Let me start by explaining what temaki sushi is. Most of us hear the term “sushi” and think raw fish. However, sushi actually is the rice that quite often accompanies the dish. Temaki sushi is made with rice, an assortment of ingredients, and a wrapper. In our case, we use nori (dried seaweed) as the wrapper. For a little further education, temaki means handrolls, as these are about four inches long and need to be held in your hands (like a burrito) instead of chopsticks when eating.
The fun thing about this meal is that dinner takes a little longer, as ingredients are passed and temaki are made. The slower pace allows us to talk about any number of things, which usually leads to laughing and lingering at the table. Granted, these aren’t the sort of dinners you can have on a busy school day, but on a night free of commitments, there’s nothing quite like looking around the dinner table to see the kids happily eating, talking, and smiling.
For a unique Make Your Own meal, this is definitely worth a try.
- 1 pkg. nori
- 2 cups sushi rice
- julienned carrots
- julienned bell peppers
- julienned cucumbers
- julienned scallions
- sliced crab stick
- sliced avocado
- small shrimp
- cream cheese
- Spread a couple spoonfuls of rice onto one piece of nori, leaving a one-inch border on all edges.
- Top with any assortment of desired ingredients.
- Starting at any edge, roll nori around filling.
- *If desired, the temaki can be sliced into 1-inch rolls, making maki sushi.
Yummy!