Rice is fattening, contains arsenic, and makes sushi preparation more time consuming. So we are making no-rice sushi rolls!
The technique is surprisingly simple. Cut the avocado into 4 pieces, cut smoked salmon strips (I use wild salmon thin ones) lengthwise. Take the cucumber – of the long English variety, peel it and half it. Then cut each half into maybe 4 strips (cut off along the edge on both sides first so that each piece is roughly the same). I use two strips of cucumber, and two avocado quarters pieces per roll.
Take a sushi mat, put a full size sushi paper (not half). We use really good Korean sushi paper that’s fresh, thin, easy to roll, and gets moist quickly. Put two avocado pieces, thick side out (round side pointing down), next to each other lengthwise maybe two inches from the bottom edge. Right after avocados, add two strips of cucumbers and after that, two strips of salmon.
Start rolling, and this is where there is a small trick, and you might want to experiment. Avocados should be fairly soft, and here’s why. If you want this whole thing to be just like on the picture, you’ll need to press down softly on the edge of the mat once you turn the mat enough to cover everything. Just hold on to the edge and press, but not too much so that the avocados don’t leak from the sides. Once you press and see that everything is nice and tight, keep rolling until you use up the whole sheet. Then just place on a cutting board and put it in the fridge for maybe 20 minutes. The paper will get nice and wet just like with rice sushi. Yes, rolling is hard, but with this design, there is just enough give in the avocado so that when you press a bit, it rolls really easy, just literally roll it along once you press the edge.
After that just cut it with a really, really sharp knife. Yes, the edges will be weird (but fun and different), and the middle too, but you can cut out the middle and the edges, and the rest will look just like this. Some practice is required especially with the rolling.
These rolls can be served as appetizers or, if you make enough of them, as a whole meal. Enjoy!