Sake Maki Rolls (Salmon Maki) at Home

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   Gather the ingredients and equipment for making the rolls. You'll need a bamboo rolling mat and plastic wrap. Be sure to buy Japanese short-grain rice, or special sushi rice. Long-grain and parboiled rice absolutely won't work — because they're low in starch, they don't have the stickiness you need, and the dish will just fall apart. For the seasoning, you must use rice vinegar specifically.

2. Step 2:

   

   Pour the rice into a bowl, add cold running water, and gently rinse the rice so as not to damage the grains. Drain the cloudy water and add fresh cold running water again. Wash the rice at least 4 times, until the water runs clear. Drain the rinsed rice in a colander and let it sit for 10 minutes so all the excess water runs off.

3. Step 3:

   

   Put the rice in a pot, cover it with water, and set it over the heat. It's very important to keep the rice-to-water ratio at 1:1. When the water boils, cover the pot with a clear lid, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 15 minutes. By then all the water should have evaporated. Don't open the lid while it cooks — that's why a clear lid is best, so you can watch the process.

4. Step 4:

   

   After that time, take the pot off the heat and let the rice steam, covered, for another 10 minutes. Don't open the lid — the rice needs to finish cooking through.

5. Step 5:

   

   Meanwhile, make the seasoning. Pour the rice vinegar into a small saucepan and add the sugar and salt. Set it over low heat and stir to dissolve the dry ingredients. As soon as the sugar and salt have dissolved, take it off the heat right away. The seasoning must never boil, so don't make it over high heat.

6. Step 6:

   

   Transfer the cooked rice to a wooden bowl wiped with a damp towel, so the rice doesn't stick to it. Ideally you'd use a special cypress hangiri tub, but I don't have one, so I used what I had. Wooden vessels prevent any reaction with the rice vinegar and also absorb the rice's excess moisture as you mix it.

7. Step 7:

   

   Take a wooden paddle and hold it over the rice. Pour the vinegar seasoning onto the paddle so it spreads gently over the rice. With sweeping motions, separate the rice and fold it through carefully, taking care not to crush the grains. Cover it with a clean damp towel and let the rice cool. Once it's cool, you can start shaping the sushi and rolls.

8. Step 8:

   

   Prepare some water for wetting your hands. In a small container, mix rice vinegar and water at a 1:3 ratio. Wetting your hands in this solution makes it easier to handle the rice. Use filtered water, since it goes directly into the food without any further cooking.

9. Step 9:

   

   Prepare the mat by wrapping it several times in plastic wrap. Sake maki are small in diameter, so cut the nori sheet in half. If you don't, the rolls come out shaped like a "snail." Lay half a nori sheet on the prepared mat, glossy side down. Wet your hands in the solution, take 70 g of cooked rice, and spread it evenly over the nori, leaving 1 cm bare at the top.

10. Step 10:

    

    Skin and bone the lightly salted fish and cut it into small, oblong strips. You'll need about 15 g of salmon per nori sheet. Lay the salmon strips down the center of the rice. Using the mat to help, start rolling the roll away from you. The bare edge of the nori will wrap around and stick to the roll. Use the mat to give the roll a round shape.

11. Step 11:

    

    Transfer the finished roll to a board and, wetting the knife in the solution, first trim the ends, then cut the roll in half. Put the two halves together and cut in half again, then cut each half once more. You should get 8 pieces. Your 8 little rolls are ready. Serve the finished sake maki with wasabi, pickled ginger, and soy sauce. Be sure to wet the knife — that keeps the rice from sticking to it and from squashing the rolls out of shape.