Ingredients
- 1 quantity sushi rice
- 8 sheets nori (about 19 x 21 cm/7½ x 8¼ inches)
- wasabi, to taste
- 400 g (14 oz) piece sashimi salmon, cut into 1–1.5 cm (½ inch) thick slices
- 1 avocado, sliced into 16 wedges
- soy sauce , wasabi and pickled ginger, to serve
Pickled cucumber
- 1 telegraph (long) cucumber
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 80 ml (2½ fl oz/⅓ cup) rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon caster (superfine) sugar
Method
1. To make the pickled cucumber, cut the length of the cucumber to the same width as the nori sheets (keep the remaining cucumber for another use). Cut the cucumber into wedges about 1 cm (½ inch) wide, then cut the seeds out using a sharp knife. Place on a tray skin side down and sprinkle with salt. Leave for 10 minutes, then rinse and place in a non-metallic container. Combine the rice wine vinegar and sugar; stir to dissolve the sugar. Pour over the cucumber and leave for 10 minutes. Turn the cucumber in the mixture and leave for a further 5 minutes. Drain, cover and and set aside.
2. Place a bamboo sushi mat on a work surface with the slats running horizontally. Place one sheet of nori on the bamboo mat with the shiny side facing down and the faint lines horizontal. Wet your hands in a bowl of warm water mixed with a few teaspoons of rice wine vinegar in it (to stop the rice sticking to your hands). Spread one-eighth of the cooled sushi rice over the nori, leaving a 1 cm (½ inch) border closest to you and a 5 cm (2 inch) border at the other end. With your fingers, make a shallow groove in the rice about 7 cm (2¾ inches) from the edge closest to you. Spread a small amount of wasabi, to your taste, along the groove in the rice. Place the salmon in the groove and top with the cucumber and avocado.
3. Roll up. Repeat with remaining ingredients to make eight rolls in total.
4. Wet a sharp knife, trim the ends and cut the rolls in half. Cut each half into three if serving as finger food. Serve with soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger.
