How to Make Sushi : Food Network

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Eat the pickled ginger between pieces of sushi, Morimoto says. If you place it on top of the roll, it will overpower the other flavors.

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Morimoto rolls sushi using bamboo mats, available at kitchen-supply stores. You can find nori, or seaweed sheets, at many large grocery stores.

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Combine the rice and 3 1/4 cups water in a rice cooker and cook according to the manufacturer's instructions. A rice cooker is the best way to get perfect sticky-firm rice, but if you don't have one, just use a saucepan.

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Combine the vinegar, sugar and 1 teaspoon salt in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Transfer the cooked rice to a large wooden bowl (traditionally, a wooden tub). Drizzle a quarter of the vinegar mixture over a wooden spoon or spatula onto the rice.

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Fold the rice gently with the spoon to cool it and break up any clumps; be careful not to smash the grains. Fold in the remaining vinegar mixture and let the rice sit 5 minutes.

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Cover a bamboo sushi mat with plastic wrap. Place a half nori sheet rough-side up on the mat.

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Moisten your hands and scoop a handful of rice, slightly larger than a lemon, onto the nori. Press the rice to spread it evenly up to the edges of the nori, moistening your fingers as you go.

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Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

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Peel the cucumber and slice into matchsticks. (Morimoto cuts the entire cucumber into a paper-thin sheet, then quickly slices it into strips, but he's had some practice.)

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Thinly slice the avocado, tomato and red onion; peel the tough ends of the asparagus.

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"Check to see what leftover vegetables you have in the fridge and then put them in your sushi!" Morimoto says.

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Carefully flip over the nori so it's rice-side down on the mat with the short end facing you. Spread a bit of wasabi paste in a line about one-third of the way up the nori; it's spicy, so use it sparingly.