How To Make Sushi with Step-by-Step Breakdown

It may come as a surprise to some that rolls aren't a very popular form of sushi in Japan. Limited in scope to a few classics like kappa maki (cucumber), tekka maki (tuna) and this negitoro maki, most people eat rolls when they've eaten all their favorite nigiri sushi, but their stomach isn't satisfied, and the bill is starting to balloon out of control.

Luckily in the US we have a huge variety of rolls to choose from running the gamut from California Rolls to Caterpillar Rolls (compete with green stripes and two little antennae).

While there's some technique that goes into making the rice and rolling it, sushi rolls are a lot simpler to make that you'd imagine, and they're great for parties because everyone can chose what they want to put in their roll. I've used a classic negitoro (tuna belly and scallion) roll to show you the process, but you can substitute anything you want for the filling to make you own sushi.

One of the keys to great sushi is getting the rice just right. It needs to be sticky enough to hold everything together, but each distinct grain of rice should still hold its shape and glisten with the savory sweet vinegar it's seasoned. For a more detailed step by step look at making sushi rice, check out my sushi rice tutorial.

Negitoro is usually made by scraping the remaining meat off the skin and bones of the belly of a tuna, but since you probably won't find tuna belly skin and bones at your local market, you can also make it by buying a fillet of ?toro (fatty tuna), and mincing it up with a knife.

Step-by-Step Breakdown

Follow Marc's visual breakdown while you read his recipe below to make your own negitoro sushi.