Make sushi at home with simple hand-rolled sushi called Temaki Sushi. Everyone in the family (or at the party) will have fun rolling the nori sheets around sushi rice and their favorite fillings!

As sushi becomes more popular than ever, many people think that it is a staple of Japanese home cooking. The fact is we don’t typically make sushi at home, especially when comes to nigiri or sushi rolls that require time and refined skills. We much prefer to enjoy them at a sushi restaurant.
But we do make exceptions for the less fussy ones like Temaki Sushi (hand-rolled sushi). Growing up, Temaki Sushi was our favorite party meal. My mom would make them once every couple of months because it’s very forgiving and we all love this easy DIY sushi at home.
Table of contents

What is Temaki Sushi?
Temaki Sushi is sometimes called a “hand roll” because it is made of a rolled cone of seaweed, wrapped around rice and fillings. The best part, for me as a cook, is that this is a meal where everyone helps themselves. You just need to prepare a platter of sushi rice, nori (seaweed sheet), and fillings such as sashimi-grade fish and sliced veggies/mango. Then at the table, each person makes hand-rolled sushi based on their favorite mix of ingredients.

3 Basic Ingredients for Temaki Sushi
1. Sushi Rice 酢飯

To make Temaki Sushi, you need to make the seasoned rice called Sushi Rice or Sumeshi (酢飯). The rice has to be short-grain rice so it is stickier and forms together when you wrap the seaweed cone around it. Sushi Rice is simply steamed rice seasoned with rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Japanese only make this rice when making sushi, so for all other Japanese meals, we eat regular steamed rice.
To learn how to make sushi rice, see How To Make Sushi Rice.
2. Gu (Ingredients for Sushi) 具

To be honest, the world is your oyster when comes to choosing the ingredients. Pick what you and your family enjoy! If you’re curious, here are some popular options in Japan:
Sashimi Choice (Raw Fish)
- Amaebi (sweet shrimp)
- Hamachi (yellowtail)
- Hotate (scallop)
- Ikura (salmon roe)
- Kanpachi (amberjack)
- Maguro (tuna)
- Salmon
- Tai (sea bream/red snapper)
- Tobiko (flying fish roe)
- Toro (fatty tuna)
- Uni (sea urchin)
Veggies
- Avocado
- Corn
- Cucumber
- Lettuce
- Radish sprout (kaiware daikon)
- Shiso leaves
- Yellow daikon pickles (takuan)
Cooked Ingredients
If you are vegetarian or do not eat raw fish, you can still make Temaki Sushi with vegetables and cooked items. It’s fun to make your own fillings, so get creative!
- Boiled shrimp
- Imitation crab sticks (kanikama)
- Natto (fermented soybean)
- Sweet Rolled Omelet (Atsuyaki Tamago)
- Tuna mayo
- Umeboshi (pickled plums) or Neri Ume (pickled plum paste)
- Shrimp Tempura
- Grilled Unagi
- Chicken Teriyaki
- Chicken Kaarage
- Chicken Katsu
3. Nori (Seaweed)

You will need good quality nori (seaweed) for Temaki Sushi. Some of you have asked me why their nori is chewy. Frankly speaking, it’s a sign of bad quality nori.
Good quality nori has an amazing fragrance and taste to it. After searching for good nori here in the U.S., I have to say I haven’t found any. My recommendation is to get nori from Ariake (有明) and get the most expensive nori available in that store. Still, the quality tends to less on par with the Japanese standard. If you get a chance to visit Japan, you must bring some back (it’s light and flat!!).

How to Make Temaki Sushi
- Cut a square nori sheet in half (restaurant-style) or quarter (more home-style).
- Place the nori, the shiny side down, on your palm.
- Put 1/4 cup sushi rice at a 45-degree angle to the top left corner of the nori sheet and flatten/spread it evenly.
- Add some ingredients over the rice: cucumber, 1-2 types of sashimi, and radish sprout.
- Roll the bottom left corner up to the middle of the top edge of the nori to form a triangle, and continue rolling until you form a cone shape.
- Put a piece of rice on the tip of the nori to secure the folds.
Whether it’s for a small gathering or a bigger crowd, Temaki Sushi is truly the best type of sushi to serve at home. Enjoy!

Wish to Learn More About Sushi?
Check out our Ultimate Sushi Guide to learn about the origin, sushi types, etiquettes, and more.

