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Appetizer
Asian
24 rolls
30 minutes
0 minutes
1 Japanese cucumber, salt-scrubbed
2 sheets nori
2 cups sushi rice
2 teaspoons wasabi paste or to taste
2 teaspoons white sesame seeds, roasted or toasted
Soy sauce
Pickled ginger
Cut the roll into 6 equal pieces, wiping your knife with a damp towel before each slice.
After salt-scrubbing, trim the cucumber to 7 inches long. Cut it into quarters, lengthwise, or cut lengthwise into six slices if the cucumber is more than 1 inch wide.
Season the rice with ¼ of the wasabi, sprinkle on one-fourth of the sesame seeds, and then lay a stick of cucumber in the center of the rice. (You can also add other slivered vegetables such as carrot and red bell pepper.)
Lift up the edge of the mat closest to you, keeping your fingertips on the cucumber, and roll the mat and its contents away from you until the edge of the mat touches straight down on the far edge of the rice. Tug on the mat to tighten the roll. Lay the mat down on the counter and move the partially done roll back to the edge of the mat closest to you. Lift the mat again and finish rolling up the cucumber roll. Tug on the mat to tighten to seal.
Make 3 more rolls, following Steps 2 through 4.
Serve with soy sauce as a dipping sauce, and pickled ginger to cleanse your palate.
Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon salt on a cutting board. Rinse the cucumber and then roll it thoroughly, all over, in the salt. Rinse off the cucumber, removing all the salt, and wipe all the salt off the cutting board. Cut both ends off the cucumber. Rub the cut surface of each end against the cut surface of the cucumber until it foams (Mineko swears this action removes any bitterness). Rinse and dry the cucumber – it’s ready!
