Salt & Pepper Squid Temaki

Last night I didn't have any meat thawed, but my last baby squid would thaw easily enough, so I made these hand rolls (temaki).  I have a recipe for squid temaki, but I was missing an ingredient and I didn't want to deep fry, so I modified it and added some extra vegetables to make it more substantial and hopefully healthier.

This is a photo of what I actually made last night.

Salt & Pepper Squid Temaki (serves 1)

Ingredients:

1 baby squid, cleaned
4 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cracked pepper
oil for pan-frying
1/3 c. sushi rice
1/2 c. water
1 tsp. seasoned rice vinegar (sushi vinegar has salt and sugars in it)
2 sheets nori seaweed (the stuff they roll sushi in)
1/4 in. diakon (long, white raddish) peeled
2 leaves nappa cabbage, shredded
6 - 8 snow peas, trimmed and cut in half on the diagonal
sesame seeds (optional)

First rinse the rice in cold water several times until the water runs fairly clear, and put in a pot with a tight-fitting lid along with the measured water.  Heat until boiling, and continue to boil until all liquid is absorbed, but not too dry, and remove from heat.  Leave to sit about 10 min. with the lid left on.

After removing the little "flippers," cut the squid body into rings, and then cut the rings so they open into strips.  Cut the "ball" of tentacles in half.  Mix the flour, salt, and pepper together, and toss the squid in the mixture until coated.  Heat the oil in a frying pan--it should just about cover the bottom of the pan.  When the oil is hot, add the squid and cook until the coating is golden and crisp.  Drain on paper towels.

After the 10 min. sitting, remove the lid from the rice and add the rice vinegar.  Use a spatula to carefully fold the vinegar into the rice, but try not to stir or the rice will turn to mush.  Dump the rice out onto a plate and spread it out so it can cool.

Shred the piece of diakon into thin strips, and tear the whole nori sheets in half.  Put one of the half sheets down on a work surface, and add a heaping Tbsp. of rice on the left of the nori.  Sprinkle the rice with sesame seeds, then put on a few strips of diakon and 2-3 strips of squid.  To roll up, fold the bottom left-hand corner over the rice and filling so the folded edge makes a right angle with the bottom edge.  Continue rolling to make a cone.  Dab a drop of water on the end so that it will better stick to complete the cone.  Repeat to make 3 cones.

To serve, cover a plate with shredded cabbage, snow peas, and any left over diakon and squid pieces.  Arrange the temaki on top of the vegetables and serve.