the little stone

12 salmon rolls for under $30?? Sounds too good to be true, but it totally is true if you make your rolls at home!

The trick is to get the sashimi from a Korean supermarket. I bought .81 lbs of salmon for $13.76.

This could’ve made 12 rolls!! (I only made 11.) This is the price you’d pay for 2-3 rolls!

Here are the ingredients I used:

• Salmon sahimi
• Japanese white medium or short-grained rice (2.5 cups dry gave me about 5.5 cups cooked)
• Nori (11 sheets)
• Brown rice vinegar (1-1.5 tbsp for the 5.5 cups of cooked rice)
• Salt (1 tbsp for the 5.5 cups of cooked rice)
• Cucumber
• Avocado

Here are the materials you’ll need:

• Big bowl for mixing rice
• Small bowl for mixing some of the salmon with sauce
• Saran wrap
• Cutting board and knife
• Sushi rolling mat
• Potato peeler to peel cucumber
• Small cup of water to seal rolls

OPTIONAL ingredients:

• Sesame oil
  • (0.5 tbsp for 5.5 cups of cooked rice)
• Sauce for spicy salmon roll
  • Siracha (2 tbsp for about 15-20 small strips of salmon)
  • Mayo (0.5 tbsp for about 15-20 small trips of salmon)

Directions:

1. Cook the rice. Make sure to follow the proportions for uncooked rice and water! Maki rolls can become ruined if the rice is too wet.

2. Cut thin slices of avocado and cucumber as rice cooks. Remember to peel the skin off of the cucumber.

3. Cut the sashimi against the grain. Determine the length of each slice by the size of your nori. The thickness of each slice should be about 1/4 of an inch. For spicy salmon rolls, I divide these slices into thirds.

4. In a small bowl, take the slices divided into thirds and mix it with the Siracha (2 tbsp for about 15-20 small strips of salmon) and mayo (0.5 tbsp for about 15-20 small strips of salmon).

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5. Keep prepped avocado, cucumber, and sashimi wrapped in the fridge until you’re ready to make the rolls.

6. Once the rice cooks, take a wooden spoon or rice paddle and guide it down the edges of the rice against the pot. Fold the rice towards the center so you’re not stirring or smushing the cooked grains.

7. Then, transfer the rice to a big bowl.

8. Add the brown rice vinegar (1-1.5 tbsp for the 5.5 cups of cooked rice).

9. Add the salt (1 tbsp for the 5.5 cups of cooked rice).

10. Then, you can add the optional sesame oil (0.5 tbsp for 5.5 cups of cooked rice).

11. Carry out the same folding action with your wooden spoon or rice paddle to mix the brown rice vinegar, salt, and sesame oil into the rice. Again, you don’t want the rice to become wet, nor do you want to mash the rice!

12. Let the mixed rice cool to room temperature.

13. Once the rice is cooled, set up your rolling station!

• Place the sushi rolling mat on top of the cutting board. Make sure the cutting board is dry and wiped off.
• Place one piece of nori on top of the rolling mat.
• Scoop about 1/2 cup of rice onto the nori and spread it out as shown below.
• There should be a about 0.5 inches on the bottom and sides. The top should have about an inch.

14. Place sashimi, cucumber, and avocado along the most bottom edge of the rice.

15. For the first roll, make sure all of the ingredients are contained in that first roll. You might have use your fingers to keep everything in. The picture below shows me rolling with only one hand, but it was just because I had to take the picture. You need two hands to roll!

16. Once you complete the first roll, uncurl the rolling mat slightly, push the roll forward a bit, then wrap the mat tightly around this second roll, and pull the roll towards you. Repeat this process until you just the see the nori at the end.

17. Right before you finish rolling, you should see a little bit of nori at the end. At this point, dip your fingers in the water and dab it on the edge of the nori to seal the roll.

18. Cut the roll into pieces and enjoy!

As always, I’ll leave you with a song. Given that there was a sea of salmon on my plate this past weekend and that I really miss Miami, I’ll leave you with a song my friend introduced me to called “Waves” by Mr. Probz.

Hopefully I encouraged you guys to try making your own maki rolls! Remember to let me know when you do :0)