Temaki Sushi – Easy Hand-Rolled Sushi

This is the EASIEST way to make Japanese sushi at home! All you need to make Temaki Sushi (aka “hand-rolled” sushi) is yakinori seaweed, sushi rice and your favourite fillings. Wrap them up into a roll or cone shape and you are done! Serve it up with a piping hot bowl of Udon Noodles or some Creamy Japanese Potato Salad.

Why We Love This

Temaki sushi is the easiest way to make sushi at home. We love it because there’s no need to stress over using a special bamboo sushi rolling mat or having perfect rolling / slicing skills. This is a super fun / no-fuss way to make sushi your way – quickly and easily – with your favourite filling ingredients like takuan, ready for dipping in soy sauce and wasabi.

It’s easy to cook sushi rice at home too – check out our guide for three easy ways to cook sushi rice (using a rice cooker, instant pot or stovetop).

What is Temaki Sushi?

Temaki sushi is very similar to regular sushi – both have the same basic ingredients – but the difference is in the final shape and how they are rolled.

This sushi version means you won’t need a bamboo mat or perfect technique. Instead, you roll it in your hand into a cone shape.

With all the various ingredients spread out in bowls on the table, it’s easy to pick and choose your fillings and flavour combinations.

It’s a fun and social way to eat sushi, and is often enjoyed by groups of people as a sushi party or with the whole family at home.

What You’ll Need

• Sushi Rice – Sushi rice will give your Temaki Sushi the most authentic flavour and texture, however we also tested this recipe with jasmine rice once (oops – who knew that container held sticky rice and not sushi rice!?) and it worked just fine.
• Nori Seaweed – We’ve found nori / yakinori / roasted seaweed sheets all over the place in our travels, from grocery stores to supermarkets and import stores. But if you run out of luck, you could always order a pack of yakinori online.
• Fillings – For those who find it a little hard to source fresh, sashimi-grade fish, we’ve put together our favourite list of super simple temaki sushi ingredients, starting with a quick and easy blend of tinned tuna and kewpie mayonnaise.

Some other, easy to source ingredients include:

• Thinly sliced cucumber
• Thinly sliced carrot – today we used this style of grater to achieve those super thin strips, but you can use a normal grater or try your hand at julienne slices!
• Shredded roast chicken
• Avocado
• Cooked prawns / shrimp
• Smoked salmon + cream cheese
• Takuan – yellow pickled daikon
• Pickled ginger (check the Asian section at your local supermarket)
• Wasabi paste (as above)
• Fish roe (believe it or not we found this at our local supermarket in the fridge section near the smoked salmon packets – never realised we could source it from there before!) It may also be labelled as Caviar.

Next Level Sushi Fillings – If you can source them / just for fun!

• Japanese sliced omelette
• Sashimi grade fish (tuna, salmon, kingfish are all good places to start)
• Shiso leaves (also known as perilla leaves, we’ve found shiso at fresh produce markets in our home town, and may even add them to our home veggie garden)
• Sliced or fried fofu
• Anything and everything your heart desires!

You’re only limited by your imagination and the ingredients you can get your hands on. 

How to Make Temaki Sushi

Transfer cooked sushi rice to a wide, flat-bottomed pan or dish. (Optional, stir through some Japanese rice seasoning / nori komi furikake.)

Pour the sushi vinegar over the cooked rice and mix gently with a flat rice paddle so as not to break any of the grains. Allow the rice to cool completely before serving.

Next, place your tuna in a small bowl and top with kewpie mayo.

Mix until well combined, adding more kewpie mayonnaise if needed until you have a smooth texture and delicious flavour.

To Assemble Your Temaki Sushi:

Take up a sheet of nori (remember to slice or break it in half first) and place it in your hand or on a plate, then top with a scoop of rice in the top left corner in a rough, triangular shape.

Layer up with your chosen fillings such as the tuna/kewpie blend, carrot and cucumber, then fold up the bottom left corner and roll into a cone shape. If you’re unsure how to do this, check out our video.

Wandercook’s Tips

• Rinse the rice a few times before cooking to remove the starchy powder. This will give you the best and fluffiest texture once cooked. 
• Never use a metal spoon when handling the rice. 1) it could damage the rice grains, not to mention the rice cooker bowl and 2) it could react with the rice vinegar.
• Don’t be tempted to cool the rice in the fridge to save time – it can damage the rice and change the flavour.
• Feel free to experiment with the sushi rice seasoning! There’s no hard and fast rule that says you have to use the whole lot. Add it in gradually and taste test the rice until you’re satisfied with the strength of the flavour.

FAQs

 

Variations

• Feel free to get as crazy as you like with fillings. We’ve given a few ideas above, but it’s completely open to your tastebuds!
• If you don’t have sushi vinegar on hand substitute with 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tsp sugar and a pinch of salt. 
• For the rice quantities, 2 cups of uncooked rice equals 6 cups of cooked rice. So just multiply the uncooked rice amount by 2 to work out the cooked rice required.
• If you’re not a fan of seaweed, try wrapping your hand rolled sushi with lettuce or spinach instead. It will alter the flavour slightly. 
• Turn it into a sushi bowl! You could also put all the ingredients and mix together in a bowl, topping with shredded nori sheets instead of wrapping them into rolls.

More Japanese snacks and sides to try next:

• Easy Homemade Pork Gyoza Dumplings
• Yudofu – Hot Simmered Tofu
• Yakisoba Noodles 
• Okonomiyaki Pancakes
• Daifuku Mochi with Red Bean

★ Did you make this recipe? Please leave a comment & star rating below!