Rolls are one of the most popular Japanese dishes in Russia; they are a type of sushi. Rolls are an American name, in their homeland they are called maki or makizushi. This dish is a filling wrapped in rice and nori (pressed seaweed). Rolls are quite easy to prepare, and you can make them at home without any problems.
Now you can eat oriental fast food in almost any restaurant, and in some stores you can buy a ready-made dish at home. The main ingredients of sushi, rolls and sashimi are rice, seafood, soy sauce. The masters say that making sushi is a whole science, almost an art. But everyone can make simple versions of this dish.
The most popular are the "Philadelphia" rolls. To prepare them, you will need the following ingredients: 200 g of rice, 100 g of salmon, 50 g of soft Philadelphia cheese, 1 avocado, 1 fresh cucumber, 2 sheets of nori seaweed, pickled ginger, soy sauce, wasabi, rice vinegar, salt.
Philadelphia cheese can be replaced with any other cream cheese. But simple processed ones ("Yantar", "Druzhba") will not work, they can even spoil the taste of the rolls.
The most important component of the rolls is rice. It must be done correctly, not overcooked, otherwise the whole taste of the dish will deteriorate. Before cooking, the rice must be thoroughly rinsed several times, then filled with water (it is taken at the rate of 1.25 cups per 1 cup of rice) and left for 30 minutes.
After half an hour, the liquid must be drained, and the rice itself must be poured into another saucepan, which is then filled with clean cold water, closed with a lid and placed on the stove. Rice should be brought to a boil, and then boiled over high heat for 1-2 minutes. Then you should reduce the heat and cook the dish for another quarter of an hour. Do not open the pot while the rice is cooking. Also, you cannot add salt yet.
After 15 minutes, you need to remove the heat, and the rice must be left under a closed lid for another 10 minutes - so that it is infused. And only then you can add salt, as well as 5-6 tablespoons of rice vinegar. While it cools down, you can prepare other components.
It is worth remembering that the rice for rolls cannot be mixed, only gently turn it over with a wooden spatula.
The avocado and cucumber must be peeled and cut into long, thin slices. And fish - in wide stripes. The bamboo mat (makisu) should be covered with cling film so that it does not get dirty and does not have to be washed or thrown away. Then you need to put 1 sheet of nori seaweed there with the glossy side up. Rice is carefully laid on this sheet in a thin layer. It is convenient to level it with fingers soaked in water - this way it does not stick to the skin.
Turn the nori leaf together with the rice so that the rice is at the bottom. Then you should lay out the Philadelphia cheese in one sufficiently large strip. Cucumber and avocado are laid out on top, evenly distributed over the surface of the cheese. Then, with the help of makisu, everything is neatly rolled up and slightly pressed down from above so that the roll becomes dense.
On the same or another mat, strips of fish are laid out tightly to each other. You should get an even layer of salmon, into which the workpiece is then also wrapped with the help of makis. Then the roll is cut with a sharp knife into 8 equal parts. For convenience, the kitchen appliance should be constantly moistened in water with the addition of vinegar - this will prevent cheese from sticking to it.
Finally, the finished rolls can be laid out on a plate. They should be served with wasabi, pickled ginger and soy sauce.
