Roll Dragon is a luxurious Japanese dish with fried eel. The fish is laid out on top of the rolls in such a way that it resembles the back of a dragon. As a rule, the Dragon roll is also garnished with unagi sauce.

Name: Roll Dragon Date added: 31.12.2014 Cooking time: 45 minutes Servings Per Recipe: 2 Rating: (No rating)
Ingredients

Product	Quantity
Round grain rice	130 g
Rice vinegar	20 ml
Nori seaweed	1 sheet
Roasted eel	70 g
Crab meat	40 g
Fresh salmon	30 g
Japanese mayonnaise	15 g
Flying fish roe	40 g
Unagi sauce	25 ml

Dragon Roll Recipe

Boil the rice until the water is completely absorbed, without opening the lid (before boiling - over high heat, after boiling - about 3 minutes on low). Mix it with wine vinegar and stir with a wooden spatula. Put a sheet of nori on the makis with a rough surface inward.

"Dragon" - incredibly popular roll with eel slices Place the rice and flatten with your hands. Disassemble the crab meat into large fibers. Cut the salmon into strips of medium thickness. Turn the nori leaf over with the rice facing down, lay out the crab meat, salmon and flying fish roe. Grease the filling with mayonnaise. Using a mat, roll the roll into a roll and press down with your hands.

Place a thick piece of eel on top of the roll. Press on the rice. Cut the roll into portions with a sharp knife dipped in water. Drizzle with unagi sauce. Serve with ginger, soy sauce and wasabi.

In the mysterious oriental culture, the dragon has long been considered not only a mythical creature about which legends are made, but also a symbol of mighty and divine power. Surprisingly, these creatures, it turns out, can differ in nationality! A distinctive feature of the Japanese dragon is the exact number of "toes" on its paws - there should be exactly three of them.

According to Japanese tradition, it is customary to pay tribute to this dangerous creature, so the image of a dragon can be found in various spheres of Japanese life. We, of course, do not live in Japan, but still sometimes we want to plunge into this mysterious and unusual oriental atmosphere! Therefore, let's cook a Dragon roll together, and our recipe with a photo will be of great help in this!

Ingredients:

• round grain rice - 1 cup;
• water - 1.5 cups;
• seasoning for sushi - 50-80 ml;
• nori - 2-3 leaves;
• fresh cucumber - 1 pc .;
• "Philadelphia" or any cream cheese without additives - 200 g.

For registration:

• smoked eel - about 500 g;
• red bell pepper - ¼ pieces;
• fresh cucumber - several slices;
• sesame seeds - 1 tbsp spoon.

How to cook eel rolls

1. First of all, to form the dish, let's prepare the rice. After thoroughly washing the rice grains, fill with water and boil according to the instructions described. Do not forget to soak the finished rice with sushi dressing!
   
2. While the base of the Japanese dish is cooling down, let's prepare the inventory. Be sure to wrap the bamboo mat with cling film; for better fixation, you can fix the edges with adhesive tape. Cut the nori sheets in half with scissors or a sharp knife blade.
   
3. Place one half of the nori sheet on the bamboo mat so that the rough side is on top. We take a portion of warm, but no longer hot rice and, ramming, distribute in an even thin layer without gaps. From above we leave a space free of rice grains (about 1 cm), and from the bottom, on the contrary, we intercede with rice the same distance beyond the nori border (it is obtained, as it were, by displacing the rice layer on the surface of Japanese algae). Do not forget to periodically moisten your palms with water so that the rice does not stick to your fingers and interfere with your work.
   
4. Turn the nori and rice over to the other side (the layer of rice grains should now be on the bottom). Having stepped back from the bottom edge 1.5-2 cm, apply a portion of cream cheese (about 2 tablespoons) to the smooth surface of the seaweed. Place 2-3 thin strips of fresh cucumber next to it.
   
5. We fold the roll (for more information on how to do this, see the recipe). Place part of the eel on the formed roll so that both ends of the fish carcass protrude beyond the limits of our roll. We cut the workpiece into two halves.
   
6. We divide each part into 4 pieces of equal size. For this purpose, be sure to choose a very sharp knife - from a dull blade, the roll will simply fall apart and lose its appearance. From time to time we wet the knife in cold water and remove the remains of cream cheese and rice particles from it.
   