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Temaki Sushi (Hand Roll)
Ingredients
- 5 cups sushi rice (cooked and seasoned) (follow my recipe; 3 rice cooker cups of uncooked Japanese short-grain rice (540 ml, 3合, 450 g) yields roughly 5¼ US cups or 990 g of cooked rice; you must use short-grain Japanese rice to make sushi; otherwise, rice will fall apart.)
- 10 sheets nori (dried laver seaweed) (we use half sheet for each roll)
Temaki Filling Ideas
- sashimi-grade fish of your choice (¼–⅓ lb per person; salmon, tuna, amberjack, yellowtail, fatty tuna, sea bream, salmon roe, uni, etc.)
- Japanese or Persian cucumbers
- shiso leaves (perilla/ooba)
- kaiware daikon radish sprouts
- takuan (pickled daikon radish)
Instructions
- If your sashimi-grade fish of your choice comes as a block, slice the raw fish into long sticks. Or you can ask a fish monger at a Japanese grocery store to cut the raw fish for Temaki Sushi. They will cut fish into long sticks, instead of sashimi-style cut.
- Right before you start eating, cut 10 sheets nori (dried laver seaweed) in half (restaurant-style) or quarters (home-style; makes 40 taco-style rolls) and keep it in the bag as it becomes stale easily.
- Prepare 5 cups sushi rice (cooked and seasoned), Japanese or Persian cucumbers, shiso leaves (perilla/ooba), kaiware daikon radish sprouts, takuan (pickled daikon radish), and nori sheet (seaweed) at the table.
- Before you start, make sure your hands are dry in order to keep nori dry and crispy. Place the seaweed on the palm of your hand (shiny side down) and put a thin layer of rice on left third of nori. If you're using a ¼ sheet of nori, then put the rice and filling in the center and roll up the sides like taco.
- Place the fillings (shiso leaf, cucumber, raw fish, and daikon radish sprouts) vertically across middle of the rice.
- Fold the bottom left corner of nori over and begin rolling into a cone shape.
- Keep rolling until a cone shape is formed. Put a piece of rice at the bottom right corner to use as glue and close tightly. Continue with the other half of the nori.
- Serve with pickled ginger, wasabi, and soy sauce as condiments.
To Store
- Sashimi-grade fish must be eaten within 24 hours. Keep the leftovers in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for a day.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on May 16, 2013. The images have been updated, the content has been updated, and the post has been republished in February 2021.
Our Recommendations for Buying Sashimi Online
When we have a sudden craving for sashimi we usually buy from our local Japanese supermarkets. If you don't have a reliable shop to purchase quality sashimi nearby, we would recommend buying from Catalina Offshore online.
They've been in business for over forty years and all the sashimi products we've tried from them are outstanding. Use J1COOK20 for 10% discount. Disclosure: We earn a small percentage commission from your purchase of products linked to Catalina Offshore.
If I want to go all-out, this is it.
Everyone loves making their own hand rolls and its such a festive meal. It takes a lot of the pressure off the cook because there’s no need to go through the effort of rolling maki or (god forbid) forming nigiri.
Having a sushi party? MAKE TEMAKI!
Hi John! Thank you for your kind feedback!
Yes! This is a perfect party meal! Happy Cooking!
MYOSN (Make Your Own Sushi Night) is very popular with our kids. One thing we have not been able to replicate is keeping the balance of cool fish, warm rice, and crispy-crunchy nori! In fact, we’ve only eaten in two restaurants that achieve that as well! At Sugarfish in NYC (also on west coast, and I highly recommend it!) they tell you to eat it right away for that very reason. But even when we eat it right away at home, it’s never crispy. Is it the quality of the nori? Or are we too slow?! TIA!
Hi Katie! We are glad to hear you and your family enjoy making Temaki Sushi!
It depends on the quality of Nori, the crispiness is different. If you can, try fining Nori from Ariake-sea (有明 – You will see this letter on the package).
Also, add sushi vinegar to hot rice and let it cool immediately so that rice has less moisture when you make Temaki.
Tip #6 on this post: https://www.justonecookbook.com/how-to-make-sushi-rice/
We hope this is helpful!
I have this in my syllabus next year
Awesome, Fawn!
Hi,Nami!
The first time I tried this, I used Spam teriyaki sticks, crab sticks with carrot, cucumber, celery sticks and red leaf cabbage. My kids loved them. Today, I will be using salmon and tuna with the same set of veggies. Thank you so much for sharing this easy yet nutritious dish.
Sincerely,
Vanessa
Hi Vanessa, Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
We are happy to hear your kids enjoyed them. Thank you for sharing your cooking experience with us.😊
Great read, now following!
Hi Jemie, Thank you for your kind feedback!
We hope you enjoy Temaki Sushi!
While stationed in Japan[Sendai] i dined in a small restaurant. I had a bowl of very dark liquid that had long soba noodles,pieces of octopus,green onions and beef.Do you have a recipy baised on this information? I observed an elderly gentleman sipping the broth , i tried it and loved it. Thank you for your emails.
Hi James! We think that the dish is called “Niku soba.” We haven’t had a chance to taste the dish in Sendai, and not sure if we have the flavor, but we have a similar recipe. https://www.justonecookbook.com/soba-noodle-soup/ Please feel free to adjust the flavor as you like.
We hope this helps!
Thanks for your reply regarding Nori……but can you suggest an excellent brand of Nori to purchase here in America?
Hi Gary! We had looked at many stores, including online stores. Still, unfortunately, we could not find an excellent brand that we can recommend at this time. We will continue to look for it. In the meantime, please visit your local Japanese store. They often host the event to sell good quality imported Nori from Japan.🙂