For a quick fix of Japanese without hitting the sushi bar, leave the bamboo-mat method to the skilled sushi chef and master the simple art of the hand roll
Maximise taste
The best rolls have both texture and colour. Choose from smoked salmon, prawns, cucumbers or avocado. Select or cut your ingredients to equal size and shape so they’ll fit into the hand roll.
Size the sheets
Nori, the seaweed that holds sushi together, comes in sheets. Using scissors, cut each sheet into quarters to yield a more manageable size for the rolls
Arrange artfully
Place the nori sheet on your palm (shiny side down) so it’s in a diamond shape. With your other hand, take a thumb-sized amount of sushi rice and press it into the middle of the sheet, from the top of the diamond to the bottom. Line your ingredients on top.
Roll it into a cone
Slowly close the hand you’re using to hold the nori to bring both outside flaps of the sheet together, sliding one beneath the other. (Put a grain of rice between the flaps to hold the roll together.) Dip the open end of the roll into soy sauce. Consume.
* Source: Emi Kazuko, author of New Sushi: From Rainbow Rolls to Seared Swordfish Sashimi
