Sushi-Making 101 with "Dana Sensei"

Greetings, class! Today's lesson is how to make sushi rolls in just six easy steps.

I'm still in "teacher mode" even though it's summer vacation now, and I'm spending my days in the office instead of the classroom. Just humor me. :)

STEP 1: Use your handy rice cooker to make a lot of rice. This takes about one hour.

STEP 2: Place about two or three big spoon's worth on rice on a square sheet of dried seaweed, called a nori. The nori should be on top of a bamboo mat, called a makisu.

STEP 3: Spread the rice on two-thirds of the seaweed square. Junichi will show you how it's done...

You're doing great!

Step 4: Place a pre-cut cucumber strip in the middle of the rice. Like so...

And now you're ready to (rock 'n) roll!

Step 5: Lift the makisu/mat so that the rice closest to you is on top of the cucumber. Press. Roll it over again and press. Repeat one more time, until you have a sushi roll.

Ok!

Let's get a closer look at this beauty...

Almost done!

Step 6: Slice the roll into rounds, cutting about 1.5 to 2 cm. apart.

You can stuff the leftover rice into "tofu pockets" to make oinari, which are way more delicious than they look or sound like they'd be...

Arrange your sushi rolls and oinari on a pretty plate for presentation.

Grab a pair of chopsticks ("hashi") and enjoy! Class dismissed. :)