Sushi, in Japanese cuisine, is a food made with vinegared rice, combined with different ingredients. Maki-zushi or Maki rolls are the cylindrical rolls as above and are not as difficult to make as you may think. Also, you do not necessarily need to use raw fish. Raw fish on its own is known as Sashimi, with the vinegared blocks of rice topped with raw fish known as Nigiri.

You do need a specific tool to make sushi and that’s a rolling mat, but this is inexpensive and fairly easy to get hold of (Asian shops or supermarkets).

The main ingredients you need for Maki rolls are sushi rice, generally a lot starchier and therefore stickier than other types of rice, and the black sheets of seaweed (Nori). You can put any fillings you like in the middle. We used tuna mayo with slices of spring onion in one type, and smoked mackerel with  cucumber and avocado in the other. Other times we’ve used crab, smoked salmon and prawns, but just use pure vegetables if that’s what you like.

First of all, the rice needs cooking. It’s important that you follow the instructions on the pack of the sushi rice exactly. This usually means adding exactly double the amount of water than rice in volume, heating up the water and rice until boiling and then leaving for a specified amount of time without touching or disturbing.

You may get some rice stuck to the bottom of the pan, but don’t worry about that, as it’s perfectly normal (when I cook sushi rice, anyway!). The rice needs to be removed into either a baking tray or a large flat bottomed dish. Mix in 50ml of sugar water & 50ml of rice vinegar. The sugar water (you can also use mirin) gives the rice a nice sheen and the vinegar is for taste.

Once the rice is in the bowl, you need to turn it gently with a spatula, to help cool it down quicker. Some people say to use a fan as well, but that would just make me feel ridiculous, fanning rice like some 18th century geisha.

Place a sheet of Nori on the rolling mat, then spread a layer of the rice, leaving about a 1cm gap at one end. Place your favoured fillings and then roll the mat, with the Nori, then stick together with the rice at the end to make a long roll.

All that needs to be done then is to slice the roll and there you have your Maki-zushi or more specifically, Futomaki (fat cut rolls).

I also tried making inside out maki rolls (Uramaki), by using sesame seeds, then rice, then the Nori and finally the filling. They turned out OK, but didn’t look as good as the Futomaki.

The thin maki rolls or Hosomaki, can be made the same way, but just with a half sheet of Nori, instead of the whole sheet.

Serve with pickled ginger, wasabi and a good soy sauce.