Sushi Rolls – A Pictorial, and Sweet Omelette – A Recipe

We made sushi recently. This in itself is slightly unusual here at We Are Never Full, but not completely out of the ordinary as we are regulars at more than one of our local Japanese restaurants and have homemade sushi a couple of times before. Indeed, the sushi rolls we made were not wildly unusual either. In fact, the only thing that we made during a very enjoyable couple of hours assembling sushi rolls and drinking ice-cold saki that we’d not made before, or seen anywhere on other blogs, was tamago yaki or rolled sweet omelette/omelet. Scroll to the end of this post for the recipe. 

We decided against posting a recipe for each roll we’re featuring in this pictorial. This is simply to give you inspiration for making your own rolls.  One of our favorites which we have yet to find at any other Japanese restaurant is a vegetarian roll simply called Peanut Avocado.  It is sweet, salty, crunchy and rich and we recreated it with cashews instead. 

Finally, we would like to share the recipe for the Sweet Brown Sauce that accompanies many rolls like Salmon Skin, Shrimp Tempura and others.  It is a keeper in our recipe book, so if you ever are making sushi, go a bit further by topping some of your rolls with this delicious sticky sauce. 

Oh, and one last hint on sushi-making:  those deliciously, crunch Salmon Skin rolls so many of you love?  Remove the skin from the bottom of a filet of salmon, thinly slice into 2 inch pieces and deep fry in some oil for a few minutes. Yes, it’s that simple! But be sure to use and eat it immediately – it doesn’t stay crispy for long!

Sushi Stuffing Ingredients

Sushi-Stuffing Ingredients

Putting on the Sushi Rice Spicy Crunchy Scallop Roll with Scallion

Putting on the sushi rice and preparing a spicy scallop roll with crunch

Spicy Crunchy Scallop Roll with Scallion

Spicy Scallop Roll with Crunch and Scallions (spring onion)

Shrimp Tempura Roll with Avocado,Cuke and Jalapeno

Shrimp Tempura Roll with Cucumber and Avocado

Salmon Skin Roll with Cucumber and Sweet Sauce

Salmon Skin Roll with Cucumber and Sweet Brown Sauce

Cashew and Avocado Roll with Sweet Sauce

Cashew and Avocado Roll

Tamago (Sweet Omelette) with Masago Sushi

Tamago (sweet omelette) Roll with Masago (Smelt Roe) and Tobiko (flying fish roe)

Tamago (Sweet Omelette) with Masago Sushi

Same roll as above, just a whole plate of it!

Tamago – Rolled Sweet Omelette
Ingredients:

  • 4 medium eggs
  • small pinch of salt
  • 1tbsp water
  • 2tbsp granulated sugar
  • 2tbsp good soy sauce
  • 3tbsp dry sake
  • 3-4tbsp vegetable oil

Recipe:

  • Beat eggs together in a bowl and add the salt.
  • Add water to mixture and continue to beat until fluffy.
  • In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, soy sauce and sake, then mix in with egg mixture.
  • Typically, tamago is made in a square frying pan. We don’t own one so we used a boring old round one, but if you have one waiting around for just the proper occasion, go ahead, knock yourselves out.
  • Heat your pan to medium heat and add a splash of oil and rotate pan to coat evenly.
  • Pour in a third of the egg mixture and allow to become firm.
  • Before bottom of pan is completely dry, roll omelette towards you so that at one side of the pan you have what looks like a thick rolled crepe
  • Re-oil pan and add second third of egg mixture making sure to lift rolled omelette from first round so that egg coats whole bottom of pan.
  • Again, allow to cook all the way through before rolling it up and placing it on top of the first one.
  • Oil pan a third time and add remaining egg. Repeat cooking and rolling steps and then remove all three rolled omelettes to a plate.
  • Allow to cool enough so you can handle them and spread plastic wrap on your chopping board.
  • Then unroll omelettes and place them on top of one another so you have three lying on top of one another.
  • Roll them up tightly and wrap tightly in plastic.
  • Allow to cool in refrigerator until use. Then slice against the grain to reveal a beautiful layered pancake-type look and add to your sushi rolls. Enjoy!

Sweet Brown Sauce for Sushi
Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup of soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup of mirin
  • 1/8 cup of sugar

****This recipe can easily be doubled to make a larger batch!

Recipe:

  • Mix everything together in a pan and reduce until thick and sticky on medium-low.  Watch it though, it can really reduce quickly.  This needs to be served soon after it has been reduced because it can be so thick in it’s cooled version it is impossible to drizzle on things!

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33 thoughts on “Sushi Rolls – A Pictorial, and Sweet Omelette – A Recipe

  1. You really turned the sushi into an art form. They legit look like a sushi chef rolled them out him/herself. You guys just gave me a lunch idea. Oh and thanks for the brown sauce recipe, really easy, really good.

