This exotic Japanese Celebration Sushi Roll marries the freshness of avocado with the complex flavors of fine sushi grade salmon, along with green Wasabi sesame seeds for that beautiful contrast against the white sushi rice. But, the crowning glory this time isn’t a carrot crisp fashioned with tempura batter – it’s popcorn. Simple, yet dramatic, this easy sushi roll creation is guaranteed to impress your dinner guests!

Instructions:

Step 1: Creating Your Celebration Roll Before you begin, wet your fingers in a bowl of water so that the rice doesn’t stick to your hands. Lay a single ½ sheet of Nori onto your covered bamboo mat, then transfer 150g (5 oz) of sushi rice onto the sheet. Spread the rice out gently to the edges with your fingers so that it covers the entire sheet. (Remember to fluff the rice, rather than press it down, to keep it aerated.) Next, add a light, even sprinkling of Wasabi-coated green sesame seeds to the surface of your rice. In one quick motion, flip over the entire Nori sheet. The moisture within the rice causes it to adhere to your sheet, so don’t worry about it falling off. Add a single long strip of sushi grade salmon, cut to about 1/2 an inch in thickness. Ideally, this should be about 1-2 cm in from the edge of Nori sheet for ease of rolling. Finally, add three, evenly spaced slices of avocado above the salmon strip, making sure there isn’t too much of a gap between them.

Step 2: Rolling Your Celebration Sushi Creation Now, use your mat to gently roll the sheet, holding the contents in place with your fingers. Use gentle compression to pack the contents of your sushi roll together. Avoid exerting too much pressure. As you roll, use your fingers to flatten the mat so you eventually end up with a rough square shape. Press along the outer edge to get a nice straight finish before gently unrolling the mat. For aesthetic effect, add a second light sprinkling of green sesame seeds to your sushi roll, turning it over as you go to ensure all sides are covered. These won’t be compressed into the rice, and will give your roll added texture. Cover your sushi roll with a piece of cling film. This will keep the rice in place when it comes to making your cuts. Then, take your rolling mat and gently compress around the roll to help the cling film adhere to the rice.

Step 3: Cutting and Finishing Your Roll A sushi roll will always look far more presentable with clean lines, so before cutting your roll into segments, you might want to consider cutting off messy ends. To divide your sushi roll into equal segments, cut the roll in half, the halves into quarters, and the quarters into eighths. Tip: To prevent the rice sticking to your knife, ensure the blade is moistened with a little water every time you make a clean cut. To finish your sushi roll, pipe a swirl of ginger carrot sauce onto the surface of each segment. For visual impact, gently push one or two pieces of unsalted popcorn into the swirl of sauce until they stay upright of their own accord.