I lay the nori sheet (seaweed paper) onto the baking paper and then put some cooled rice on top, leaving an empty strip at the far end. I don’t worry about little gaps, they’ll be fixed soon.
Then I place another piece of baking paper on top (if you’re worried about environmental impact, I’m sure a silicone mat or similar would also work fine)
And using a rolling pin (or a tin can. Or a wine bottle. Yes, my toddler hid my rolling pin for a while, why do you ask?) I lightly roll out the rice. This fills in the gaps, stops the rice being too bulky, spreads the rice to the ends, and helps it all stick.
Then I place the fillings at the end closest to me (you can make a dent in the rice first to hold the fillings, I usually don’t bother). This is also a good time to add a smear of wasabi mayo. Trust me, it works so well.
Then I use the baking paper to pick up the edge of the nori and start rolling. I add a smear of water along the exposed edge of the nori to help it stick. I usually make several rolls to this stage and leave them sealed-edge down.
Then I cut the rolls with a sharp knife. If it’s not sharp, don’t even bother!
For the little kids, I serve their soy sauce watered down. They can’t even tell ;)
Half of us love okonomayaki and half of us hate it so it’s something that we sometimes make to go with the sushi
Like I said, they can put away a lot of sushi!
Hopefully these tips can help you up your sushi game. Or better yet, encourage you to make sushi I’ve you’ve never attempted it before!