Temaki Sushi (Hand Rolls)
Properly seasoned sushi rice rolled in toasted nori with sashimi, cucumber, and avocado — DIY at the table.
Ingredients
- 400 g Japanese short-grain rice
- 60 ml Rice vinegar
- 30 g Sugar
- 10 g Salt
- 10 sheet Nori sheets
- 300 g Sashimi-grade tuna
- 1 Cucumber
- 1 Avocado
- 100 ml Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu)
- 200 g Salmon fillet (optional)
- 2 tbsp Wasabi paste (optional)
- 6 leaves Shiso (perilla) leaves (optional)
Method
- Rinse the rice in cold water until it runs nearly clear. Drain.
- Soak the rinsed rice in fresh cold water for 30 minutes.
- Combine the rice with the same volume of fresh water in a heavy saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil.
- Drop the heat to its lowest setting and cook 12 minutes. Don't lift the lid.
- Pull the pot off the heat. Rest 10 minutes, lid on.
- Awasezu (the seasoned vinegar mix for sushi rice): whisk rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small bowl until dissolved (warm gently if needed).
- Tip the hot rice into a wide non-metallic tray. Drizzle the awasezu over, then FOLD with a cut-and-toss motion (NEVER mash) while fanning to cool to body temp and glaze.
- Slice the tuna and salmon against the grain at a 30° angle into 1 cm thick strips. Cut the cucumber into matchsticks. Slice the avocado into thin strips.
- Halve the nori sheets crosswise — each makes one hand roll. Lay on a board.
- Arrange rice, nori, fish, cucumber, avocado, shiso, wasabi, and soy on the table. Each diner takes a nori half, smears a small dab of rice on one side, tops with fillings, rolls into a cone, dips in soy.
Tap “Start cooking” for live timers that flag what to get ahead on while something simmers.
About Temaki Sushi (Hand Rolls)
Temaki are Japanese hand rolls, cones of crisp toasted nori filled with seasoned sushi rice and fresh ingredients, and they are as much a way of eating as a recipe. Unlike neat maki, temaki are assembled and eaten right away so the nori stays shatteringly crisp, which makes them a natural for a relaxed, do-it-yourself meal where everyone rolls their own at the table. This version treats the rice with the seriousness it deserves, rinsing and soaking the grains, cooking them undisturbed, then folding through awasezu, the seasoned vinegar mixture that gives sushi rice its glossy, faintly sweet-and-sour character.
The pleasure is in the contrast of textures and temperatures: cool vinegared rice, cold slices of sashimi-grade tuna and salmon, crisp cucumber, and creamy avocado, all wrapped in warm toasted nori with a dab of wasabi and a leaf of shiso. Served as a communal main, temaki turn dinner into an interactive spread that scales easily for a group. The care here is all in the rice, since properly cut-and-folded, correctly seasoned rice is the difference between a hand roll that tastes like a restaurant's and one that falls flat.
Temaki Sushi (Hand Rolls): frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Temaki Sushi (Hand Rolls)?
A serving has about 692 calories — 38.3g protein, 94.6g carbs, 16.7g fat, 3.2g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is it high in protein?
Each serving has about 38.3g of protein, roughly 22% of its calories.
Is Temaki Sushi (Hand Rolls) gluten-free?
As written, no — it contains Japanese soy sauce (koikuchi shoyu). You'd need a certified gluten-free swap for that ingredient to make it gluten-free.
How long does Temaki Sushi (Hand Rolls) take to make?
About 65 minutes start to finish, but only around 21 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
Do I need every ingredient to make Temaki Sushi (Hand Rolls)?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out salmon fillet, wasabi paste, shiso (perilla) leaves — they're optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Temaki Sushi (Hand Rolls) make?
This recipe makes 4 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.