Home made sushi rolls (packed lunch)

June 6, 2014

I’m really into prepping these Japanese snacks these days. Made some homemade sushi rolls for work. It’s really basic stuff, mostly prepackaged items, but it just looks so pretty.

I can still remember the days I would make packed lunches for my little sisters (not so little anymore!) for school. Wonder if anyone was as impressed as my co-workers when they saw these pre-packed boxes.

Sushi rolls are great, you can serve it cold, or room temperature, and it is just so pretty. It can be made with sheets of seaweed, filled with rice and various fillings, depending on what you have in your kitchen that day.

Picked up a few different types of seasoning from the Asian grocery store in the city. Personal favourite is the salmon flakes with seaweed. Black sesame is a good healthy choice. I tend to pick them based on the colours. Good to create food with a multitude of colours, it’s attractive, and exciting to eat. I would be fine eating a box of rice with seasoning itself, but I highly doubt that’s healthy. [In Singapore, it is available from Meidi-ya Supermarket]

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First we start prepping the egg crepe sheets. 2 eggs, a sprinkle of sugar and a splash of soy sauce. Whisk it all up! Make sure they are well incorporated. When putting sugar into eggs, you have to beat it as soon as it touches. Sugar “cooks” egg yolks. It’s a weird concept, but it does. Sugar also tends to sink to the bottom really quickly, so best to whisk it up real quick. I use a fork.

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Heat up a square/rectangle pan. I use olive oil for my cooking. The rectangular pan’s my favorite pan out of all my pots and pans, and I have tons of pans. Would love a new one for Christmas, as this is rather scratched up. But it still works great. The oil is just to season the pan. Since it’s a non stick pan, there really is no need for oil for each separate batch. Just the 1st one. I got mine as a Christmas gift 7 years ago, wrapped in Takashimaya wrapping paper, in a Takashimaya bag. So I’m going to take a wild guess here, it was purchased from Takashimaya.

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Pour a little of the egg mixture, and spread it around thin. Make sure it’s not too thick, yet at the same time, it can be easily handled, as we will be using this to wrap rice in them. We will be using our hands, and unfortunately, some of us (especially me) are extremely clumsy and not very dexterous. I swear by my Pyrex pouring jug. It is useful for everything. From pouring sauces and mixes, measuring all my flour and sugar, to brewing tea.

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Flip it once, and make sure it’s cooked through. It doesn’t take too long for it to burn, so keep watch. Use a lower flame if you have to. To flip, use chopsticks and a spatula. I would use chopsticks to loosen the edges, then shove a spatula between the egg and pan, while using the chopsticks to lift the omelet off the pan. Don’t worry too much about poking holes in the egg crepes. It happens, smooth some rice over it, no one will be any wiser.

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Leave the sheets aside to cool. I wouldn’t really stack them up, would spread them out on a chopping board, slightly overlapping is fine.

While that’s happening, mix up some rice with the seasoning of your choice. Here we have the dried salmon seaweed mix. Make sure they are well incorporated. Sprinkle a little bit at a time to taste. These products usually contains salt. No need to add salt into your rice. Bowl’s a Pyrex as well. Microwave and dishwasher safe.

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I would then lay a sheet of egg crepe on cling film, then spread the rice mixture on it. I don’t own a bamboo mat, if you do, you can use it if you like, though I would advise that you put a sheet of cling film over it, keeps it clean. You can add tuna salad or sashimi filing on top of it too. Or seafood stick, my sister has an unhealthy obsession with seafood stick. I would find frozen bags of them in my freezer. They are everywhere!

When pressing rice onto the egg crepe, wet your hands, then smooth it over. It will prevent the rice from sticking onto your hands, thus making it much easier to work with.

See how I left a little gap on the end. When rolling, rice tend to be pushed outwards, and the gap will be filled then. No need to cover every bit and hidden corner of the sheet.

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Roll it all up! Pull the cling film up, press and roll, press and roll. Do it with slow but firm fingers. Set aside each of the roll when done. You can cut it up together later.

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Once they are all done, they should look tidy. Make sure they are rolled tight. Don’t want them falling apart when you are cutting them up.

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No need to remove the plastic, just cut straight through. Make sure the knife is sharp enough to do that. Cut all the way through the plastic. I like leaving my cut rolls in the plastic, lest they stick together when packing.

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Cross section. As you can see, I’ve added tuna mayo into this one. Having the extra filling is beneficial. It gives you the extra protein and your entire meal isn’t based on just carbs and salt. Or seafood sticks.

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Just a tip, I like leaving the plastic on, so they don’t stick to one another, or split open when packed into a lunch box.

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Here I’m preparing a side of frozen edamame (Soy bean pods – little furry/hairy things). Boil some water, a sprinkle of salt, and follow the instructions on the packet.

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Drain with a sieve, it gets most of the water off it. After which, we should season the edamame. Not just with salt. I like sea salt flakes and japanese chilli powder seasoning. Or truffle salt. Mmmm, truffle salt. I would cool it off with some cold water to keep the texture firm.

Enjoy!

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