I tried to make sushi for the first time and I was amazed. It was so easy!

I have a Japanese food store right near my office so I was able to easily pick up a bamboo mat and some nori sheets on my way home from work. If you don’t have a Japanese food store near you, I’m sure you can find nori in the international aisle of your supermarket.

I watched a Youtube video for tips on rolling the nori, but honestly it was super intuitive and only took a few minutes to assemble. My first roll was actually my best! You place the nori on the bamboo mat, spread out the cooled sticky rice in an even layer, place your fillings in a line along the rice, and then roll it up. I’ll never have supermarket sushi again, now that I know I can make it so easily at home!

Ingredients
2 nori sheets
1 cup rice
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 package extra firm tofu, well drained and pressed, and sliced into long and skinny strips
zest and juice of half a lime
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cucumber, sliced into long and skinny strips
4 stalks of asparagus
1/3 cup matchstick carrots
1/4 cup shredded red cabbage
soy sauce, wasabi, pickled ginger for serving, optional

Instructions
Cook rice in a rice cooker or in a small pot of two cups of water. Mix together rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt in a small saucepan and heat on low until the sugar is fully dissolved; set aside to cool. When the rice is finished, add the vinegar mixture and mix into the rice thoroughly. Set rice aside to cool completely.

Meanwhile, marinate tofu strips in the following: soy sauce, lime zest, lime juice, olive oil, and garlic. Right before you’re ready to assemble the sushi, grill tofu strips in a skillet over medium high heat, rotating to grill evenly on each side.

To assemble the sushi, place a nori sheet on the bamboo mat and spread with an even layer of rice. Wet your fingers in a small bowl of water to keep the rice from sticking to your fingers. In a line towards the bottom of the sheet, layer a strip of tofu, 2 asparagus stalks, a thin layer of carrots and cabbage, and cucumber. Use the bamboo mat to roll up the sushi as tightly as possible. Wet the end of the nori to seal the roll. Use a sharp knife to slice the roll, wetting the knife between each slice.