Quick sushi maki

Now I do not know if I am qualified to do this recipe. When you consider that it takes years to become a sushi chef and about three or more years to learn how to cook the rice, you kind of get the feeling that I am doing it some massive injustice. But having said that I will carry on any way.  

You will need,

255g/9oz sushi rice

55ml/2floz mirin

5 sheets nori sushi sheets

1 cucumber cut into 5 long pieces

5 spring onions

5tsp wasabi paste 

light soy sauce

Japanese pickled ginger

Now it is all about the rice and that is the main part of this dish. Everything must be really fresh now you can use salmon and tuna but you need really fresh fish. In this recipe I am just using vegetables but get the freshest best vegetables you can get.

First rinse the rice in cold water working it with your fingers , then wash it off and repeat for about four or five times. What you are looking for is the water to be clear and all that starch washed away, or as much as you can.  Drain the rice thoroughly and put into a large saucepan that has a lid that fits nice and tight. Add about  450ml/1pt of water to the pan. Place this on the heat and bring to the boil. Now cover with the lid and let it simmer for about 25 then take of the heat.  It takes a real leap of faith not to look but the best result is not to look or you will let all the steam out and that will affect the final outcome. After you have taken it off the heat let it just stand for about 10 minutes.

Tip the rice onto a large flat clean bowl and add the mirin, then toss the rice in to the mirin gently. You are looking to cool the rice but not over work it. The rice must be sticky bur but not massed together.  

Before you make the sushi have a small bowl of cold water to dip your finger in to stop the rice from sticking. Now if you have a  Japanese bamboo sushi mat  then use that , if not a very dry tea town or just use your fingers. Place a sheet of seaweed on whatever you are going to roll it on. Dip your fingers in the water, then spread the rice over three quarters of the seaweed. Make sure that the rice goes up to edges making it about ½ cm or ¼ in thick.  You need the rice towards you so when you roll it the seaweed will create the outside of the roll.

Now spread a very slight amount of the wasabi in a line a little down the middle of the rice. Then some cucumber and spring onion next to it. Now  roll up the seaweed , in the mat , tea towel or by hand slowly, pressing the roll to from a seal on the end . Then rap the roll in Clingfilm and place it in a cool place  to help set it.

Then take a very sharp, lightly moistened, knife to trim the ends to trim the ends and then cut into about 6 pieces. Arrange them on a plate and serve with pickled ginger and little bowls of soy sauce and some more wasabi .