Dynamite Roll (Ehomaki) Sushi Recipe aka Futomaki

Have you ever heard of Dynamite roll? Well, there is actually such a thing and if you haven’t tried it before then read my recipe for Dynamite sushi roll along with a recipe for Ehomaki and Futomaki sushi rolls.

I was planning to publish this post in February to match it with the Japanese traditional holiday, but I got busy with other things and it was delayed a little.

If you are wondering, Dynamite Roll, Ehomaki Sushi and Futomaki Sushi are pretty much the same thing and fall in the Maki sushi roll category or “makizushi“, just with a slight difference in preparation, appearance and the occasion they are used.

So, What is This Dynamite Ehomaki Roll Sushi All About?

February 3rd is a Japanese holiday, called “Setsubun“, which celebrates the arrival of the spring. Its also a tradition on this day little children perform a ritual called “mame-maki” along with their family. It’s about throwing roasted soy seeds to drive away evil forces and bring happiness at home.

Japanese traditions are often interconnected with culinary traditions. So, in this period of the year in Japan they also usually eat a sushi roll, called “ehomaki” while facing the “eho” direction or direction of the Year God (god of happiness and fortune)  (the designated annual direction related to the twelve signs of the Chinese zodiac) in order to be happy during the rest of the year…

This tradition is still relevant today, because in early February there are many “ehomaki” rolls sold in grocery stores on this date.

Enomaki is a long sushi roll type

Futomaki is the thick “fat” version of the sushi roll

Dynamite Rollis are the western variation of sushi, which usually includes a pieces of prawn tempura and masago (capelin roe), and/or with radish sprouts or other vegetable.

You can easily interchange or experiment with  ingredients and make different versions of sushi rolls. The possibilities are literally endless.

How to make Ehomaki Sushi Roll 太巻き寿司

Ingredients for 3 rolls

•  vinegar rice: 2 scoops of cooked rice seasoned with “sushi vinegar” (100ml rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon salt)
•  3 grilled seaweed leaves (yakinori)
•  Thick Japanese omelet (2 eggs), to be cut lengthwise, as in the photo
•  3 sprigs of spinach or cucumber
•  50g denbu (pink Cod crumbs to buy in Japanese grocery store)
•  100 g of surimi or grilled eel
•  50 g of kanpyo (dried and then marinated squash strips you can usually buy in a Japanese grocery store)

Preparation

1) Spread the rice on a grilled seaweed sheet

2) lay the ingredients in the middle of the sheet

3) roll the seaweed sheet using a makisu mat

4) cut the roll into 2 cm slices, or if you want to eat it according to the “ehomaki” tradition, eat it all in one piece!

Enjoy with a little soy sauce or oyster sauce.

Japanese Vegetarian Futomaki Sushi Recipe

Futomaki Sushi are a maki sushi variation, three to four centimeters in diameter, wrapped in dried seaweed called nori or konbu. This is one of the many varieties of maki and sushi that are the pride of Japanese cuisine. But how to make the Maki and especially the futomaki sushi ideal for lovers of vegetarian asian cuisine? Try this Sushi maki recipe below and you’ll know the answer!

Preparation Steps to make Futomaki sushi

The first step is to prepare the rice.

A ratio of about 7/3 should be calculated between the weight of rice and the weight of prepared(cooked) rice.

So, if a recipe asks for 300g of sushi rice, as is here, you will need 3/7*300 = 128g of rice. Or, with 300g of rice you prepare 700g of sushi rice, easy right :-).

As in addition to sushi, you will probably make makis, I advise you to prepare minimum 250g of rice or a little less of 600g for your sushi.

 

Japanese Futomaki Sushi recipe

• 250g Japanese sushi rice
• 375 ml of water (1 + 3/4 volume of rice)
• 1 sheet of konbu seaweed about 2*2cm
• 50ml rice vinegar
• 20g sugar
• 5 g. salt

Rice rinsing and polishing:

1. Pour rice into a bowl and cover with cold water. Rinse the first time without stirring the rice.
2. For polishing, once again cover the rice with cold water and, with your hand, stir the rice in circular motions.
3. Empty water and start again until the rinse water is no longer opaque and almost transparent. This stage lasts almost 5 minutes, it should not be zapped : it serves to remove the surplus
   starch so as not to get too sticky rice. Each grain should have a firm and shiny texture.
4. Drain the rice and let it stand for 10 minutes.

