Easy Ehoumaki (Makizushi for Setsubun)
Ehoumak is a type of futomaki that you leave uncut. It is eaten for Setsubun. Choose whatever fillings you like. If you have a big enough rice cooker, you can also double this recipe to use up an entire 10-pack of seaweed.
- Prep time
- 30 min
- Cook time
- 20 min
- Yield
- 5 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
- 2 cup Japanese short grain rice
- water to cook rice
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 5 large sheets seaweed
- 1 batch sushi rice (see above)
- 2 eggs
- 5 sticks kani kamaboko (or large kamaboko cut into slices)
- 1/4 log takuan (cut into 1 cm thick slices)
- 3 oz baby spinach (about half a bag)
- 1/2 carrot (cut into matchsticks)
- 1/2 cucumber (cut into matchsticks)
- 1/2 avocado (cut into slices)
- sesame oil
Instructions
- 1
Cook 2 cups Japanese rice in your rice cooker
- 2
While rice is cooking, heat up rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a saucepan on the stove until the sugar is dissolved.
- 3
When the rice is done, pour the rice vinegar solution over your rice and gently mix. Allow sushi rice to cool slightly.
- 4
Bring a pot of water to boil. Blanch the baby spinach for 1 minute.
- 5
Drain and rinse baby spinach in cold water. When cool enough to handle, squeeze excess water out of spinach and drizzle with a little sesame oil.
- 6
Lightly beat two eggs in a bowl. Cook in a skillet on the stovetop as one thin layer, like a thin omelette.
- 7
Let omelette cool and slice into strips.
- 8
Slice vegetables (such as carrots and cucumbers) to matchstick size.
- 9
Slice avocado, kamaboko, and takuan (if using) to logs about 1 cm thick, depending on your preference.
- 10
Place one sheet of seaweed, shiny side down, on your bamboo sushi rolling mat.
- 11
Gently spread a thin layer of sushi rice on top, leaving about the top inch of seaweed empty.
- 12
Place a thin layer of avocado (or other filling) on top of the rice along the bottom edge of the sushi mat.
- 13
Continue layering your filling in very small amounts, placing them on top of each other. Your fillings should not take up more than 1-1.5 inches of space on your sushi mat.
- 14
Roll your sushi, starting from the edge with the fillings. I find it helps to put my thumbs under the bamboo mat with the rest of my fingers holding my fillings in place for that initial roll.
- 15
Gently squeeze the bamboo mat into a cylinder shape as you roll along.
- 16
Repeat with the remaining seaweed sheets and sushi fillings, and serve the ehoumaki uncut. Leftover sushi filling can be kept in the refrigerator, but sushi rice does not save well.