From katchyakitchen.wordpress.com

Dragon Rolls are really pretty sushi rolls. They usually cost quite a bit if you want to order them at a restaurant because they’re categorized as “specialty rolls” or something like that. In reality, a dragon roll doesn’t contain that much for special ingredients. Here’s a simple recipe to make dragon roll makuzushi.

You will need:

Roasted Eel

Avocado

Cucumber

Sushi Rice

Nori

This roll is going to be rolled up as an thick outside roll. The first few steps are really simple, just like you are rolling up any other outside roll. Spread a thin layer of rice on the nori. Don’t worry about leaving a lip on the top of the seaweed; this an outside roll,  so you’re going to be turning it over. Once you’ve flipped the seaweed, place the eel and cucumber on the bare seaweed and roll it up. You might want to re-roast the eel a little bit, just to warm it up, but it should be already cooked from wherever you purchased it.

The final step for the dragon roll is the avocado topping. A really nice-looking way to put the avocado on is to  cut many thin strips off of a hunk of avocado. spread the strips out so that they are slightly overlapping and you can pick them all up in one go with the flat side of your knife. Lay them along the length of the top of the roll, and then use the bamboo mat to press on the top lightly and shape the avocado into the roll. You can put down a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the roll so that the squishing doesn’t result in avocado being stuck in the bamboo mat. Slice and enjoy!

Image from sushidaddy.com

Inside-Out Spicy Scallop and Crab

(This is a guest post recipe. Thanks to user Rachel who submitted this awesome recipe in the comments section a couple months ago).

This is a twist to the regular spicy scallop recipe you’d find in a Japanese sushi restaurant. If you like crab and tobiko, this recipe is for you. You get the kick of the scallop with the sweetness of the crab. Yum!

Yields: 4 rolls – 32 pieces
Total Rolling Time: about 10 minutes per roll – 40 minutes total
Ingredients:
• 1/3 pound of sashimi grade scallops
• 2 T tobiko (flying fish roe)
• 4 sheets of nori
• 3 – 4 C of sushi rice
• ¾ – 1 C of crab or kani kama (imitation crab)
• 1 avocado
• ½ of a cucumber
• 3 T of toasted sesame seeds (more or less to taste)
• 3 T of spicy mayonnaise (or to taste)
• Soy sauce & pickled ginger to be served for accompaniment

Steps:
1. Rinse, pat dry and dice the scallops into about 1/3 inch pieces.
2. Fold the tobiko and scallops into the spicy mayonnaise. Cover and refrigerate it if you aren’t making the rolls right away.
3. Place the nori shiny side down on the bamboo mat. Moisten your hands and grab about ¾ C of sushi rice. Place the rice in the center of the nori and press down and outwards with the rice, spreading it to the edges (take more rice as needed).
4. Sprinkle the toasted sesame seeds over the rice and then flip it over so the rice is now on the bamboo mat. Try and place the nori closer towards you and closer to the end of the bamboo mat.
5. Slice the cucumber into slivers. Also, cut the avocado length-wise, take out the seed and peel. Cut the avocado into thin slices (try and do this step as close to when you stuff the roll because avocados tend to brown pretty quickly).
6. Off-center and closer towards you, spread ¼ of the spicy scallop mixture across the length of the nori. Lay about ¼ C or a little less of the kani kama across the spicy scallops. Lay ¼ of the cucumber slivers on the crab and ¼ of the avocado on the cucumbers. *If you notice the slices of cucumber and avocado are thick, then you may need to use less of these in your rolls. Otherwise the rolls may be overstuffed and split as you roll them.
7. Lift the mat that is closest to you with your thumbs and with your fingers, place them over the fillings to keep them in place as you roll. Roll the mat over the fillings until it touches straight down on the nori, which encloses the fillings completely. Lift up the edge of the mat with your dominant hand, and hold the roll with your non-dominant, and continue rolling the mat away from you.
8. With the mat still covering the roll, shape it by cupping it down the length of the roll. Uncover the roll and place it on a clean surface for cutting. Dampen your knife and cut the roll into 8 equal bite sizes.
9.Continue with the previous steps for the 3 remaining nori sheets.
Enjoy!

1. Get a really, really sharp knife to cut your sushi with. I can’t stress how important this is. The seaweed, or nori is really tough to cut, and if you use a dull knife, you run the risk of just crushing or squashing the roll while you’re cutting it. Just find the very sharpest knife you can, or order a special sushi-cutting knife from our sushi store and then you’ll be set.

2. Don’t assume any old rice will do. Cause it won’t. For real. If you’re going to cook rice to make sushi, you really need a brand of Japanese short-grained rice. This is different from the long-grained rice that we eat in the West, or the fragrant basmati rice they eat in Southeast Asia. Just get short grained Japanese rice. I like the Nishiki brand, but any will do. If you absolutely can’t find a store selling Japanese short-grained rice, another short-grained rice can substitute, like arborio rice.

3. Don’t spread the rice too thick on the nori. I definitely did this for my first few rolls. The rice should be spread really thinly; you should still be able to see bits of green seaweed here and there.

