Rice, nori, and assorted fillings all come together in a roll that is part food, part art—and entirely delicious.

You can find art in anything, this much Los Angeles-based art writer Jonathan Griffin knows. When it comes to an on-going tradition with his friend, the artist Tom Woolner: You don’t have to look past your dinner plate. “When making sushi with my kids, we always send Tom a picture for his collection,” Griffin tells Family Style of Woolner’s archive of hundreds of pictures of food faces. The writer’s latest submission? Sushi with a smile.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups sushi rice
- ¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar
- 6 sheets nori
- Whatever you want to fill it with—cucumber, avocado, carrot, tofu, salmon, tuna, cream cheese (barf).
Instructions
- Place water and rice (don't rinse first!) in a large saucepan over a medium flame. Once water is bubbling, lower flame and cover pan with lid.
- Cook for 13 minutes or until water is fully absorbed.
- Add rice vinegar to the pan and stir to incorporate. It might look wet but it will absorb as the rice cools.
- Place the nori on a mat, shiny side down, then cover with an even layer of cooled, prepared sushi rice. Smooth gently with wet fingers. (Leave a strip of nori along the top.)
- Lay out your fillings (not too chunky) in a line about a third of the way up the rice.
- Roll that bad boy up, from the bottom edge of the mat, as tightly as you possibly can.
- Wet the exposed top edge of the nori, and seal.
- With a sharp, wet knife, cut the long sausage shape into rolls.