Cooking and seasoning the rice:

1. Pour the rinsed and polished rice into a saucepan. Add water and then konbu leaf. Cover the pan and no longer lift the cover throughout cooking. When the water boils, reduce the heat to a simmer. Listen because you won’t be able to watch !
2. When there is no more water on the surface (no more steam escaping from the lid), remove the pan from the fire, lay a kitchen towel clean between the pan and the lid to absorb condensation and leave for 15 minutes.

For seasoning,

1. Heat rice vinegar on low heat and dissolve salt and sugar in it.
2. Let it cool. This seasoning is called the sushi-su mixture.
3. Remove the konbu leaf and pour the cooked rice into a hangiri (wooden tray) or if you don’t have one use a wider hollow dish or pan if possible.
4. Using a flat wooden spatula, spread the rice without crushing it, and gradually sprinkle the sushi-su mixture.

You can use a fan to cool the rice. When the rice is at room temperature, cover it with a damp cloth
until the time of preparing sushi. But never place sushi rice in the fridge.

Recipe for Preparation of Traditional futomaki sushi:

For two Rolls (16 sushi rolls) :

• 300g prepared sushi rice
• 2 sheets of nori
• 2 long cucumber sticks
• 4 beautiful avocado slats
• 1 roll of omelet
• Japanese wasabi

Method

1. Place the nori sheet on the base and at the edge of the makisu (I use a silicone mat), shiny and smooth side towards the
   high.
2. Soak hands in water mixed with rice vinegar and then take a handful of rice equivalent to about 4 cases. Spread the
   rice evenly starting from the center. Leave a free space of 2 cm at the top of the nori sheet.
3. Draw a line of wasabi in the middle of the rice lengthwise.
4. Place a cucumber baton on the wasabi, 2 strips of avocado tight against the cucumber and 1/2 roll of omelet (cut in half in length) from above all as in the photo.
5. Lift the mat, keeping the ingredients well in the center with your fingertips.
6. Fold the bottom edge over the trim, making sure not to roll the top edge of the mat inside the roll.
7. While rolling, it is necessary to maintain a pressure in order to compact the roller well.
8. Repeat to make a second roll.
9. Me, I left the rolls cool and I only cut them when they were very cold, it was easier.
10. Moisten the blade with a knife and then cut the roll in half. Clean the blade and then re-moisten it before cutting each roll into 4 to get 8 futo maki.

There you go! Sushi is not just raw fish with rice but a real treat for your senses and art on its own.

And here are a few recipe variations for making futomaki sushi

For the really reckless, here is a little different kombu sushi futomaki recipe:

FOR 3 ROLLS:

SUSHI RICE:

• 800 ml of rice
  800 ml + 3 tablespoons of water
  A piece of 10cm side kombu (optional)

For rice seasoning:

• 100 ml of rice vinegar
• 5 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of salt(sushi rice for sushi like futomaki and inari is sweeter than rice for raw fish sushi).

Method

1. Cook rice with kombu.
2. Gently heat the seasoning to melt the salt and sugar. Cool to room temperature.
3. Gradually pour over the rice as soon as it is cooked, while fanning it (see rice recipe for sushi).

KAMPYO AND SHIITAKE FUTOMAKI RECIPE:

• 60 to 80g kampyo
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 5 dried shiitake mushrooms

For cooking kampyo and shiitake:

• 250 ml dashi (A)
• 5-6 tablespoons of sugar
• 3 tablespoons of mirin
• 3 to 4 tablespoons soy sauce

Method

1. Rinse the kampyo with water and rub it with salt. When softened, rinse and soak for 1 hour in water. Cook them in this water for 8 to 10 minutes depending on whether the kampyo is fresh or old. When they are well supple, rinse them with fresh water and “wring out ” them well.
2. Soak shiitakes in water. Use this water for dashi (A). Cook them with the kampyo in a saucepan, with the cooking ingredients, over low heat, until there is almost no liquid left. This recipe will be more successful if shiitakes and kampyo are well seasoned,sweet-salty. So do not be afraid if at this stage you find them too sweet.
3. Cool to room temperature. Lightly “wring out” shiitakes and kampyo. Cut the shiitake into not too thin strips. Cut the kampyo to a length equal to 3 times the width of the nori. If the kampyo is not long enough, it does not matter, just align the short straps to get the same result, that is, 3 “lines” of kampyo.

