Makizushi (Sushi)

Servings: 4

Ingredients
1 cup midiam grain rice
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon caster (superfine) sugar
250 g sashimi grade tuna
1 small Lebanese (short) cucumber
1/2 avocado
8 sheets of roasted nori
3 teaspoons wasabi paste

Optional
cooked egg
raw salmon or cooked salmon
raw tuna or cooked tuna
cucumber
avocado
Japanese Mayonnaise

Instructions

1. Wash the rice under cold running water until the water runs clear, then drain thoroughly. Leave the rice in the strainer to drain for an hour. Put the rice in a saucepan with 2 cups (500 ml/16 fl oz) water and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until all the water has been absorbed. Reduce the heat to very low, cover and cook for another 4–5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and leave, covered, for about 10 minutes.
2. To make the sushi dressing, combine the rice vinegar, caster sugar and 1 teaspoon salt in a small bowl.
3. Spread the rice over the base of a non-metallic dish or bowl, pour the sushi dressing over the top and use a rice paddle or spatula to mix the dressing through the rice, separating the grains as you do so. Fan the rice until it cools to room temperature.
4. Cut the tuna, cucumber and avocado into thin strips. Place a sheet of nori on a sushi mat, shiny-side down, with a short end towards you. Spread the rice about 1 cm (½ inch)?thick over the nori, leaving a 1 cm (½ inch) border. Make a shallow groove down the centre of the rice towards the short end closest to you. Spread a small amount of wasabi along the groove. Place a selection of strips of your filling ingredients on top of the wasabi. Lift up the edge of the bamboo mat and roll the sushi, starting from the edge nearest to you. When you have finished rolling, press the mat to make either a round or square roll. Push in any rice that is escaping from the ends. Wet a sharp knife, trim the ends and cut the roll in half and then each half into three. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.