Sushi rolls are a good way to use leftovers like veggies, cooked fish or even chicken. In Japan these tasty rolls are sold everywhere, even the 7-11, and they are likely to be filled with all kinds of interesting ingredients.

It is traditional in America to serve sushi with Japanese Style Pickled Ginger, soy sauce and wasabi. In Japan, you will never get wasabi on the side unless you ask for it (and they will look at you like you are the crazy American if you do ask for it), for a small amount of wasabi is rolled up inside the roll with the other ingredients.

To roll sushi you can use a bamboo sushi mat, like shown in the photo, or just use a clean towel instead, or you can even forego the roller and just carefully roll using your hands.

Place nori sheet on roller and spread a thin layer of the sushi rice over the nori as shown. Place your filling in a center line on the nori sheet as shown in photo 2.

Begin rolling by carefully folding over the top edge and starting the roll.

Continue to roll, keeping the roll as tight as possible. Take a sharp knife and slice the roll into 1 - 1 1/2 inch pieces (as in the final photo above).

Some Possible Sushi Filling Combos:

Once you have your layer of rice on the nori sheet, try some of these ingredient combos. Mix and match to suit your taste. Things like thinly sliced cucumber or carrots and radish sprouts are good general ingredients to add to all kinds of rolls.

Spicy Tuna Roll -- Sushi grade raw tuna, minced and mixed with a small amounts of mayonnaise, Asian style hot sauce, and sesame oil and served with radish sprouts.

Spicy Shrimp or Crab Roll -- Same as above but substitute cooked shrimp or crab for the raw tuna.

Tempura Roll -- Fried shrimp tempura with thinly julienned cucumber, avocado slices and radish sprouts.

California Roll -- Crab or imitation crab meat, mayonnaise and avocado.

salmon & asparagus (one of my personal creations) -- Leftover cooked salmon (grilled tatses best) with an blanched asparagus spear and a small amount of mayonnaise mixed with oriental hot sauce.

Veggie -- Thinly julienned strips of cucumber, carrot and zucchini with avocado slices, sprouts and mayonnaise.