   How to make a dragon roll

7. We spread the roll in the form of a dragon, sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired. The design of the dish can be arbitrary. In our example, the "eyes", "legs" with three "fingers" and "tongue" of the dragon are made from slices of fresh cucumber. For the "pupils" we took black sesame, and the "mustache" was formed from red bell pepper.
   

We serve the Dragon roll like any Japanese sushi: with soy sauce, ginger and wasabi. Bon Appetit!

Dragon Rolls are popular with many thanks to the crunchy texture of the shrimp tempura inside the roll. Since this recipe does not require raw fish, young children and pregnant women can enjoy these rolls as well.

What are Dragon rolls?

Dragon rolls are rolls turned inside out. This means that the nori seaweed is on the inside and the rice is on the outside. As a rule, these rolls have tempura shrimp and cucumber, and thinly sliced ​​avocado is placed on top that resembles dragon scales.

There are several options for the filling. For example, some restaurants use fried eel (unagi) instead of shrimp tempura.

Don't want to cook rolls? Then order ready-made Sushi Bandzai and they will be delivered to you as soon as possible.

Today, tempura shrimp is quite popular and many American grocery stores sell ready-made frozen tempura shrimp. This option has one significant advantage - this tempura shrimp is crispy. This is usually quite difficult to achieve if done at home.

Once you buy ready-made frozen tempura shrimp, all you have to do is put them in the oven (or microwave) for 20 minutes or so. And while the shrimp tempura is thawing, you can have time to do most of the preparatory work.

Of course, you can make tempura shrimp yourself as it is not very difficult. In one of the following articles, we will show you how to do this.

Avocado... It may sound ridiculous, but in my opinion, the hardest part of making Dragon rolls is finding ripe avocados. To find the perfect avocado, look for those with a darker skin color. Then gently squeeze the avocado in the palm of your hand and, if it gives in to pressure (is soft to the touch), then you can buy it. If the avocado is firm, then it will ripen only after a couple of days.

Cucumber... It is best to use Japanese cucumbers, which are long and slender. They are low in seeds, so they are perfect for sushi rolls. Persian cucumbers are very similar to them, so they are a great substitute. If you will be using other types of cucumber, be sure to remove all seeds from them.

The word sushi rice is sometimes used outside of Japan to refer to Japanese short grain rice. But in Japanese cuisine, sushi rice means steamed rice flavored with sushi vinegar and used only for making sushi.

Perfectly cooked sushi rice is very important. To do this, you need short grain Japanese rice. And don't forget to add special vinegar. We will not dwell on the preparation of rice in detail, since we have repeatedly paid attention to this in previous articles.

Also, pay special attention to the amount of rice and toppings in the rolls, as rolls often contain too much rice compared to the fillings.

Nori seaweed... I am using half a nori leaf for this recipe. However, if this is not enough for you, then you can use 2/3 of the nori sheet. However, keep in mind that then you will need more other ingredients.

Please use Japanese mayonnaise for this recipe. I believe it matters to the final taste.

Although we only need a few tablespoons of unagi sauce, it must be mentioned. If you can't find a bottle of unagi sauce at your local grocery store, try making your own. You can also use this seasoning for other Japanese dishes.

Ingredients

You will need to purchase the following products for making rolls:

• Persian / Japanese (any) cucumber - 1 piece;
• avocado - 2 pieces;
• lemon (optional) - half;
• nori seaweed - 2 leaves (cut in half);
• sushi rice - 2 bowls (half a bowl is needed for one serving);
• tempura shrimp - 8 pieces;
• tobiko caviar - 2 teaspoons;
• unagi (eel) (optional).

Ingredients for the filling:

• spicy mayonnaise;
• unagi sauce;
• black sesame seeds (toasted).

Acetic water for wetting hands (Tezu):

• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tsp rice vinegar.

Recipe

1. Prepare all ingredients.

2. Cut the cucumber lengthwise. Remove the seeds from it and then cut it in half again.

3. Cut the avocado in half around the kernel and twist both halves until they separate from each other. Remove the nucleolus.

4. Peel and slice the avocado into poporek.

5. Gently press down on the avocado slices with your fingers, and then gently and evenly press down on the knife until the length of the avocado is equal to the length of the Nori seaweed. If after making the sushi you will not eat it right away, it is recommended to sprinkle the avocado with lemon juice to prevent discoloration of the fruit.

6. Wrap the bamboo mat with cling film and place half of the nori sheet, shiny side down. Soak your hands in tezu (vinegar water) and place 1/2 cup sushi rice on a nori leaf.

