smoked salmon sushi

Put the rice in a large mixing bowl and cover it with several inches of tap water. Swish the rice around in the water to release any clinging residue from the milling process. Pour off the water and repeat the process 2 or 3 times until the water that comes off the rice is no longer cloudy, but almost clear.

Pour the washed rice through a large strainer and allow all the water to run off. Put the washed and drained rice in a rice cooker or a heavy 4-quart saucepan with a close-fitting lid and pour on 1½ cups of cold water. Cook over high heat until steam escapes from under the lid. Immediately reduce the heat to low and simmer, tightly closed and undisturbed, for 20 minutes. Turn the heat off and let the rice rest for 10 minutes.

While the rice is cooking, whisk together the vinegar, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl. Toss the cooked rice with the rice-vinegar dressing, fanning it lightly with a fan or a piece of cardboard.

Cut the smoked salmon lengthwise into logs, about ½ inch wide. Cut the avocado in half lengthwise and remove the pits. Using a large metal cooking spoon, scoop out the half avocados in a single piece and lay them on the cutting board. Cut them into ½ inch slices. Cut the cucumber in long strips, about ½ inch in width. Slice the cream cheese into ½ inch long strips.

Lay a sheet of nori, shiny-side-down on a bamboo sushi-rolling mat (I use wax paper if I don’t have a mat). Use about 1 cup of the sushi rice to lightly cover the surface of the nori sheet, leaving a 1-inch border uncovered on the far end. The key is to not layer the rice too thickly, cover with ¼ inch of rice and you will see some of the nori behind the rice. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the surface of the rice.

Layer a line of the smoked salmon, avocado, cucumber and cream cheese on top of the rice in a straight line running from one side of the sheet to the other about an inch from the side closest to you. Starting from that end, gently roll and press the rice and the nori around the filling to form a fairly firm log. Gently pull the wax paper out of the crease as you roll.

Repeat the process with the remaining sheets of nori and the fillings to make four logs. With a very sharp knife, cut each log into 6 pieces, leave the pieces in place and wrap the log in baker's parchment until you are ready to serve.