other social event.

You probably already know that sushi comes in several types. There are hosomaki (small) sushi rolls, futomaki (large sushi rolls, like the ones I make here, temaki (hand rolled) sushi and even eho (very large) sushi rolls which are a speciality from Osaka. What you might not know is that sushi rolls are really quite easy to make. All you really need is a sushi rolling mat which you can buy quite cheapy (+ / - £ / $ 5) and a sharp knife. The recipe I've devised here doesn't use any specialy ingredients and there is no raw fish involved either. The contents of the roll are shiitake mushroom, seafood sticks, some spring onion and Japanese tamagoyaki sweet omelette (I show you how to make that too.)

If you're interested in how to make this, you can find the recipe below. If you want to take a look at the video tutorial, (and I would recommend you take a look to understand the rolling technique), just click on Futomaki Large Sushi Rolls or scroll down to the bottom of the page. The written recipe is just below.

Happy rolling! Kurumi XXXX.

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ingredients:

2 cups (300g/10oz) Japanese rice

90g / 3oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, clean

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp soy sauce

3 eggs

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp mirin

a sprinkle of salt

a little sunflower oil

8cm / 3inch cucumber

3.5-4 tbsp sushi vinegar

3 sheet of nori

9 seafood sticks

a sushi mat

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how to:

to cook  yourJapanese rice, rinse the rice several times until the water is nearly clear. You can cook Japanese rice either in a large saucepan or a rice cooker.

to prepare the filling start with the mushrooms. remove the ends of the stems then slice the mushrooms. put the slcied mushrooms in a small saucepan.

add the sugar and the soy sauce and cook the mushrooms over a medium heat for a few minutes until the liquid has almost evaporated. set aside.

next, to make a tamagoyaki sweet omelette, break 3 eggs in a jug or bowl. add the sugar, the mirin and a pinch of salt and mix everything well.

heat a little oil into a small frying pan. pour 1/3 of the egg mixture into the pan.  as the omelette forms, pop any little blisters that bubble up in the omelette. wait until the omelette skin has formed on the bottom of the pan, then use a slice to carefully fold the  roll to one side of the pan.

pour in another 1/3 of the egg mixture to the pan and gently lift the cooked egg roll to let the raw egg slide underneath. adjust the heat if the pan is getting too hot.

once the omelette skin has formed, roll your tamagoyaki (egg roll) over a second time to the other side of the pan.

If the pan is getting dry, this is the time to add a little more oil.  add the rest of the egg mixture to the pan and repeat the process. when the tamagoyaki roll is ready,  set  aside on a plate.

now, prepare some cucumber matchsticks.  thinly slice the cucumber longways. remember to discard the middle of the cucumber where the seeds are as you won’t use that part. arrange the slices in a pile and then cut into matchsticks, before setting aside.

next, to make the sushi rice, put your cooked rice into a large bowl. add the sushi vinegar and gently mix together, being careful not to mash the rice as you mix.

now is the time to slice the tamagoyaki into 5 strips longways.

to create your futomaki large sushi roll, place a sushi mat onto your chopping board, place 1 nori sheet, (rough side up) on the mat. one side of the sheet should be slightly longer than the other. place the longer sides at the top and bottom of your mat.

place about 1/3 of sushi rice on the nori sheet. gently smooth out the rice over the sheet, leaving about a 2 cm / 3/4 inch strip at the top of nori without rice.

next, lay 3 seafood sticks in a line about a third of the way up the rice. follow with a strip of tamagoyaki. one strip won’t cover the whole length, so lay another strip of tamagoyaki alongside the first and cut it to size. add 1/3 of the cucumber matchsticks and last, add 1/3 of the shiitake mushrooms over the tamagoyaki egg roll.

now on to the rolling. hold the bottom of the sushi mat with both hands and roll the sheet over the rice and filling. use your index fingers to keep any filling in place if it moves. give the roll a firm squeeze to form the roll. unroll the mat and check the shape of the roll. then, roll once more, giving the roll a last, light squeeze to finish.

use this technique to make 2 more sushi rolls.

to slice your futomaki large sushi rolls, use a sharp kitchen knife dipped in water between slices. (this will prevent the rice from stiicking to the knife as you slice.) first, trim the ends of the futomaki roll, then slice into 8-9 pieces.

plate up and serve with soy sauce.

enjoy your futomaki large sushi rolls!

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Futomaki Large Sushi Rollls