The Simple Swap For Inexpensive Tuna Maki Rolls

Sushi is known for being fresh, flavorful, albeit a little pricey, especially when purchasing enough to feed a family. For many expensive meals, such as filet mignon or salmon, there are recipes for a delicious made-at-home option. However, many people are intimidated by the idea of making sushi at home.

Traditionally, tuna maki rolls are made of nori sheets (dried seaweed), sushi rice, wasabi paste, and sushi-grade yellowfin or ahi tuna, according to Epicurious. While that sounds easy enough, not everyone has access to sushi-grade fish, which is important to create a quality piece of sushi. When fish is classified as sushi-grade, it means that it has been cleaned thoroughly and is free of toxins and parasites, according to Sustainable Sushi. If you're lucky enough to have a fishmonger nearby, the price of a piece of high-quality sushi-grade fish might be more than you can stomach.

Thankfully, there are other more affordable, easier-to-find, and still delicious options available for tuna maki rolls for the home cook.

Creating flavorful maki rolls at home is as simple as swapping fresh tuna for the canned version that you likely already have in your pantry. Replacing fresh tuna with cooked or canned tuna may seem like a cheap American knockoff of the Japanese classic, but, in fact, cooked seafood versions of maki rolls have been made in the island nation since 1966, according to Taste of Home. At the time, Ippei Sushi restaurant started to incorporate cooked seafood in its sushi rolls using lettuce, cooked prawn, and mayonnaise. This version of a sushi roll is still made in Japan and is referred to as tuna salad maki or lettuce maki, per Taste of Home. The modern version, which can be found even in Japanese grocery stores, often includes imitation crab, cooked shrimp, and canned tuna.

Eating Richly states that the version of a maki roll that uses canned tuna is a perfect form of sushi for children because they can make it themselves and because it uses simple ingredients. Canned tuna is not only a good sushi filling for kids who may not like the texture of raw fish, it's a suitable option for pregnant women or those with a compromised immune system (via Taste of Home).

With a few simple ingredients, even a few you may already have in your pantry, you can have a delicious, easy, and affordable tuna maki roll.