  2. This is so ironic – D and I went to a Japanese lunch yesterday and he hadn’t tried tamago before and was asking me how to make it and I told him I’d look it up. Er… thanks!

    Amazing rolls – just beautiful.

  3. ok – I am now shamed into making good on my New Year’s Resolution…to learn how to make sushi. Cashews and Avocado – yummmm.

  4. Looks delicious – I’ve never thought of a scallop roll before – wonder why this isn’t more common, seems like a great idea.

  5. jebus! these pictures are making me so frikkin hungry and it’s almost 12:30 in the morning. there’s a restaurant in my town that has a roll called the golden dragon. i think it’s spicy shrimp inside and slices of mango draped over the roll with a tangy sauce. i’ve been asking for the recipe but naturally, they keep mum! just an idea you might want to keep in mind. it’s delicious!

  6. Oh, I thought you meant you made a thin omelette and used it instead of the nori to make the maki. I’m gonna run with that one, btw.

    Yay, sushi night! We haven’t had one in awhile.

  7. hey, thanks guys! it is a bit of a pain in the a$$ to make a bunch of different kinds of sushi, but it really is fun when you don’t have a time limit and you’re with friends. plus you can eat as you make!

    heather, GREAT and creative idea you thought of! give it a try! i won’t steal it from you…

  8. Mmmmm…haven’t had sushi in a while, let alone make it. I did take a class once, and was pleasantly surprised that I could actually do it. You know. Kind of like playing golf or something. Okay, so maybe not? Anyway, your sushi is drool worthy. I’ll take an order of the Tempura Shrimp Roll with Avo & Cukes to go, please.

  9. EE – the “spicy” in this case refers to the chile-mayonnaise sauce that the scallop is mixed with. I think we just mixed some thai chile sauce and regular mayonnaise.

  10. Wow! Those pix are delicious. There is a grammatical error in that statement I fear…

    I have never been one for sushi. I really like my fish cooked. If I was at your house when you made these delights, I think my mind would have to open to the idea.

  11. Hey, thanks donald!! that’s the best compliment we could get as cooks! maybe we’ll have to put you to the test??

    So, Eternity’s End – Jonny (comment #18) was right – we used the spicy sauce i mixed up for the scallop roll. It’s the same method for a spicy tuna roll. Remember to buy very fresh scallops and chop them very fine and keep ’em raw. As for the sauce, I made it and I didn’t really write down the recipe as I went along, so I can’t really give it to you here. BUT, it really is basically hot sauce mixed w/ mayo.

    if you want to go super traditional, I’d try to get your hands on some Japanese Mayo – the most popular is called Kewpie.
    http://www.japancentre.com/?cmd=itm&id=919&cid=140
    japanese mayo is actually made differently than american mayo in that it is made w/ rice wine vinegar and soy oil. i’ve also read that it’s very common to make spicy sushi sauce by mixing the kewpie with sriracha chile sauce. yes, this is a thai brand of hot sauce but in my local japanese store they sell it right next to the kewpie! probably for this reason!

    so that’s my official recipe for Spicy Scallop/Spicy Tuna Sushi Sauce: Kewpie Japanese Mayo plus Sriracha Thai Chili Sauce. Add as much chili sauce to your liking!

    amy

  12. Get it girl!!!! I made sushi about 2 years ago for a boy toy of mine and can you believe he called like two days ago asking me to make him some! Ha… not inspired two days ago, but I am now. Yours look so professional!

    I came up with one I think you’ll love. If I email it to you, will you make it and post about it!?!

  13. hey bren!! I’m almost done the school year (i work for a school) -next week is it and then FINALLY summer vacation. I’ll email you a good email after then – much to catch up on in your life!!

    Email me the roll you came up with – the next time we do sushi, I promise to make it and blog about it. But I have many questions to ask about all your recent food deals!! exciting, exciting!
    -amy

  14. You guys have an amazing repertoire! All the sushi looks is mouthwatering, but I’m really attached to your sweet omelette plate! The sweet brown sauce looks awesome too, that’s next on the list!

  15. Yum….how come I didn’t get invited?!

    I love sushi….it’s one of my favorite things to eat but I rarely make it myself due to time consumption and a general sense of laziness. Cheers to you!

  16. Too funny! Just this past Sunday my son was asking (well, actually telling) me to make sushi. I think the last time I made it was when we still lived in Georgia (over 5 years ago). Your photos are gorgeous & I love the combination of flavors & colors that you used. We have a Japanese market just down the street that would certainly have everything I need. Thank you for the great post & inspiration.

    xoxox Amy

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  18. That is some incredible looking sushi, surely restaurant quality. I’ve never attempted sushi making even though it is one of my favorite foods (other than peanut butter and Mexican food). I always feel like I couldn’t make it as good as a sushi chef so I just let the professionals do it. But these look superb!

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