Temaki Hand Rolls

Ingredients

• •2 cups Japanese short-grain sushi rice, uncooked
• •1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
• •2 tablespoons white sugar
• •1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• •8 oz salmon, tuna or yellowtail, sold for raw consumption, skin removed (see step 1)
• •1 ripe avocado, pitted and sliced into thin strips
• •1/2 medium English cucumber, julienned
• •8 sheets nori seaweed, halved crosswise into 16 half-sheets
• •2 tablespoons soy sauce, for serving
• •1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. 1Buy your fish from a fishmonger or fish counter that sells it explicitly for raw consumption, and ask the fishmonger directly to confirm it was commercially frozen for parasite destruction before arriving at the shop. Fresh, never-frozen fish is NOT a safe substitute no matter how good it looks or smells. Note that the term 'sushi-grade' has no legal definition and is a marketing phrase only — what matters is confirmed prior commercial freezing. Keep the fish refrigerated at all times until the moment you slice it, and plan to eat it the same day you buy it.
2. 2Rinse 2 cups of sushi rice in cold water, changing the water until it runs nearly clear. Cook the rice according to your rice cooker instructions or on the stovetop: combine with 2 1/4 cups cold water in a saucepan, bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to the lowest heat, cover tightly, and cook until all water is absorbed. Remove from heat and let steam, covered and undisturbed, for 10 minutes.
3. 3While the rice steams, combine the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring just until the sugar and salt dissolve. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
4. 4Turn the cooked rice out into a large, wide non-metallic bowl. Drizzle the cooled vinegar mixture evenly over the rice and fold it in gently with a rice paddle or flat spatula using a slicing motion — do not stir or mash. Fan the rice as you fold to help it cool to body temperature. The rice is ready when it is glossy, seasoned, and no longer steaming.
5. 5Pat the raw fish dry with paper towels and slice it against the grain into strips roughly 1/2 inch wide and 3 inches long. Keep the sliced fish on a cold plate or over a small tray of ice while you set up the table.
6. 6Arrange all components on the table: the seasoned rice in its bowl, the fish, avocado slices, cucumber sticks, sesame seeds, halved nori sheets, and individual dipping bowls of soy sauce.
7. 7To form each temaki, hold a half-sheet of nori shiny-side down in your non-dominant hand. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of rice onto the left third of the nori and spread it in a thin layer. Lay one or two strips of fish and a few pieces of avocado and cucumber diagonally across the rice. Roll the bottom-left corner up and over the filling, then continue rolling into a cone. Eat immediately — the nori softens within minutes and losing that crispness defeats the entire purpose of the temaki format.

💡 For the fish to be safe to eat raw, the supplier must have commercially frozen it to approximately -20°C (-4°F) for seven days, or to -35°C (-31°F) for fifteen hours — these are the parasite-destruction standards; confirm this was done before you buy.

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