Futomaki giant rolls

Method

1. To make the mushrooms and carrots, place the mushrooms, stock, carrots, soy sauce and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes until soft. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool. Drain if there is any excess liquid. Set aside.

2. To make the omelette, beat the eggs in a bowl. Add all of the other ingredients, except the oil, and mix well. Sieve the egg mixture into another bowl so that the mixture is smooth.

3. Heat the oil in a square frying pan until very hot. Carefully wipe the pan with a kitchen towel if the pan is too greasy. Pour a quarter of the egg mixture into the pan. Cook until it starts to solidify, then fold in half and then in half again so that it is a quarter of its size and is folded at the end of the pan. Add another quarter of the egg mixture and repeat until all of the egg mixture is used up and there is a firm block of omelette that is sized about 11–13x4–5cm/4¼–5x1½–1¾in. Leave to cool and cut into four long pieces. Set aside.

4. To make the futomaki, slice the ends off the cucumber and cut to the same length as the nori sheets (about 20cm/8in). Cut it lengthways into four and remove the seeds carefully with a spoon or a knife. Cut the sticks lengthways in half again, so that there are eight sticks of cucumber. You need two sticks for this recipe, so wrap and store the rest in the fridge for 1–2 days to use in other sushi.

5. There are some thin lines on the nori sheets. Place one sheet shiny-side down at the bottom of a sushi mat, with the lines of the sheet lying horizontally across the mat.

6. Wet your fingers in a bowl of water and shake off any excess (damp fingers help when handling sticky sushi rice). Look for the second line down from the top of the nori sheet, about 3–4cm/1¼–1½in down. Keeping the top 3–4cm/1¼–1½in of the sheet clear, spread a handful of rice (roughly 160g/5¾oz) over the nori sheet evenly and gently with your fingertips. Do not use too much rice and do not press it onto the sheet. It must be a very thin layer of rice.

7. Place one cucumber stick, two omelette pieces and half of the mushroom mixture side by side in the centre of the rice, along the length of the nori.

8. To roll the sushi, hold the fillings in place with your index, middle and ring fingers. Start rolling with the mat from the bottom edge of the nori towards the top of the rice edge. Do it quickly, making sure both the rice and filling are holding their place tightly. Then open the mat. You should be able to see the 3–4cm/1¼–1½in piece of nori without rice on it. Now finish rolling – you may only need to use your hands for this, not the mat. Repeat to make a second roll.

9. Either eat the futomaki whole or use a sharp wet knife to slice smoothly and quickly into pieces. Clean the knife after every cut.