Philadelphia Rolls with Salmon at Home

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make Philadelphia rolls with salmon? Gather the ingredients you'll need. Use round rice made specially for sushi rolls. Try to get cucumbers that are fresh, crisp, and tender-skinned. For the salmon or other red fish, use lightly salted — or, if you're up for it, raw.

2. Step 2:

   

   For sushi, you need to cook the rice properly — any round rice will do. Rinse it thoroughly, rubbing the grains between your fingers, changing the water 5 times until it runs clear. This is a very important step!

3. Step 3:

   

   Cover the rinsed rice with clean water and set it over high heat, bringing it to a boil. The water-to-rice ratio here is 1:1.25.

4. Step 4:

   

   Once it boils, reduce the heat to its lowest setting and cook the rice for 15 minutes — don't lift the lid and don't stir.

5. Step 5:

   

   Meanwhile, make the rice seasoning: add the salt and sugar to the rice vinegar and stir well.

6. Step 6:

   

   The seasoning is ready!

7. Step 7:

   

   You can go ahead and peel and cut the cucumber into strips now. If the cucumber has a tender skin, you can leave it on. The crisper the cucumber, the better.

8. Step 8:

   

   Take the rice off the heat and let it sit, covered, for another 10 minutes.

9. Step 9:

   

   Drizzle the seasoning over the rice and mix it through, ideally with a wooden spatula.

10. Step 10:

    

    Let the rice cool a little, and our perfect sushi rice is ready!

11. Step 11:

    

    Cut the nori sheet in half. Wrap your rolling mat in plastic wrap, or just lay a clean bag over it.

12. Step 12:

    

    Moisten your hands with water and spread a thin layer of the cooked rice over the rough side of the nori sheet.

13. Step 13:

    

    Using the mat, gently flip the nori sheet over so the rice is facing down.

14. Step 14:

    

    Spread soft cheese down the center of the sheet — ideally Philadelphia, of course, but you can use another, more affordable cream cheese.

15. Step 15:

    

    Lay cucumber strips on top of the cheese. If you like, you can add avocado as well.

16. Step 16:

    

    Using the mat, gently roll up the roll.

17. Step 17:

    

    Slice the salmon thinly and lay it on the mat in front of the roll. This, I have to tell you, turned out to be the tricky part. The fish needs to be very high quality; it's better if you salt it yourself, so you know exactly what it's made of. And it's easier to slice thinly if the fish is slightly frozen.

18. Step 18:

    

    Using the same mat, roll it up so the roll is wrapped in a layer of red fish. With a knife dipped in water, carefully cut the Philadelphia roll into 6–8 pieces.

19. Step 19:

    

    Serve the rolls with soy sauce, sprinkled with sesame seeds. Enjoy!