Sushi rolling not just for chefs

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Sushi may be the most exotic food you order when you dine out, but it's also a fun project to make at home. Although it's a challenge to find pristine-quality fish and the sanitary conditions you need to make raw-fish sushi, you can prepare an easy variation. Start with precooked baby shrimp or smoked-salmon strips, add thin slices of your favorite vegetables, and you have the start to an elegant dish.

To add to your culinary pleasure, accompany the sushi with wine.

"We always think of beer or saki [with sushi]," says Mick Schroeter, winemaker with Geyser Peak Winery in Sonoma County, Calif.

Beer can be very filling, which doesn't bring balance to the sushi dish. Saki isn't that popular in the U.S. Wine, however, goes with everything, according to Mr. Schroeter.

He recommends sauvignon blanc as an appropriate match. "Sushi is lighter fare; sauvignon blanc is lighter, too. You don't want a heavy wine with a light food, or the reverse," he says.

The complex combination of flavors in sushi also makes sauvignon blanc a good companion. "Sushi is challenging because you have the saltiness and spiciness of wasabi," a pungent root vegetable that's shredded and served as a condiment, "and the fattiness of the fish. Sauvignon blanc works well with all three components," Mr. Schroeter says.

Once you have the wine suggestion in hand, plan your recipe. You'll need sheets of nori, which is a sea vegetable, and sushi rice, which is short-grain Japanese rice. Japanese grocery stores, plus most natural-food supermarkets and many conventional ones, sell these ingredients.

The technique is easy. Cook the rice and flavor it with sweetened vinegar. As the rice cools, it becomes very sticky. Dampen your hands so the rice doesn't stick and gently spread a thin rice layer over the nori.

When you think about a filling, keep color and texture in mind. Choose ingredients with eye appeal. The ingredients should be tender so you're not struggling with the sushi when you bite into it. The proportion should be an appealing balance between rice and filling. As you become more adept at rolling up the rice-filled nori sheets, you may prefer to reduce the amount of rice you use and add more smoked salmon.

Smoked salmon rolls