At the heart of this classic sushi recipe is "oshinko" (お新香), the Japanese term for pickled vegetables, which bring a bright, tangy element to this hosomaki-style roll. The crisp pickles, tangy sweet taste of sushi rice, and briny nori come together in a delightful harmony that embodies the elegant simplicity of Japanese cuisine. Using various colored pickles allows you to create a beautiful plate of sushi, and because these rolls only include one filling, they're perfect for diving into the art of making sushi at home.
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Why This Recipe Works
- Preparing the fillings by cutting them to the right size (⅓-inch sticks or minced up) ensures the hosomaki-style roll doesn't get overloaded.
- Placing the rice in the correct position on the nori and leaving borders at the top and bottom edges ensures the roll will close properly.
- Creating a "speed bump" of rice and placing the filling next to it helps keep the filling in place while giving you a target to aim for as you roll the maki sushi.
Ingredients
- Seasoned Sushi Rice - Seasoned sushi rice is Japanese short-grain rice that's been cooked and seasoned with a mixture of rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. It's the defining characteristic of any sushi, whether you're making maki, nigiri, temaki, or chirashi. Preparing sushi rice is not difficult, but it requires some technique, so you can learn more about cooking Japanese rice, making sushi vinegar, and mixing sushi rice using these links.
- Nori - These paper-like sheets of dried seaweed are used to wrap the rice and fillings into a neat sushi roll. Made from a specific type of red algae, nori is vegan-friendly and adds a briny taste to sushi. For these hosomaki (thin rolls), we use half sheets of nori, which should be 7.5 x 4.125 inches (19 x 10.5 cm) in size. Be sure to look for fresh nori sheets that are black with a slight greenish tint. Nori, that's reddish brown or smells like burnt hair is either old or hasn't been stored properly.
- Japanese Pickles (Oshinko) - Japan has a huge variety of traditional preserved vegetables that come in a rainbow of colors, textures, and tastes. Any Japanese-style pickle will work for Oshinko sushi and I recommend using a few different kinds to give your plate of sushi some variety. For this recipe, I've used takuan (pickled daikon radish), cucumber nukazuke (rice bran pickles), and shibazuke (eggplant, cucumber, and red shiso pickles). While Western pickles (like dill pickles) aren't used to make sushi rolls, it's a fun variation you could try. You can also try out my homemade pickles recipe to create some quick pickles from carrots or cucumbers that will be ready within a day.
- Rice Vinegar - Rice vinegar is used to season the sushi rice, but you'll also need some extra to make tezu(literally "hand vinegar"). It's just vinegar diluted with water to keep your hands wet so the sushi rice doesn't stick to them.
How to Make Oshinko Rolls
One of the most important things about making sushi is to prep all of the components ahead of time so you have everything ready to go when you start rolling.
I recommend starting by cooking and preparing the sushi rice.
While you wait for the rice to cook, you can cut the preserved vegetables down to size. For long oshinko, like pickled daikon or cucumbers, you'll want to cut it first, so it is the same width as your nori. Then you can slice it into sticks approximately ⅓-inch in diameter, which should fit perfectly inside of a hosomaki style roll. If your pickles are cut into small pieces already, you can mince them up so the pieces are uniform, making it easier to stuff the rolls.
For the nori sheets, you'll need to cut the full sheets in half using a sharp knife. Nori is rectangular, so use the image below to see how the sheet of nori should be oriented.
Finally, you'll want to prepare a small bowl of tezu—a mixture of rice vinegar and water. You'll use this solution to keep the rice from sticking to your hands, and the added vinegar prevents the flavor of the sushi rice from getting watered down.
To assemble the oshinko maki, place a nori sheet with the rough side facing up at the bottom edge of a plastic or bamboo sushi mat. Wet your hands with the tezu, gather a handful of sushi rice (about 80 grams), and shape it into a cylinder. Dispense the rice from one hand while using the other to deposit it from left to right along the top edge of the nori, leaving a half-inch border along the top.
Once you have an even bar of rice spanning from edge to edge, you can use the fingers of one hand to form a border along one edge of the nori while you use the fingertips of your other hand to tease the rice down toward the bottom edge of the nori, leaving a quarter inch border. Be sure to leave a small "speed bump" of rice along the top to help hold our filling in place.
Place your choice of pickles along the bump of rice. Then, use the mat to roll the bottom edge of nori over the filling to allow the exposed piece of nori to make contact with the bump of rice on the other side. Pull the mat away as you continue to roll so that the seam of nori sits under the roll. Now you can cinch up the mat to wrap it tightly, pressing on the top and sides of the roll to compress the rice lightly and finalize its shape.
