- 150ml (5.1oz) rice wine vinegar (note 1)
- 3⅓ tbsp sugar (note 1)
- 2½ tsp salt (note 1)
- 1.5kg (3.3lb) cooked rice (note 2)
- 800g (1.8lb) fresh sashimi quality fish of your choice
- 6-8 fresh prawns (shrimps), medium size
- ½ avocado sliced into 1cm (⅜”) thick pieces
- 1 cucumber cut into thick matchsticks of 7cm (2¾”) long
- Dashimaki tamago per the recipe , Dashimaki Tamago
- 20 yakinori sheets
- Soy sacue
- Wasabi (Japanese horseradish)
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Mix rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt well until sugar is dissolved.
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When rice is cooked, while it is still very hot, transfer the rice to a large bowl (wooden if possible), then add half of the vinegar mixture to the rice, spreading evenly.
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Using a spatula, mix the rice well to evenly mix the vinegar. Use cutting motion to mix the rice with the spatula and do not break or squash the rice grain.
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Add the remaining vinegar mixture and mix well. Use a handheld fan or thick paper to fan the rice to let the moisture evaporate faster (optional).
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Fish - slice a block of fish fillet into thick matchsticks of about 1.5cm x 1.5cm x 7cm (½” x ½” x 2¾”) or sashimi slices (refer to the recipes Sashimi and Shime Saba).
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Scallops - slice them into two thin rounds but do not detach them completely so that the slices can be opened to make it look like a butterfly.
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Prawns - remove the heads and devein. Starting from the front end of the prawn, insert a toothpick or a short bamboo skewer diagonally downwards towards the tail. Make sure that at least about 1cm (⅜”) of the end of the stick is showing so that you can pull it out later. Boil the prawns for a couple of minutes in the boiling water with a dash of vinegar. Remove the stick and the shell. Cool them down.
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Dashimaki tamago - either slice or cut into thick matchsticks.
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Yakinori sheets - cut into halves or quarters.
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Group each ingredient together and spread evenly so that people can pick each piece up easily.
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Serve with soy sauce and wasabi (Japanese horse radish).
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Place a yakinori sheet on a plate or a bamboo mat.
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Spread a small amount of sushi rice thinly on one side and place ingredients of your choice in the centre of the rice. (note 4)
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Starting from the rice end of the yakinori sheet, roll the sheet to make either a cylinder shape or a cone shape. The secret is not to add too much rice and ingredients onto the yakinori sheet.
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Dip one end of the roll into the soy sauce and bite. (note 4)
1. You could buy sushi vinegar from the supermarket or Asian grocery store instead of making it from scratch. For the required quantity of store-bought sushi vinegar, refer to the instructions on the bottle.
2. You need to use sushi rice, short grain rice or medium grain rice (order of preference). Please refer to How to Cook Rice the Japanese Way but add 2 sheets of 10cm x 10cm (4" x 4") konbu (kelp) when cooking the rice if you can. This will add umami to the rice.
3. The quantity of ingredients is approximate as it all depends on how much people can eat and how much rice vs ingredients people use to make temakizushi.
4. If you prefer, you can spread a small amount of wasabi onto the sashimi before rolling. Alternatively, dissolve wasabi in the dipping soy auce.
5. I did not include flavoured grilled eel, tuna belly and hikiwari nattō (finely chopped fermented soya beans) which are also in the photo because they are not commonly consumed. But if you are interested, you could buy a frozen version of these at Japanese grocery stores. Hikiwari nattō will need to be mixed with finely chopped shallots (scallions).
Pickles are also excluded as they might not be be readily available in your country. But if you happen to have it, by all means, cut them like the cucumber.