4. Don’t assume any raw fish will do. Cause it won’t. You can’t go to your local supermarket and pick up a hunk of raw salmon, and expect it to taste like what you eat at the sushi restaurant.  Not only will it not taste as fresh, but it might get you sick! Use sashimi-grade raw fish, and never buy it on a “day-old special”. You want fresh!

5. Eat the ends of your maki rolls as you work. They’ll keep you from keeling over with hungry while you prepare sushi for your friends, and it makes sure that the sushi you present to your friends will always be pretty!

6. Dip the knife in hot water before you start cutting. It does wonders to keep the rice from sticking to the blade.

7. Periodically dip your fingers in water while you are spreading the rice on the seaweed to keep it from sticking to your hands!

8. Don’t be afraid to mix vegetables or fish in a maki roll that you’ve never seen at a restaurant before. Experiment! Have fun!

9. If you don’t have a rice cooker, just bite the bullet and get one. You can make it on the stovetop, and I have a recipe for it on this site, but the rice cooker is just so much easier. Plus, if you get a rice cooker/breadmaker, you could have fresh bread as often as you want.

10. When cutting up a cucumber into strips to use in a recipe, like a California roll, first cut the cucumber in half. Then use a small spoon like a half-teaspoon measure to gouge out the seeds and flesh around them. This keeps the seed-removal process neat and efficient. Eat the seeds. They taste like cucumber, and they’re good for you.

That’s all I can think of for now. Maybe I’ll do a part 2 if I think of more. What are your favorite sushi making tips that you’d like to share with a beginner? Put it in the comments.

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You will need:

Sashimi-Grade Salmon

Sushi Rice

Nori

Avocado, trimmed into 8″ strips

Cucumber, trimmed into 8″ strips

Soy Sauce for Dipping

This recipe couldn’t be any simpler. For those of you familiar with different kinds of sushi, you’ll notice that it looks really similar for the recipe for how to make California Rolls. You would be correct! These recipes are almost identical, except that the cooked imitation crab in the California Roll is swapped out for raw salmon in this roll. That makes it a significant step up for someone just getting their feet wet in the wonderful word of sushi.

First you’re going to spread your rice out on the nori (remember, keep the nori shiny side down) as described in my other maki roll recipes. If you’re rolling it up as a regular roll (rice on the inside, like the picture below), make sure it’s not spread too thickly, so that you can still see little patches of green nori here and there, and make sure you leave a lip on the top for the roll to seal itself. If you are rolling an inside-out roll (rice on the outside, like the pictures above), you can spread the rice a little thicker and don’t have to leave a lip.

Next, you’re just going to lay out your different ingredients on the rice, about 3/4ths of the way down the sheet of nori. Cut the salmon into thin strips of about 8″ in length and put them on the rice. The cucumber and avocado can be added right next to it. If you’re rolling a normal roll, just use the sushi rolling mat to roll it up, cut, and enjoy! If you’re rolling an inside-out roll, you’ll need to flip the nori and rice over and place the ingredients down on the backside inside, and then roll it up, cut, and enjoy. Use a bowl of water nearby to keep your hands damp so that the rice doesn’t stick too much, and use the sushi rolling mat to keep the roll uniform and compact.

Wow it’s been a long time since I’ve posted a sushi recipe! First I was studying abroad, and then I was having such a busy summer- I haven’t had any time to update the site at all! I’m back into it now, though, and I’m excited to be announcing a new feature:

How to Make Sushi is now accepting recipe submissions! Did you make some fantastic sushi and you want to tell the world about it? Take a couple pictures of it and a create a brief write-up and send it to submit@howtomakesushiathome.com and I’ll feature it on the site. Make sure to include your author details and a link to your blog or website too, so I can credit you!

Also, if you have any requests or suggestions for recipes to be featured on the site, send them along to me and I’ll do my best to make them happen. Keep an eye out for your favorite sushi rolls here on the side—->

So while I was home for the winter break, I had the opportunity to buy some fantastic yellowtail tuna. I decided this would be a good opportunity to try making some spicy tuna rolls, which are a regular standby favorite for many at sushi restaurants. They require a little bit more preparation than usual but were still pretty simple to put together.

I know it’s been months since I posted, and I’m sorry for the delay, but college is really time-consuming and I..frankly, got lazy. I made quite a bit of sushi but nothing worth sharing, since it was mostly California Rolls en masse for parties and whatnot.

I have some lovely tuna now though, so I plan to try making spicy tuna rolls very soon, which means I’ll also make Japanese mayo for the first time as well. Yippee!

Anyway, sorry for the long lag between posts (if I actually have any readers). I’ll be posting the instructions for nigiri soon!

Meanwhile, if you want to stay updated for my next posts, consider subscribing for email updates!

This past weekend, my parents came to visit. Now my parents both eat and enjoy fish (in fact, it’s the only meat my father WILL eat) but they were both squeamish about trying raw fish so I figured this would be a good weekend to try some vegetarian sushi. I had some fresh vegetables, but no specific recipe, so I thought I’d just roll them up in the sushi rice and nori and see what happened.