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by Cheri Sicard

Sushi rolls are extremely versatile. They make fabulous picnic fare or lunchbox additions, and you can make endless varieties. Don't think you have to use raw fish (although you can). Think of a sushi roll as a sandwich and it's sure to get your imagination rolling as to what to fill it with. Some of my favorite combinations of ingredients are listed below, but let this be only a starting point. I've even made sushi rolls with American style tuna or egg salad. Sushi rolls are a good way to use leftovers like veggies, cooked fish or even chicken. In Japan these tasty rolls are sold everywhere, even the 7-11, and they are likely to be filled with all kinds of interesting ingredients. It is traditional in America to serve sushi with Japanese Style Pickled Ginger (follow link for recipe), soy sauce and wasabi. In Japan, you will never get wasabi on the side unless you ask for it (and they will look at you like you are the crazy American if you do ask for it), for a small amount of wasabi is rolled up inside the roll with the other ingredients.

Sushi Rice

3 C cooked Japanese style rice

Roasted nori sheets
A ssorted fillings (see below for suggestions)

Cook rice according to package instructions. Mix vinegar, sugar and salt. Cut vinegar mixture into cooked rice until well combined.

To roll sushi you can use a bamboo sushi mat, like shown in the photo, or just use a clean towel instead, or you can even forego the roller and just carefully roll using your hands.

Place nori sheet on roller and spread a thin layer of the sushi rice over the nori as shown. Place your filling in a center line on the nori sheet as shown in photo 2.

Begin rolling by carefully folding over the top edge and starting the roll.

Continue to roll, keeping the roll as tight as possible. Take a sharp knife and slice the roll into 1 - 1 1/2 inch pieces.

Some Possible Sushi Filling Combos:

Once you have your layer of rice on the nori sheet, try some of these ingredient combos. Mix and match to suit your taste. Things like thinly sliced cucumber or carrots and radish sprouts are good general ingredients to add to all kinds of rolls.

• Spicy Tuna Roll -- Sushi grade raw tuna, minced and mixed with a small amounts of mayonnaise, oriental style hot sauce and sesame oil and served with radish sprouts.

• Spicy Shrimp or Crab Roll -- Same as above but substitute cooked shrimp or crab for the raw tuna.

• Tempura Roll-- Fried shrimp tempura with thinly julienned cucumber, avocado slices and radish sprouts.

• California Roll -- Crab or imitation crab meat, mayonnaise and avocado.

• Salmon & Asparagus (one of my personal creations) -- Leftover cooked salmon (grilled tastes best) with an blanched asparagus spear and a small amount of mayonnaise mixed with oriental hot sauce.

• Veggie -- Thinly julienned strips of cucumber, carrot and zucchini with avocado slices, sprouts and mayonnaise.

Make more than 36 different kinds of sushi EASILY with the Sushi Master, an eight-piece sushi kit (see image above) that comes with its own cook book. Only $21.95 for the whole kit!