Try this easy recipe to make your own sushi rolls at home. These thin avocado sushi rolls (hosomaki) are the perfect first-time sushi rolls to hone your sushi-making skills. This recipe makes roughly 8 sushi rolls. And each roll gets sliced into 6 bite-sized pieces.
Servings6
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups prepared sushi rice, room temperature*
- 4 nori sheets
- 2 ripe avocados
To serve
- soy sauce
- wasabi paste
- pickled sushi ginger
Instructions
Prep your equipment
- Grab a bowl of water to wet your hands as you go.
- You can cover your bamboo sushi mat with a piece of plastic wrap for easier cleaning, but it's not necessary for these avocado maki rolls.
Prep your ingredients
- Keep your vinegared sushi rice covered under a damp kitchen towel to keep it from drying out.
- For hosomaki (thin rolls), you need to cut the nori sheets in half. A nori seaweed sheet is not perfectly square. Cut the sheet in half by cutting the longest side in half.
- Peel and slice your avocado into thin strips – no thicker than ½ inch (1 cm).
Assemble the sushi roll
- Place the half sheet towards the bottom of your bamboo mat with the longest edge facing you. The rough side should be facing up, so the smooth, shiny side is on the outside of the roll.
- Place roughly four heaped tablespoons of cooked rice (60 grams) on the rough side of the nori (that is facing up).
- Gently spread the rice, using wet hands, to cover the nori all the way from the left edge to the right. Leave an exposed strip of nori – about ½ inch (1 cm) – at the top and a thin strip at the bottom.
- Wet your hands if the rice starts to stick to them. And add more rice until you have an even, thin layer of rice.
- Arrange the slices of avocado in the centre of the rice, creating a horizontal line of avocado slices.
Roll the avocado sushi
- Lift the bottom edge of the sushi mat to gently roll the nori around the avo, connecting the rice. Don't squeeze too tightly. You'll see the top open part of seaweed sticking out. Dip your finger in the water and run it along the exposed seaweed at the top.
- Continue to tighten your roll until it seals – but not so tight that the avo squeezes out. Allow that exposed nori at the top to fold over the outside of the roll as the rice connects.
- Tighten the roll gently with your sushi mat.
Cut the avocado roll
- Traditionally, hosomaki gets cut into 6 equal-sized pieces.
- Grab a sharp knife and wipe it with a clean wet kitchen towel (or dip it in the water). Slice a sushi roll in half. Then lay the two half-rolls in parallel and cut them together into 3 pieces. Wipe the knife clean between slices or if it feels sticky.
- You should have 6 even bite-sized pieces of sushi.
- Arrange the avocado sushi rolls on a platter. And serve it with a bowl of soy sauce for dipping, and wasabi paste and pickled ginger on the side.
Notes
- For 2 ½ cups (500 grams) of prepared sushi rice, cook one US cup of sushi rice (short-grain rice) according to package instructions. Use a rice paddle to gently fold 3 tablespoons of sushi vinegar through the warm rice.
- Or see this Instant Pot sushi rice recipe and stovetop sushi rice recipe for detailed instructions with homemade sushi vinegar.
- Allow the vinegared rice to cool to room temperature before using. And keep it covered with a damp cloth.