7. Turn it over and place the tempura shrimp, sliced ​​cucumber and tobiko on the bottom of the nori leaf. If you want to add eel, then add it as well.

8. From the bottom edge, start rolling the nori sheet over the bamboo mat until the bottom end reaches the nori sheet. Lift the bamboo mat and turn it over.

9. Place the bamboo mat on top of the roll and squeeze the roll.

10. Using a knife blade, place the avocado on top of the roll.

11. Place plastic wrap on top of the roll and then wrap a bamboo mat. Squeeze the roll tightly until the avocado pieces are wrapped around the sushi. Be careful not to damage the avocado pieces.

12. Cut the roll into 8 pieces with a knife. Clean the knife with a wet towel after each cut. Remove the plastic wrap and transfer the rolls to a serving plate.

13. Place tobiko caviar on each piece of rolls, add spicy mayonnaise and sprinkle black sesame seeds on top. Spread the unagi sauce on a plate if you like. Enjoy!

Do you want to surprise your loved ones or guests who should come to you soon? Then try to cook Dragon rolls, and my step-by-step photo recipe will help you a lot! And also at the very end of the article you will see a video recipe for the classic "Dragon" roll.

The Japanese dragon is a mythological creature with a writhing body, eight heads and three toes on each paw. The most famous legend in Japan is about the dragon Yamata no Orochi, who for seven years in a row ate one daughter of the earth god Asinazuchi, who lives in the country of Izumo. In the eighth year, the god Susanoo no mikoto appeared, who agreed with the god Asinazuchi to kill the dragon, asking for this as a reward for his last daughter, Kushinada-hime. So the hero Susanoo no Mikoto gave the dragon sake from eight barrels to drink, and when he got drunk and fell asleep, he cut him into small pieces. Traditionally, with the advent of the Year of the Dragon, it is customary in Japan to pay tribute to this powerful and dangerous creature. The dragon is kind to those who worship him. And you can express your respect for the ancient creature by playing it in the form of rolls.

Step-by-step photo recipe for making "Dragon" rolls

We need:

• sushi rice (Japanese, round grain) - 350 gr
• water - 360 ml
• ready-made sushi seasoning (or rice vinegar, sugar and salt) -80-100 ml
• dried seaweed nori
• smoked eel
• natural crab meat (or crab sticks)
• avocado
• bell pepper
• eel sauce (Unagi)
• sesame
• bamboo mat for making rolls (Makisu)
• cling film

Rolls Dragon. Step by step photo recipe

Preparation:
So, we need to boil the rice and prepare all the ingredients for the sushi.

Tip: Since the rice should be warm during sushi cooking and so that it does not cool down while you cook all the ingredients, I advise you to work on all the ingredients while the rice is being cooked.

Cut the crab sticks, avocado and bell pepper into strips. It is best, of course, to take not crab sticks, but natural crab meat, it will come out more expensive, but the taste of the rolls will only benefit from this! You can take any filling you like inside the "Dragon" rolls. I really like the combination of salmon and cream cheese, and you can also add avocado here. In the restaurant I tried these rolls with such filling: takuan, cucumber and cream cheese. There are many options for fillings, this is your choice) And the most important thing is that on top of the Dragon rolls there is always smoked eel.

Prepare smoked eel. In fact, the eel used to make the rolls is not smoked, but fried !!! Why it is mistakenly called smoked is not clear) So, to make the Dragon rolls we need half of the eel, and if you cook only one Dragon roll and if you no longer cook sushi and rolls from the eel, then without defrosting, cut off half of the eel, and the other put back in the freezer. Frozen eel can be stored for a long time, from several months to a year. Defrost the eel in advance, remove it from the freezer and let it sit for a while.

When it is not hard to the touch, you can open it and take it out of the package. You will see that the eel is covered in the sauce in which it was cooked. All the sauce must be carefully removed with a paper napkin, and if there is a lot of sauce (as in my photo), then carefully remove the sauce with a spoon without damaging the eel, since its meat is very tender, and then blot it with a napkin.

Next, the eel needs to be cut into two halves exactly along the back. If you see any bones left over from fins, be sure to cut them off. And look what kind of skin the blackhead has, if it is very hard, then remove the skin from the blackhead, you can leave it soft.

For our roll, choose one of the halves of the eel, which is more flavorful and which is more suitable for the type of Dragon)

Prepare Nori sheets. Of course, you don't need to cook them)) I meant that for our roll we only need half a whole sheet, or 2/3 of a sheet. Personally, I use half.

