How to Make Spider Rolls

While most sushi and sashimi is made with raw fish, some rolls are made with cooked seafood. One such roll is the spider roll, which is made with soft-shell crab tempura. Spider rolls actually have fewer calories than rolls made with shrimp tempura.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Cooking oil
• Water
• Flour
• Eggs
• Soft-shell crab
• Bamboo sushi mat
• Plastic wrap
• Sushi rice
• One sheet of nori for each roll that you will make

Prepare the Soft-Shell Crab Tempura

1. Mix one whole egg with 1 cup of cold water and 1 cup of flour. The tempura batter should either be used immediately after you make it or refrigerated so that it remains cold.
2. Pour cooking oil in the deep frying pan and preheat your stovetop to 350 degrees F. You should use enough oil to be able to submerge the soft-shell crab. Using too much oil, however, may cause the tempura to take longer to cook.
3. Test your cooking oil to make sure that it is sufficiently hot. Use a spoon or chop stick to place a drop of the tempura batter into the oil. If it initially sinks and quickly rises back to the surface of the oil, you are ready to cook the tempura.
4. Dip the soft-shell crab in the tempura batter. Ensure that you have covered both sides of the crab.
5. Place the crab in the heated cooking oil. Both sides should be fried lightly before you remove the crab from the oil. Place it on either a wire rack or paper towel to allow excess oil to drain while you prepare the other ingredients for the spider roll.

Assemble a Spider Roll

6. Place a sheet of plastic wrap over your bamboo sushi mat. The plastic wrap will protect your bamboo mat from the ingredients, and the mat will provide you with a surface to make your spider rolls more easily.
7. Place the sheet of nori on the plastic wrap horizontally with the shiny side down. Cover the nori with a thin layer of sushi rice, leaving the edge of nori closest to you uncovered for approximately 1 inch. Extend the layer of rice 1 inch beyond the nori on the opposite side, creating the edges where you will seal the roll.
8. Turn over the wrap of nori and rice, placing the fried crab on the shiny side of the nori. You may need to use only a fraction of the crab in each spider roll that you make. Allow the crab to extend beyond the edge of the rice, as this will give your roll the appearance of spider legs.
9. Grip the bamboo mat and curl the sheet of nori and rice around the crab to form a roll. Allow the layer of rice you created in Step 2 to fall over the strip of nori that was uncovered. Grip the bamboo mat firmly to seal the roll.
10. Slice the spider roll with a wet knife. Each spider roll can be divided into six to eight pieces.

Tips & Warnings

• Depending on how many spider rolls you plan to make, you may need to increase the amount of tempura batter that you make. You can use any excess tempura batter to make other rolls or seafood tempura.
• Based on your preferences, you may want to add a spicy sauce, avocados or cucumbers to the inside of your spider rolls.