Step 1

In a bowl (or a measuring cup), put 8 dried shiitake mushrooms and pour 1 cup water to cover the mushrooms. Place a smaller bowl on top so that mushrooms will stay submerged. Soak for 15 minutes.

Step 2

In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil. Quickly rinse the kanpyo in running water and drain. Rub kanpyo with 1 tsp. salt. Rinse and drain well.

Step 3

When the water is boiling cook kanpyo for 3 minutes. Transfer to iced water to stop the cooking process and squeeze water out.

Step 4

When the shiitake mushrooms are soft and tender, cut off and discard the stem. Strain the shiitake liquid through a fine sieve to get rid of small unwanted bits.

Step 5

If the reserved shiitake liquid is not 1 cup, add water till you have 1 cup.

Step 6

In a medium saucepan, put the kanpyo and sliced mushrooms. Add 1 cup of reserved shiitake liquid into the saucepan.

Step 7

Add 1 Tbsp. sugar, 1 Tbsp. mirin, and 1 Tbsp. soy sauce to the saucepan.

Step 8

Bring it to boil and once boiling, lower the heat to medium and cook until most of liquid is gone, about 20-30 minutes.

Step 9

Cut the shiitake mushrooms to very thin slices and squeeze the water out.

Step 10

Squeeze the water out from kanpyo and cut into 8 inches (20 cm) length, which is about the same size as nori sheet.

Step 11

When shiitake and kanpyo have cooled, keep in the fridge till the next day.

Step 12

Click here to make 1 tamagoyaki or dashimaki tamago ahead of time and keep in the refrigerator to save time.

Step 13

Cut tamagoyaki into long strips store in the fridge till ready to use.

Step 14

First, make sushi rice (recipe here). Sushi rice is steamed rice that is seasoned with rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. For 4 sushi rolls, you will need 3 rice cooker cups (1 cup = 180 ml) uncooked rice. Sushi rice should be similar to body temperature when you roll sushi.

Step 15

Unagi is typically already cooked/broiled when you purchase it. All you need to do is reheat in the oven. Set your oven to broil (high – 550F/290C) and preheat for 3 minutes. Line the baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spray oil on the aluminum foil and place the unagi on top. Put the baking sheet in the middle rack of your oven and broil for 5-7 minutes (no need to flip). Cut into 4 long strips.

Step 16

Tie the stems with cooking twine to keep them from being untied while cooking. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add 1 tsp. salt and blanch mitsuba or spinach just enough to tender. Do not overcook.

Step 17

Soak the blanched mitsuba in iced water and squeeze the water out. Set aside.

Step 18

Cut off the end and cut into quarter length-wise and remove the seeds. Set aside.

Step 19

Open the package and put it in a small bowl. Set aside.

Step 20

Gather all the ingredients.  Prepare Tezu (vinegar water for dipping hands) by combining ¼ cup water and 2 tsp. rice vinegar.

Step 21

Place a bamboo sushi mat on the working surface or cutting board. Then place a sheet of nori on the bamboo mat, shiny side down. Divide sushi rice into quarters. Dip your fingers in Tezu, and put ¼ of sushi rice on nori and spread evenly with your fingers. Make sure to wet your fingers with Tezu when you do this. Spread the rice evenly; otherwise, your sushi roll won’t look even when rolled.

Step 22

Leaving about a ½ inch (1.5 cm) strip along the top of nori farthest away from you. You don’t put the rice till the end because after you roll, the white rice could come out from the seam and it won’t look pretty.

Step 23

Place the cucumber toward the bottom of nori. Front ingredients will need to go over the other ingredients. Therefore I recommend putting easy-to-hold ingredients toward the front, and put Sakura Denbu and Shiitake toward the top so the pieces won’t fall down when you roll.

Step 24

From the bottom end (of sushi rice), start rolling nori sheet over the filling tightly and firmly with bamboo mat until the bottom end reaches the end of sushi rice on top. Use your fingers to hold the ingredients when you roll.

Step 25

Hold the top of the bamboo mat with one hand and hold the rolled bamboo mat with the other hand and pull against each other to tighten the roll. Lift the bamboo mat and continue to roll. Place the bamboo mat over the roll and tightly squeeze. Continue to make the rest of the rolls.

Step 26

Using a very sharp knife, cut the Futomaki in half first. Every slice or every other slice, wipe the knife with a wet kitchen cloth so that you can cut nicely.

Step 27

Then cut each half into 3 pieces.