How to Cut Oshinko Rolls
Before cutting your Oshinko Rolls, ensure your knife is extremely sharp. A dull knife will crush the roll rather than slice through it. You also want to wet the blade with water or a mixture of water and rice vinegar (tezu) to prevent the rice from sticking to the knife.
Place the sushi roll on a cutting board and stabilize the sides of the roll near the center by gently pinching it between your thumb and fingers. This will keep the roll from tearing apart when you slice through it. Cut the roll in half with a swift but gentle sawing motion—back and forth—allowing the knife's sharpness to cut through the roll.
This technique minimizes the risk of squishing or stretching out the roll.
After slicing the roll in half, line up the two pieces next to each other and cut them in half together using the same gentle sawing motion while supporting the sides.
Now, you can cut each half into quarters by following the same method. At this point, you should have eight evenly sized pieces of sushi that you can tip upwards in the same direction to see the colorful fillings.
Clean the knife between each cut and keep the blade wet.
Serve Oshinko Rolls With
At sushi restaurants in Japan, rolled sushi like Oshinko Maki is served at the end of a course of nigiri sushi, along with a bowl of miso soup. At home, this isn't always practical, so I usually like to prepare a variety of rolls, such as California rolls, spicy tuna rolls, tempura shrimp rolls, and caterpillar rolls, and serve them on a platter and garnish with sushi ginger. These also pair well with Inari sushi, those juicy pouches of fried tofu stuffed with sushi rice. As for side dishes, Japanese restaurants in the US often serve sushi with sides such as seaweed salad and kani salad. For a variety of plant-based appetizer ideas, check out Vegan Appetizer Recipes Everyone will Enjoy.
FAQ
Oshinko is a Japanese word referring to pickled vegetables. It's also commonly associated with Oshinko Maki, which is a type of rolled sushi that's filled with pickled daikon radish, cucumbers, or burdock.
Both of these terms are used to refer to Japanese-style preserved vegetables. Originally, oshinko was a term used to refer to a class of tsukemono (pickles) that wasn't fermented. This includes asazuke (light pickles) and nukazuke (rice bran pickles). These days, the terms are used interchangeably. It's also worth noting that Western pickles are usually referred to as pikkuruzu (ピックルズ).
The number of rolls you can make will vary depending on how much rice you use in each one; I can usually get nine hosomaki-style rolls out of one batch of sushi rice.
Oshinko Maki is a 5-syllable name pronounced as follows (read the italicized parts).
o like order
shin like sheen
ko like cooperate
ma like mall
ki like key
As long as the pickles you use are plant-based, your oshinko sushi will be vegan and vegetarian friendly.
📖 Recipe
Equipment
Units
Ingredients
- 1 batch seasoned sushi rice
- 5 full sheets nori
- 350 grams Japanese pickles
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
Instructions
- Prepare 1 batch seasoned sushi rice.
- Cut 350 grams Japanese pickles into sticks that are ⅓-inch in diameter.
- Or, if your pickles are smaller, you can mince them up.
- Full sheets of nori are 7.5 x 8.25 inches. Stack 5 full sheets nori, and with the long edge facing you, cut the sheets in half with a sharp knife. Your half sheets should end up 7.5 x 4.125 inches in size.
- Prepare a bowl of tezu by stirring 1 tablespoon rice vinegar into a small bowl of water.
- Set your sushi mat on a clean work surface and place a half sheet of nori at the bottom edge of the mat with the rough side facing up.
- Wet your hands with the tezu and grab a handful of your prepared sushi rice (~80 grams). Shape it into a cylinder.
- About ½-inch from the top edge of the nori, use one hand to slowly pull the cylinder of sushi rice from one side of the nori to the other while using your other hand to pat the rice down as you go so it stretches the cylinder across the surface of the nori.
- Now, use one hand to form a dam along one side of the nori and use the fingertips of your other hand to gently press the rice down towards the bottom edge of the nori, leaving a ¼-inch gap. You want to leave a small "speed bump" of rice along the top (see the next step for a clearer photo of this bump). Repeat on the other side and then the center.
- Now, place your filling right up against the speed bump of sushi rice.
- Place your thumbs below the bottom edge of the sushi mat, and then flip the edge up and over the filling. The bottom border of nori should meet up with the speed bump of rice, allowing you to seal the roll shut.
- Unwrap the mat and pull it forward to coax the oshinko maki to roll onto the remaining flap of nori.
- Wrap the roll with the mat tightly and press evenly on the top and sides of the roll using your fingers and thumbs from the center to the sides to compress the rice and give the roll a square shape.
- To cut the roll, find the center and use a back-and-forth motion with a sharp knife while supporting the sides of the roll to cut it in half.
- Line the halves up and slice them in half again. Now, cut each half into quarters.
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