How To Make An Eel Sushi Roll

I love American sushi rolls so much that I taught myself to prepare it at home, and believe that you can learn this easy technique as well with some practice. It is so simple, and so delicious that I trust you will want to skip your night out at the sushi bar and stay in for the evening to make these flavor infused Fresh Unagi Eel Sushi Rolls with Cream Cheese, Cucumber, and Savory Eel Sauce. This is one of my absolute favorite recipes, particularly because of the flavor profile attained by broiling the Unagi eel in the toaster oven. You will find that there is a smoky, barbecue flavor and succulent texture that is quite unique. Pair this with a little cream cheese, some crunchy cucumber, and savory sesame seeds and this is one brilliant palette pleaser.

Required Tools:

• 1 One gallon size freezer bag
• 1 Sushi Rolling Mat
• 1 Piece of tin foil (to cook the Unagi Eel on)
• Toaster or regular oven (heated to 300* F)

Ingredients:

• 1 Full Sheet of Nori Seaweed (cut into halves)
• 1 cup of prepared sushi rice
• 1/8^th of a block of cream cheese (taken lengthwise from the block)
• 2 Cucumber slices (julienned; ¼ thick in width, and the length of your Nori Seaweed piece)
• 4-6 oz of Unagi (Eel), cooked, cut into ½” strips the length of the Nori seaweed

Topping: Toasted sesame seeds, Eel sauce

To Prepare the Unagi Eel: Preheat your toaster oven to 300* F. Place the Unagi eel on the tin foil, and the tin foil in the toaster oven on the toaster oven tray. Remove after 5-6 minutes. Make sure that the Unagi has heated completely through. Cut into ½ inch thick strips about the length of the piece of Nori seaweed that you are using. It will need to cool slightly before being placed into the roll so as not to melt the cream cheese.

Directions for Fresh Unagi Eel Roll with Cream Cheese and Cucumber:

Place your sushi mat inside of the gallon sized freezer bag. This prevents the rice from sticking to your mat, and makes it easier to roll up the sushi. Lay the freezer bag covered sushi mat out on the table in front of you. Lay the ½ piece of Nori Seaweed onto the mat. With wet hands spread a handful of sushi rice over the top of the Nori seaweed, making sure to get rice out to the end of the Nori. Press the rice gently but firmly into the Nori seaweed until it is just compacted together. Add the strip of smoky Unagi first. Next slide the strip of cream cheese snug against the Unagi to achieve the smoky creamy palette combination. To add the fresh crunch top the Unagi with one or two pieces of cucumber based on your preference.

Time to Roll: Grabbing the portion of the sushi mat closest to you, roll it over the top of the sushi filling to compact it into one solid roll, press it down, and quickly reroll, making sure that the two ends of the seaweed (that closest to you and furthest away from you) are touching so that they seal together. Roll the seaweed over the top of the filling, just touching the other side of the filling. Release the top of the mat, and use it to continue to roll the sushi roll until it reaches the proper roll form. Open the mat and generously sprinkle the top of the Fresh Unagi Eel Roll with sesame seeds. Cut in half, in half again, and in half again until there are 8 total pieces. Place these pieces onto a black square plate and drizzle with Eel sauce. Crown with a sprinkling of additional sesame seeds for an eye pleasing presentation that is sure to win over any American sushi lover’s palette!