Makizushi (Maki Roll)
Difficulty 4/5 Ingredients 6 Steps 13
Makizushi, also called rolled sushi or maki roll, is a variety of sushi. It is made by layering nori, seasoned sushi rice, and fillings, before rolling up and slicing into individual pieces. The outer layer of the maki roll varies, having either nori or rice on the exterior—the latter is sometimes called an inside-out roll.
Ingredients
- Prepared sushi rice
- Fillings, as desired (this may consist of either raw/smoked salmon, tuna, etc or perhaps cucumber or avocado)
- Nori sheets
- Wasabi paste
- Water
- Sesame seeds, if making inside-out rolls with rice on outside (optional)
Steps
- Place the roller on a cutting board. For inside-out rolls (rice outside), wrap the roller in a double layer of plastic wrap.
- Place a sheet of nori shiny side down on the roller.
- Dampen hands. Put a fistful of rice in the center of the nori.
- Spread the rice about 6 mm thick, leaving a 2 cm gap on the side parallel to the bamboo. If the nori is not visible through the rice, there is too much.
- For inside-out rolls: quickly flip the nori and rice onto the roller, rice on the plastic wrap, nori facing up.
- Place the primary ingredients in a row in the middle.
- Roll the nori against itself away from you, using thumbs and heels of hands for stability. Make sure the ingredient row goes underneath the roll.
- At the end of the nori sheet, compact the roll slightly, making sure the rice holds it together. When evening out a bumpy roll, do not squeeze the sides hard or flatten the top.
- To fix the ends, poke about ½ inch out from one side of the mat. Hold in place and press gently with the heel of your hand.
- Remove the maki from the roller. Place on the cutting board.
- Wet a sharp knife. Slice from the center outwards into 5, 6 or 8 sections. For 6 or 8, cut from the center, place one half behind the other, and cut each half in half.
- For inside-out rolls, garnish the exterior rice with sesame seeds.
- Serve with soy sauce for dipping. Optional: chopsticks, pickled ginger, wasabi.
Notes from the original
- Dampening the hands before handling the rice will prevent clumping and the rice sticking to your hands. However, too much moisture may also make the rice less sticky, so don't go overboard.
- California roll: avocado, crab meat or imitation crab, cucumber.
- Tuna roll: Tuna, wrapped in rice and seaweed. This same combination is used to make plain rolls with any other type of fish.
- Spicy tuna roll: Tuna, spicy sauce (mixture of Japanese mayonnaise and sriracha)
- Kamikaze roll: Tuna, yellowtail, spicy sauce
- Philadelphia roll: Salmon (either raw or smoked), cream cheese
Source. Adapted from “Cookbook:Makizushi (Maki Roll)” by Wikibooks contributors, revision of 2025-06-21, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Changes. Steps rewritten into short commands. Introduction shortened. Wiki formatting removed. This adapted recipe is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo. Makizushi2.jpg by pasqualeschiavoneph, CC0, via Wikimedia. Resized; otherwise unchanged.