Cucumber cream cheese sushi is a delightful little bite with a simple, but flavorful combination.
If you’ve never rolled sushi before, you’ll need a few practice tries to get used to rolling the sushi mat. But once you do, it’s very easy.
This is the perfect sushi recipe to learn how to make sushi, or just to make a yummy sushi roll quickly.
What you need to make cucumber cream cheese sushi
The first thing you’ll need is a bamboo sushi rolling mat. But if you don’t have one, you can use a placemat.
You’ll also need:
- 1 sheet of roasted nori
- 1 cup sushi rice (see below for how to make sushi rice)
- About ¼ cucumber
- 1-2 oz cream cheese
- Optional: soy sauce, wasabi, or pickled ginger
Looking for a simple sushi roll recipe? Also try: Cream Cheese and Avocado Roll.
How to Make Sushi Rice for Cucumber Roll
The key to any good sushi is always the rice. To make the best sushi rice, use short grain rice and wash it thoroughly. Then put it in a rice cooker using 1 1/2 cups of rice to 2 cups of water.
This proportion will give you more than enough rice for two sushi rolls. If you just want to make enough rice for one sushi roll, use 3/4 cup of rice to one cup of water.
Once the rice is cooked, incorporate 2 tablespoons of sushi vinegar. This is made by mixing:
- ½ cup rice vinegar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
Next, you’ll prepare your filling. When you make cucumber sushi, you don’t want to include the seeds in the cucumber. You can use a seedless cucumber, or you can remove the seeds from cucumber slices.
No matter which type of cucumber you are using for your cucumber cream cheese maki, slice them into very thin batons.
Next slice a few batons of cream cheese. Make sure you have enough cream cheese batons to cover the Nori from left to right in a line.
Then place a sheet of roasted Nori, with the rough side up, and the smooth side facing down toward the bamboo sushi rolling mat. Make sure the lines that are perforated in the Nori are parallel to the bamboo lines.
Scoop one cup of sushi rice onto the Nori and spread it out evenly onto the sheet. Cover the sheet, except leave about a half inch at the top, which will be sealed to the cucumber sushi roll.
Then take your cucumber and cream cheese, and create a line from left to right across the Nori sheet, about 2/3 of the way down.
Use your bamboo mat to help you lift the lower part of the rice over the filling and create a roll. Squeeze the sushi mat gently to tighten the roll. Then finish rolling the sushi onto the final top flap that does not have the rice.
Once you have your cucumber cream cheese, sushi rolled, you can cut it in half and then cut each half into thirds or fourths, depending on the size sushi you want.
You can serve immediately with a side of soy sauce, wasabi, or pickled ginger.
Cucumber Cream Cheese Sushi
Equipment
- sushi rolling mat
Ingredients
- 1 sheet nori
- 1 cup sushi rice
- ¼ cucumber
- 1-2 oz cream cheese
Sushi rice vinegar
- ½ cup rice vinegar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Lay one sheet of nori on a sushi rolling mat with the smooth side facing down and the perforated lines running parallel to the bamboo of the rolling mat.
- To make sushi rice, add 2 tablespoons of sushi vinegar to 1 cup of warm short grain rice. Spread 1 cup of sushi rice evenly onto the nori sheet, leaving about ½ inch of room at the top.
- Remove the seeds from cucumber slices, and then slice into thin batons. Slice cream cheese into batons of a similar sizes. You'll need enough cucumber batons and cream cheese pieces to stretch from the left side of the nori to the right.
- Alight the cucumber batons and cream cheese about ⅓ from the bottom of the nori sheet. Then gently fold up the bamboo mat so the rice shapes around the filling. Gently squeeze the cucumber roll and seal the remaining edge of nori.
- Slice the nori roll in half, and then slice each half in thirds or fourths. Serve with a side of soy sauce, wasabi, and/or pickled ginger.