Crunchy Deep-Fried Tempura Sushi Roll

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A shatteringly crisp tempura-battered maki roll stuffed with shrimp, crab and cream cheese, finished with spicy mayo and sweet eel sauce. The trick that makes it work at home: the rolls go into the freezer until firm before they ever touch batter, so they hold their shape in hot oil — then you slice them with a wet serrated knife so the fried crust cuts cleanly instead of shattering.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups short-grain sushi rice
• 1 3/4 cups cold water
• 3 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tsp fine sea salt

• 2 sheets toasted nori
• 8 large shrimp (26/30), peeled and deveined
• 4 oz lump crabmeat or imitation crab sticks, shredded
• 2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
• 3 oz cream cheese, cut into 1/2-inch batons and kept cold
• 1/2 ripe but firm avocado, sliced thin
• 1/2 Persian cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 3/4 cup ice-cold club soda or seltzer
• 1/4 cup flour, for dusting
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs (optional, for extra crunch)
• 6 cups neutral oil for frying (canola, peanut or rice bran)

• 1/4 cup Japanese mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 tbsp sriracha
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 1 scallion, thinly sliced

Instructions

1. Rinse the sushi rice in a bowl of cold water, swirling with your hand and draining, 4 to 5 times until the water runs nearly clear. Drain in a sieve for 10 minutes, then cook with the 1 3/4 cups cold water in a rice cooker or in a covered saucepan (bring to a boil, drop to the lowest heat for 15 minutes, rest off heat 10 minutes).
2. Warm the rice vinegar, 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon salt in a small saucepan or the microwave just until dissolved. Turn the hot rice out into a wide bowl, drizzle the vinegar mixture over it, and fold gently with a spatula in slicing motions to season without mashing the grains. Spread the rice out and let it cool to just barely warm, about 20 minutes. Do not refrigerate at this stage.
3. Make the sauces: whisk the 1/4 cup mayonnaise with the sriracha and sesame oil; refrigerate. In a small saucepan, simmer the soy sauce, mirin and 2 tablespoons sugar over medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes until slightly syrupy and coating a spoon. Cool — it will thicken further.
4. Skewer each shrimp lengthwise on a toothpick or short skewer to keep it straight, then simmer in salted water for 2 minutes until just opaque. Chill in ice water, drain, remove skewers and pat very dry. Toss the crab with the 2 tablespoons mayonnaise.
5. Lay a sheet of nori shiny-side down on a plastic-wrap-covered bamboo mat. With damp hands, press half the rice over the nori in an even 1/4-inch layer, leaving a bare 3/4-inch border along the far edge. Along the near third, line up 4 shrimp end to end, half the crab mixture, half the cream cheese batons, half the avocado and half the cucumber.
6. Roll firmly away from you, using the mat to compress the roll into a tight cylinder; dab the bare nori edge with water to seal. Squeeze the wrapped roll gently along its whole length to compact it — a loose roll will burst in the oil. Repeat with the second sheet.
7. Wrap each roll snugly in plastic wrap and freeze for 30 to 40 minutes, until the outside is firm and cold to the touch but not frozen solid (a paring knife should still push in with light pressure). This is the step that keeps the roll intact through the batter and the fryer.
8. Pour 2 inches of oil into a heavy Dutch oven and heat to 350°F (175°C), monitoring with a clip-on thermometer. Set a wire rack over a sheet pan nearby. Whisk the 3/4 cup flour, cornstarch, baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl, then stir in the ice-cold club soda with a fork just until a lumpy, thin pancake-consistency batter forms — lumps are correct, do not overmix. Keep the bowl over a larger bowl of ice.
9. Unwrap one chilled roll, dust it all over with the 1/4 cup dusting flour and tap off the excess. Holding the ends, roll it through the batter to coat completely, letting the excess drip off for 3 seconds. For extra crunch, roll the battered log in panko.
10. Lower the roll into the oil away from you and fry, turning gently with two spider strainers or tongs, for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, until the crust is set, pale gold and crisp all over. Keep the oil between 340°F and 355°F. Transfer to the rack, seam-side up. Return the oil to 350°F and fry the second roll the same way.
11. Rest the fried rolls on the rack for 3 to 4 minutes — this lets the interior finish steaming and firms the crust. Dip a long serrated knife in hot water and shake off the drips; saw through the roll with light pressure, rewetting the blade before every cut, to make 8 pieces per roll. Wiping and rewetting is what keeps the crust from cracking off.
12. Arrange the pieces cut-side up on a platter, drizzle with the spicy mayo and the cooled eel-style sauce, and scatter with sesame seeds and scallion. Serve immediately, while the crust is still crackling.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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