Practice attempts

18 comments

1. As someone who has tried making rolls, these are really good results (by my amateur standards)! Greta job!

2. Honestly, the trick is doing it hundreds of times.
   Each one you do, you get better.

3. https://youtu.be/xsMS4bIq370?si=54rMNvxzP99vPDjq

4. It’s also important to have a sharp knife. While, yes you’re a home cook and the sushi itself doesn’t look complicated, cutting the roll is going to give you the most organized and neat look. My first job suggested you could use something like a gyoto or western kitchen knife, but strongly recommend a yanagiba.

   Don’t go buying a super expensive knife, just make sure the one you use isn’t dull.

5. Too much rice. It’s okay to have some black showing through before you roll.

   Once you start rolling it’s all about tucking when the nori wraps all your filling and starts to touch the rice.

   You need to have a sharp knife and you want to use the full length of the blade. Using a chef knife that’s 8” long will help with this. Also, once you cut you can use the mat to reshape if needed

6. Isn’t it great to have a hobby where practice is so delicious?

7. Use 1 stick next time. And less rice, you really want to make them as symmetrical, and this will help.

8. Looks like some tasty snacks to me

9. Nice idea, cheap to hone your skills with cucumber and still delicious.

10. I can tell which ones you did first and the ones you did last because you improved towards the end. Well done!

11. Looks delicious! 🤤

12. These rolls are actually quite nice for early on. Your rice is not overpacked, with the cucumber centered nicely in the majority of these, and they’re not too misshapen from slicing, it looks like you are using a sharp, clean knife. Looks like you’re slicing with the crease down, as well. Rice looks decent, too.

    Making your rice perfectly even on the nori and being more precise and consistent with your filling will get you the rest of the way to where you want to be, I think.

    When I make these, I quite like to bring them into more of a square shape overall, which might be the more traditional shape but I’m not 100%. Maybe give that a try next time and see if it helps your results a bit.

    Keep it up!

13. 🫤

14. I’d eat those

15. These are pretty rough. Very inconsistent. It looks like some might even fall apart if you try to pick it up.

    If you worked for me I would not send this out. Since people would be paying for it. A good sushi roll will have all pieces almost identical. Sushi is designed to be a perfect one bite package. Especially if it is a simple kappa maki, basically only 3 ingredients, it needs to be well made due to it’s simple nature.

    I understand you are not professional chef. But please understand even if you are a home cook in Japanese culture, things are still presented with care and attention to detail. This is part of the culture.

    Here are some tips that might help. I am professional Japanese trained sushi chef.

    You can cut the cucumbers into a more fine juliene so they will help form nice shape easier. Advanced way of doing this involves Katsuramuki technique but it is not necessary.

    Experiment with amount and placement of rice. Ideally, when you cut it and are viewing the cross-section, it will be same amount of rice surrounding ingredients on all sides. Japanese food is very aesthetic and visual so please be clean and thoughtful. Nori should be closed seamlessly. Make sure rice is from edge to edge on the sides so you don’t have those unappealing end pieces.

    For aesthetics you can trim ends slightly if needed.

    Make sure you are using a sharp knife and do not saw through the roll. The point of a sharp blade is to slice, not saw. Unless you are using serrated bread knife or something. Personally I will slice forward and then draw it back halfway, as cutting through rice in one direction will cause rice to stick to blade and impede it halfway through.

    Give your plating a thought. It looks like you randomly scattered them on the plate. Remember once again Japanese cuisine is very aesthetic and clean. You can google some simple plating ideas.

    Keep practicing!

16. For my taste, it has too much rice… it doesn’t look good…

17. Honestly. That still looks fire to me. A fish hater

18. Looks good but maybe a little empty/loose. I have never made a roll successfully so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

    I would definitely eat them.