MITSUBA, CHIKUWA AND CARROTS FUTOMAKI RECIPE:

• 1 bunch of mitsuba (failing, spinach)
• 2 large chikuwa
• 1 or 2 carrots
• For cooking carrots and chikuwa:
• 200 ml of dashi
• 3 to 4 tablespoons of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of mirin
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce

Method

1. Blanch the mitsuba for 1-2 minutes in boiling water. Do not immerse them in fresh water because they are like straws (hollow): it is therefore necessary to vent them to refresh them and stop cooking and color. If you replace them with spinach, blanch them and immerse them in cold water before “wringing out” them well.
2. Immerse the chikuwa in boiling water to remove the fishy taste. Cut them into 4 lengthwise.
3. Cut the carrots into 1 cm cubes. Blanch them and immerse them in cold water. Drain.
4. Heat the cooking ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, cook carrots first for 3-5 minutes, then chikuwa on low heat for 3-4 minutes. Let them cool in the cooking juice. Above all, well “extend” the chikuwa so that they do not take a funny shape while they cool! They will also curl if it is too hot! So cook over very low heat, be careful that they remain straight even during cooling…if they are not straight, you will not be able to roll them.

TAMAGO FUTOMAKI RECIPE:

• 4 eggs
• 3 tablespoons of sugar
• 3 to 4 tablespoons of sake
• 1 good pinch of salt not for seasoning but for elasticity.
• A few drops of oil.

1. Mix all the ingredients but do not whisk. It is not necessary that the mixture foam, otherwise, the tamago will not have a”chew”. It does not matter if there is white left.
2. Cook tamago with very little oil, just enough so that it does not stick. Pour the mixture into the pan and roll or fold, a bit like for an omelet but finer. Roll back a little of the mixture and roll … repeat until a roll of tamago is obtained.
3. If you are unable to roll, Cook and then roll the “omelette tips ” still hot in a makisu or dishcloth. The ” tips” will stick together enough to form a kind of tamago, which in any case will be cut, so it is not necessary to give it a beautiful shape. Do not wait until it is cold, you will not be able to roll it.
4. Cool to room temperature. Cut the tamago into sticks the thickness of a little finger (female).
5. Let the roll stand. Cut it when serving and not before, otherwise it will dry up.

You can make these sushi recipes with anago (eel) also or with pickled ginger.

Easy Dynamite rolls recipe

An explosion sensations in every bite which you will surely love.

Ingredients for the Roll:

• 1 sheet of Nori seaweed
• 1 cup rice prepared for sushi
• 1 serving of crab paste
• 2 tablespoons large wakame
• sesame seeds to finish
• For filling (crab paste)
• 6 small cut surimi sticks.
• 1 large tablespoon of mayonnaise
• wasabi, it all depends on how spicy you want it
• 1 tablespoon chives or chopped ciboulette.
• 1 tablespoon masago (fish roe)
• 2 tablespoons chopped cucumber into thin strips and then diced
• teaspoon soy sauce
• 2 avocado strips
• 2 tablespoons wakame

Preparation:

1. Mix the ingredients of the filling except for avocado, which you should keep for later.
2. Place a sheet of nori algae, on our mat (wrapped in cling film) and top place the rice sushi uniformly.
3. We carefully take the nori leaf and turn it over the mat, so that the rice is down.
4. Place the avocado slices making a line and then the filling next. We wind up making pressure so it doesn’t get out.
5. Add sesame seeds above the roll and cut with a sharp knife passed by hot water before each cut and clean.
6. To serve, place the rolls, a little wakame and the sauce of your choice( we can accompany it with mayonnaise with wasabi), we can not forget our wasabi.

Shorter and easier Dynamite Roll Recipe

And here is a nice video of how to make sushi rice step by step to help you get a better idea on the process:

Have you made sushi at home before? If you have any questions or tips on making these delicious Japanese sushi recipes let me know in the comments.