Scarcely seen at the most high end sushi restaurants, temaki is a type of sushi considered to be of the less elevated variety. In fact, temaki is a much loved type of sushi by many people, but it does not have the same refined reputation like nigiri.
‘Te’ means hand and ‘maki’ means roll, so the name temaki directly translates to hand roll. The recognizable cone shape of this sushi easily separates temaki from other rolls like gunkanmaki and makizushi.
Fun fact: while you are unlikely to see a temaki served at higher end establishments, the chef’s often make temaki for themselves before customers arrive.
Source -me (it is often my lunch).
What Is Temaki
Temaki, from the Japanese words te (hand) and maki (roll) is a cone shaped sushi popular at casual sushi establishments. Temaki are made by pressing sushi rice onto a piece of nori and placing atop raw or cooked fish, vegetables, and more. The seaweed is then rolled up into a cone where the filling can be seen easily from the open end.
Temaki are popular at low and midrange sushi restaurants, although some high end restaurants do serve a temaki as a course on an omakase (rarely). They were originally seen as a street food (well, so was most sushi) since you could buy it from a counter and eat it on the go!
Where Does Temaki Come From?
The origin of temaki is quite contentious. The most likely story is that temaki originated in the late Edo period as a way for busy workers to get food on the go. There was no need to fuss with chopsticks and could be easily eaten while standing.
Some also say that temaki has a more shady origin. It is believed that this cone shaped sushi was provided to patrons of tekkaba (gambling dens). Interestingly enough, this is also an origin story for sushi in general! Since temaki is wrapped entirely in nori, bakuto (gamblers) could hold it in one hand while still playing hanafuda (a popular gambling game).
Another belief is more modern. The restaurant Tsukiji Tama Sushi in Tokyo claims to have invented temakizushi in 1971 as a way to drum up more customers. Whether this is true or not, well, I will leave up to sushi historians. I will say they have a great all-you-can-eat deal which is a great way to introduce yourself to plenty of fish you might not have heard about before.
What Goes Inside Temaki
Even though temaki may have originated in the late Edo period, it is not considered an edomae sushi. Thus there are no hard and fast rules about what can go inside. In fact, at the grocery store one of the most popular temaki fillings is salmon – which didn’t become popular in Japan until the 1980s.
When making temaki it is important to use very little rice. When rolled into a cone the rice will get bunched up which will cause an unbalance when eaten.
Other than the rice, here are some other sushi toppings to add to your temaki:
- Raw fish
- Marinated fish
- Cooked fish
- Vegetables
- Tempura
- Wasabi
- Shiso
…and more!
How To Make A Temaki
Like with all sushi, the first step to make a temaki is to make the sushi rice. I’ve written a comprehensive guide here, or you can use your own method. Once the rice is made you can begin to make a temaki.
First step is to trim your nori down to the correct size. This might not be needed depending on the size you bought at the store, but the popular size for a hand roll is 1/2 of a standard sheet of nori. Many stores in Japan already sell half sheets so you can just buy those if available.
Next hold the nori with one hand as shown above. Press in a thin layer of rice on part of the sheet in your hand. See photo below for the best rice placement.
Add the toppings (neta) in the same direction as the rice and roll into a cone shape. The first time you try to roll a cone you might have some difficulty, but it gets easier over time.
Other Popular Types Of Sushi
- Nigiri
- Makizushi
- Oshizushi
- Chirashi
- Uramaki (Western style sushi)