Take the whole Nori sheet. And cut it in half.

From one of these halves of a Nori sheet, we will prepare "Dragon" rolls. Wrap the Makisu bamboo mat in plastic wrap. You can buy yourself one single bamboo mat for making rolls "Makisu" and just wrap it in regular plastic wrap before each use and use it as much as you like, and you will have it always clean. And after using it, you don't even need to wash it, but just remove the film and that's it !!! I wrap the mat in foil 5 times so that it does not unfold for sure)) I did not know this before and used a mat without a foil, after using it I thoroughly washed it, but still there were particles of rice, caviar, sesame seeds and I had to buy a new one. But now I always use cling film and I advise you too !!!

So, we have all the ingredients prepared and this is how they should look like with us)

Let's start preparing the "Dragon" rolls

Take a bamboo mat "Makisu", on it, place half a sheet of Nori, smooth side down, on the part of the mat closest to you. To prepare Uramaki rolls (rolls with rice facing out), use half a Nori leaf.

Now we need rice for sushi and cold water, it is advisable to put a few slices of lemon in it.

We spread the rice on a Nori sheet in a thin layer (be sure to moisten your fingers in water before taking part of the rice, otherwise the rice will stick to your fingers), making an offset of 1-1.5 cm from you (this is necessary so that the finished roll does not there were snails on the cut). That is, do not spread rice on the edge of Nori closest to you (it remains free), but put it on the rest of the nori and also put rice 1-1.5 cm on the mat without Nori. We just spread the rice, not crushing it with our fingers.

Now we need to turn over the Nori sheet. To do this, cover the Nori with the rice with the other half of the mat. Turn the mat over with the Nori and the rice, pressing lightly with your palm.

Unfold the mat. Rice should be at the bottom and Nori at the top. Then put the filling in the middle of the Nori, I have crab sticks, avocado and bell pepper in this roll (you can take any).

Now we need to twist the roll, tight enough so that it does not lose its shape when cutting. To do this, lift the edge of the mat and at the same time hold the filling towards you with one hand, and wrap the roll with the other hand so that the empty edges of the Nori join each other, and the filling remains inside.

Then, evenly pressing on the mat, roll the roll several times so that it turns out to be evenly dense. And with a mat we give the roll a shape: round or square. But I prefer to make the "Dragon" rolls square, as the pieces of eel stick to the roll better this way.

Here is such a Uramaki roll (roll with rice outside) we got) In the same way we roll up the rolls "Philadelphia", "California", etc., that is, rolls with rice outside.

Then put half of the eel on the roll so that both ends of the eel protrude beyond the roll. Wrap the roll with eel with a mat and press down well, but be careful not to damage the eel, as it is very delicate)

Then you need to cut our roll into 8 pieces. To do this, our KNIFE MUST BE VERY SHARP, otherwise, when cutting, the roll will fall apart or lose its beautiful appearance. It is advisable to sharpen the knife before cutting. And so that the roll does not fall apart, be sure to moisten the knife in cold water before each cutting and remove the rice particles from the knife !!!

To do this, first cut the roll exactly in half. Place both halves of the eel next to each other. So that when serving you can make a big bend of the Dragon's body, the roll must be cut not into 6, but into 8 parts. And the extreme pieces must be made a little larger than the others, so that the head and tail of the Dragon are better held on them.

Now we put our dragon roll on a beautiful Japanese plate. It is better that the plate is larger than in my photo, so that we can arrange our Dragon more beautifully.

To make our roll "Dragon" look like a Dragon, we make him eyes, mustaches and horns. I cut the eyes out of avocado and the horns and whiskers out of red bell pepper, and I also cut the eyes out of small shrimp and the whiskers and horns out of orange bell pepper. You can also cut out his legs. Experiment with the appearance of the Dragon, you can make it both evil and kind Dragon) And your children can also participate in this exciting process! My daughter was just happy that she helps me!)) Well, of course I too))

To give our "Dragon" roll a complete look, it needs to be sprinkled with a special sauce for Unagi eel and sprinkled with sesame seeds (this time, of course, I forgot about sesame seeds))

Well, everything, finally our "Dragon" rolls are ready, admire what kind of Dragon we got!)

And this Little Dragon turned out to be quite harmless and so sad ((

And here I got Enamored Dragons!)) These are my favorite Dragons !!!