Dukan Riceless Temaki (Sushi Handrolls)

Riceless Temaki Sushi Handrolls

We loved this recipe...and you can use a lot of different ingredients to make a temaki or handroll and they are very easy to make once you get the rolling/tucking technique down.

We don't recommend anything too wet that may soak through your nori or seaweed wrapper.

Ever since I can remember, my grandmother (and later all the female grandchildren) always rolled makizushi for New Year's Eve (and Day) -- a traditional "round" roll and we always used an odd number of ingredients for good luck.  Our makizushi usually consisted of sliced shiitake mushrooms, kampyo (strips of dried gourd reconstituted in the same water you boiled the shiitake mushrooms), egg omelet cut into strips, unagi (eel), dried ebi (shrimp) -- both colors -- red and green and carrots.

This year we didn't make sushi -- we knew we would most likely eat just one piece if we did make sushi.  So, on New Year's Day we decided to make some Riceless Temaki Handrolls with nori (seaweed wrapper), poke (seasoned raw fish) and an egg omelet made with tobiko or fish eggs.  You can really use a lot of different ingredients in a handroll.  We have lots of tobiko in our freezer and it was a PP day.  If it were a PV day, we would have definitely added either cucumbers, sprouts, seasoned lettuce, enoki mushrooms or other veggies.   Other items you can use - our kamaboko dip (recipe coming!), imitation crab, etc.)

Nori -- Seaweed wrap

Regarding nori (seaweed wrapper), check the package when purchasing -- there's usually sushi nori and musubi or omusubi (rice ball) nori.  We find the musubi nori a little chewier.  Some stores also sell already cut temaki (handroll) nori but if you buy the sushi nori, you can easily cut your nori in half for handrolls.  We don't usually buy Korean nori, but it is very tasty -- we've noticed it's stickier.  Try not to buy super cheap nori, those are generally very thin and break easily.  Most nori will have a shiny side and a ridged side.  We usually place the shiny side out.  As far as we can tell, nori or seaweed is Dukan and Paleo friendly.

Nori cut in half for handroll, front piece is the shiny side, back piece
is the ridged side.

If you've never rolled a handroll, it's fairly easy once you get the hang of it.  This is the first time we've posted a video on Blogger, so we're hoping it works...it's a short, simple tutorial on how to roll a handroll (it's posted just before the recipe below).

Place your omelet piece down at an angle facing the left

Place some poke on the omelet

Pick up the nori and hold in your left hand, use your right hand to push
left bottom corner up and start to tuck under the right side of the
omelet.

Keep rolling and tucking carefully.  It's one of those -- be firm but gentle.
Too firm and you'll smash everything up, too gentle and your handroll
will be too loose.  It may take you a couple of tries, but almost anyone
can learn to make a handroll!  Don't give up!

RECIPE:
Makes 4 handrolls
Prep time: 10-20 minutes
Roll Time: once you get the hang of it, rolling won't take long at all

1/8 lb. Ahi Limu Poke (Seasoned raw tuna with seaweed)
1/8 lb. Salmon Poke (Seasoned raw salmon)
2 full sheets of nori cut in half
2 eggs
1 T. tobiko (fish eggs) - this is optional, these are usually on the salty side for us, so we didn't add anything else to the eggs, but if you're making just a plain omelet or some other kind of omelet, you may want to season it -- even with hot sauce if you'd like

Beat eggs in a bowl (be sure to get some air in there!).  Add tobiko and mix.  Fry omelet in a pan over medium heat -- cook they way you like them.  We don't like our eggs runny, so we usually cook them a little more well done.  We used non stick spray in our pan but if we were making a true Paleo meal, we probably would have used a little bit of bacon grease or a small amount of olive oil.

Remove egg from pan and cut into 4 pieces (see photo above).  If your egg is longer than the nori wrapper, fold your egg.

We rolled two handrolls at a time for the photo taking session but normally we roll one at a time and we usually lay all the ingredients on one plate and roll as we eat...this way your nori doesn't get soggy -- it ends up chewier and for us, a little more difficult to eat.  If soggy nori doesn't bother you, go ahead and wrap them all before eating...it's really up to you.

Place your egg on the left side of the nori, angled to the left.  Place some poke on the egg.  Pick up your nori carefully and hold in your left hand (see photo above).  With your right hand, start rolling and tucking the left bottom corner of your nori under the egg.  Keep rolling and tucking until you have just the bottom right corner of the roll sticking out.  Dab a little water on the corner and close your sushi.

As mentioned above, rolling sushi is one of those things where you have to have a firm, but gentle touch.  Too firm will smash everything and too gentle will result in a loose handroll that will fall apart with the first bite or sooner.  Practice before you roll for a party!  Handroll parties are fun too!

Enjoy...we always do!