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When my family gather together, we always have Temakizushi. It had been 3 years since the last time I went back to Japan and this year was a a special occasion for my daughter’s “Seijinshiki” (coming of age ceremony). My little sister’s family also came back to my parent’s town to see us. My parents’ usually quiet house became lively and loud instantly. My mom asked me what we should have for lunch when my sister’s family were coming over and without any hesitation, I said how about Temaki? (shortened word for Temakizushi)
Temakizushi is a very literal Japanese word. Te is hand and maki is roll so, therefore, “hand roll sushi” is the meaning. It is a great party food because a host can prepare the sushi rice and all the fillings beforehand and everyone can enjoy to make their own hand roll sushi with the fillings they like. So my mom and I went to a local supermarket to get ingredients that everyone would eat. We bought tuna and squid for my father, a can of tuna and salmon roe for my children, sweet shrimps for my sister’s family, and shiso leaves for myself, and veggies like cucumber for everyone. And of course, my mom will eat anything. These fillings are suggestions only, you can have anything you like really.
It is fun to roll your own sushi but also the preparation is fun too. Everyone has a job. My son cut the nori sheets to smaller pieces and stacked them in mugs. My mom made the sushi rice. My dad sliced the tuna and squid. My daughter opened the tinned tuna and mixed it with mayonnaise, and I set the table. My little sister’s family was kind of guests so they did not get Temakizushi prep work, but my brother in law carried some extra chairs into the kitchen from my dad’s shed.
My parent’s usually quiet kitchen was filled with family, laughter, and delicious Temakizushi that we prepared together. It was great to see my little sister’s family and share this lovely Temakizushi lunch with them.
There are no rules on how it should be rolled and no skill required. But you may need a little bit of chopstick skills. Just grab a small nori sheet and spread the sushi rice thinly, then place the fillings you like, then roll in anyway you like. My children love the salmon roe, so they just keep rolling salmon roe only like the photo below. You don’t even have to roll, you can just fold them in half and dip in soy sauce.
Hope you enjoy Temakizushi ! Oh, I just remembered, we did not have wasabi, but wasabi would give temakizushi great flavour kick.
Ingredients
- 3 cups of uncooked rice
- 1 x 10cm Konbu strips or 1tsp Konbu dashi powder
- ½ cup Rice vinegar
- 1 & ½ tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 150 g Sashimi grade tuna
- 150 g Sashimi grade squid
- 150 g Sashimi grade octopus
- a small jar of Salmon roe
- 4 eggs
- 20 Shiso Leaves
- 1 x 250g tin tuna
- 1 tbs mayonnaise
- 1 small cucumber
- 20 Nori sheets cut into smaller pieces I cut one sheet into 6
- Wasabi optional
- Soy sauce and mayonnaise for dipping
Instructions
- Cook the sushi rice as per your rice cooker instructions or in a pot. Before adding the water to cook the rice, mix in the dashi powder then pour over the rice or add a konbu strip. (making perfect sushi rice)
- While the rice is cooking, in a small pot, heat the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt together to make the sushi vinegar on medium heat until the sugar dissolves.
- Break eggs into a small bowl and pour into a frying pan over medium heat. Cook for about a couple minute and flip it over. Turn the heat off and take it out on to a chopping board to cut into small size rectangle sheets.
- Slice tuna, squid and octopus into thin strips.
- Cut the cucumber thinly.
- Plate all the fillings on one big serving dish or if you have lazy susan type thing like we used in the photo.
- Once the rice is cooked, (remove the konbu strip if you used konbu strip) pour the sushi vinegar over it and mix to flavour the rice while fanning it to cool down the rice.
- Serve the sushi rice, serving dish with the fillings on the table. Self roll the sushi.
Nutrition
Kimberley Anderson says
Love that serving dish. What’s it called or where’s it from? This all looks amazing!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Kimberley Thank you. The serving dish is my mothers’ in Japan. They are called “Hors D ‘oeuvres Plate Rotating Hors D ‘oeuvres Pottery Koimari”. You can get them in Japan or online
オードブル皿 回転オードブル 陶器 古伊万里 尺二 和食器 美濃焼
pablo says
so creative and good for sharing meal
Chopstick Chronicles says
yes it’s perfect to share 😀 thank you
Wei @ Red House Spice says
Hi Shihoko! Found you site through FBC group. Love your blog. So elegant. I’m a big fan of Japanese cuisine and would love to discover more. Thanks for sharing!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Wei 😀 Welcome to Chopstick Chronicles! Thank you for visiting, hope you found something you would love to try 😀