# Ehomaki / Makizushi (Sushi rolls) ｜ Our Regional Cuisines

**Cuisine Name**: Ehomaki / Makizushi (Sushi rolls)

**Region**: Our Regional Cuisines

## Main Lore Areas
Semba, Osaka (entire prefecture)

## Main Ingredients Used
Rice, thick omelet, cucumber, mitsuba (Japanese parsley), conger eel, dried shiitake mushrooms, dried gourd strips, shrimp, eel kabayaki (grilled in soy sauce), seaweed

## History, Origin, and Related Events
On Setsubun (the day that spring begins in the old Japanese calendar, nowadays usually marked between 2 and 4 February), it is customary to face the "lucky direction" for that year, and eat an entire makizushi (sushi roll) whole for good luck. These sushi rolls are referred to as ehomaki. The lucky direction is determined by onmyodo divination ("the way of yin and yang"), and varies depending on the year: in 2022 it was north-northwest, and in 2023 it is south-southeast.It is said that this custom began in Osaka, but its exact origin is uncertain. Various theories hold that it was born from a game in geisha quarters, or was practiced by the merchants of Osaka and Semba when praying for good business.It does not appear to have been a particularly prevalent custom before the end of World War II, but it was advertised from the 1970s as a sales promotion tactic by the seaweed industry. Furthermore, convenience stores and supermarkets started selling ehomaki in the 1990s, and from then on, the practice of eating these sushi rolls on Setsubun spread throughout Japan.Originally there were no particular rules or prescriptions on the kinds of sushi rolls eaten, but in recent years futomaki (thick sushi rolls) using 7 ingredients - to correspond to the Seven Gods of Fortune - have become the norm.

## Opportunities and Times of Eating Habits
Supermarkets and convenience stores have devised a scheme where, every year during Setsubun, various ehomaki are arranged in lines. Some stores use an advance booking system, to avoid food waste.

## How to Eat
The distinguishing feature of ehomaki is undoubtedly how they are eaten. You face the "lucky direction" for that year, and eat a whole ehomaki in silence, while wishing for good luck.

## Efforts for Preservation and Succession
Ehomaki and makizushi are sold at convenience stores, supermarkets and many other stores nationwide during Setsubun.

## Ingredients
- Rice: 3 go (approx 540ml)
- Kombu kelp (10cm square): 1 sheet
- Sake: 1 tbsp.
- [For the sushi vinegar] vinegar: 4-5 tbsp.
- [For the sushi vinegar] sugar: 3 tbsp.
- [For the sushi vinegar] salt: 1 tsp.
- Dried shiitake mushrooms: 8
- Reconstituted shiitake broth: 100cc
- [A] dashi stock: 200cc
- [A] sake, sugar, mirin, soy sauce: 2 tbsp. each
- Dried gourd strips: 4
- Freeze dried tofu: 2
- [B] dashi stock: 200cc
- [B] sugar, sake: 1 tbsp. each
- [B] light soy sauce: 1 tsp.
- [B] salt: Just a little
- Egg: 3
- [C] sugar, sake: 1 tbsp. each
- [C] soy sauce: 1 tsp.
- [C] salt: Just a little
- Cucumber: 1
- Toasted seaweed: 4 sheets

## Recipe
1. 1. Rinse the rice. Add the 10cm square of kombu and the sake, and boil until cooked.
2. 2. Mix the vinegar, sugar and salt. Once the rice is cooked, add the vinegar mixture to make sushi rice.
3. 3. Make stewed shiitake mushrooms: rehydrate the mushrooms in water, chop finely, and simmer with the seasonings marked [A]. Rub the dried gourd strips well in water, boil in plenty of water for approximately 5 minutes, then simmer with the mushrooms.
4. 4. Gently rinse the freeze-dried tofu in cold water, then simmer with the seasonings marked [B].
5. 5. Make thick omelet: beat the eggs, then cook with the seasonings marked [C]. Cut into 8 long strips.
6. 6. Salt the cucumber, and cut into 8 long strips. Cut off the area with seeds, as this has too much moisture.
7. 7. Spread out a sushi mat, and lay the toasted seaweed vertically. Spread the sushi rice on the opposite side leaving 2cm of space. Spread the rice out to the four corners of the seaweed. Make a rim around the edge of the seaweed.
8. 8. Place the ingredients in the centre of the rice, in 1／4 increments.
9. 9. Roll everything up so that the near and far sides of the sushi rice come together.Place the winding end at the bottom, and cut into bite-size pieces. You can add conger eel, shrimp etc to the ingredients for more flavor.

## Provider Information
provider : Yumiko Yamanaka

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