What is Maki Roll
Maki roll is the most common type of sushi roll found in the United States. There are many different types of maki rolls with a variety of sizes as well as fillings.
Starting with Hosomaki Sushi, which is a small sized sushi about one inch around. The largest maki type is the Futomaki Sushi which has a diameter around 6 meters long.
The word maki means ‘roll’ in Japanese. Traditional maki roll appears as a round piece of sushi with sushi rice wrapped together in the middle by seaweed.
But from this source, maki rolls are not just limited to the regular round sushi rolls. Some maki rolls have toppings like tobiko(fish roe). While there’s also Gunkan-maki which uses fish roes instead of sushi rice.
Besides these innovative designs, another unconvention maki roll is Uramaki Sushi. It’s a really popular inside-out sushi in America with the sesame seed sticking to the sushi rice on the outside. Instead of having the rice in the middle wrapped by a piece of seaweed paper.
Maki Roll vs Other Types of Sushi
What’s especially particular about the Maki Roll from other sushi is that it has its fillings inside. Whether the fillings are meat or vegetable.
In comparison, Nigiri Sushi also has the use of sushi rice. But places the topping on top of the sushi rice instead of it being wrapped in the middle by the rice. Not to mention the fact that Nigiri Sushi mostly doesn’t use seaweed nori to hold the rice and fish meat together.
A common seafood served in sushi restaurants is sashimi or thinly sliced fish meat. The difference here is that sashimi is only meat without the addition of rice.
Different Fillings for Maki Rolls
The wonderful thing about Maki Roll is that it can be made with a variety of relatively inexpensive fillings. Flavorful ingredients that can fit for a range of dietary preferences.
Here’s a list of simple fillings you can try at home:
- Salmon
- Tuna
- Avocado
- Crabsticks
- Cucumber
- Chopped Shrimps
- Chopped Leeks
- Eel meat
- Nattō
- Daikon Radish
- Umeboshi
- Kanpyō(Guard)
- Gobo(Burdock)
- Sweet Corn
- Tobiko(Fish Roe)
- Egg
- Sea Urchin
- Mayo(For Mixing)
- Sweet Potato
These are some fillings that can be easily found in most supermarkets. If you don’t like using ingredients like tobiko, sea urchin, or raw tuna meat you can start with using fried eggs as the filling.
It’s not really that hard to get started and you don’t even need a bamboo mat. You can also make a maki roll with just some plastic food wrap if you have those nearby.
This is a video to show you how simple it is to get started at home:
If this is going to be your first time it is okay to start with the basic fillings and learn your way to mastery. To add some additional flavors try dipping the rolls in sweet soy sauce or coconut amino if you’re allergic to soy.
It’s also okay to use some regular cooked white rice instead of vinegared sushi rice. It won’t have the sushi taste to it. But it can save you some material and difficulty for your first practice with making a maki roll.
