Making Sushi Rolls

Sushi is becoming increasingly popular for kids lunches and children can learn to prepare and enjoy this food. Sushi is raw fish wrapped up in seaweed right? Wrong!
Sushi means “vinegar flavored rice.” It is a simple food that can be prepared with foods we all know and love. It does not have to involve any raw meats or fish. Learning how to cook rice and prepare sushi rolls is a window into Japanese culture. We make sushi rolls for kinder lunches and master 4 just loves them!

Some other suggestions for sushi rolls are:
assorted vegetables
carrots
cucumber
white radishes
zucchini
red or yellow bell peppers
spinach leaves
mushrooms
sliced ham or turkey lunch meat
chicken strips or frozen shrimp (steamed or fried )
feta cheese
rice wine (optional)
toasted sesame seeds
chopped walnuts

Put the nori sheet, shiny-slick side down, on your sushi rolling mat.

Spread about 1 1/2 cups (lightly packed into cup; don’t smoosh down!) of sushi rice evenly over the nori, leaving about a half inch or 1 cm gap on the far side. Use your fingers dipped in the bowl of vinegar water to spread out the rice.

Pile up your filling in the middle of the rice. Don’t try to pile on too much here if you are a beginner.

Grab the near end of the sushi rolling mat to start rolling. You may need to reach around with your fingers to keep the filling in place. Roll over the filling in one go - stopping in the middle will make for a messy roll. Squeeze tightly, and finish rolling.

Unroll. (Practice does help, so do over if your first one didn’t work.) If the roll looks a bit uneven, gently squeeze again to even out. Optionally serve with wasabi and soy sauce for dipping.