Ehomaki (lucky direction sushi roll)

Step 1: Put 4 dried shiitake mushrooms in 1 cup warm water with a small plate on top to keep them under, and leave for 30 minutes while you start the rice.

Step 2: Drain 12 ½ oz Japanese short-grain rice for 10 minutes, then put it in a heavy pan with 1 ¾ cups water. Bring to the boil over a high heat, cover tightly, turn to the lowest heat and cook for 13 minutes; turn off and leave covered for 10 minutes more without lifting the lid.

Step 3: Meanwhile, wet ½ oz kanpyō (dried gourd ribbon), rub it with 1 tsp salt until it softens, rinse, then boil it for 5 minutes until translucent and soft enough to pinch through with a fingernail.

Step 4: Squeeze the shiitake, keeping 150 ml of their soaking liquid, discard the stems and slice the caps. Simmer the shiitake and kanpyō in that liquid with 2 tbsp soy sauce and 2 tbsp sugar over a low heat for 12–15 minutes, until the liquid has almost gone and both are glossy and dark. Cool.

Step 5: Stir ¼ cup rice vinegar, 2 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp salt together until the sugar dissolves.

Step 6: Tip the hot rice into a wide bowl, pour over the vinegar mixture and cut and fold it in with a damp spatula while fanning, until each grain is glossy and the rice has cooled to body temperature. Common mistake: stirring and pressing the rice. It breaks the grains and turns it into a gummy paste. Cover with a damp cloth.

Step 7: Beat 3 eggs with 2 tsp sugar and 1 pinch salt. Cook in a lightly oiled pan with 1 tsp neutral oil over a medium-low heat, folding it over on itself, for about 4 minutes, until set right through but not browned. Cool and cut into 1 cm strips.

Step 8: Blanch 3 ½ oz spinach in boiling water for 30 seconds, cool in cold water and squeeze it into a firm rope. Have ready 1 cucumber, 8 cooked peeled king prawns and 4 crab sticks (kanikama), plus 3 ½ oz cooked grilled eel (kabayaki) if using. If you are cooking raw prawns, simmer them for 2–3 minutes until pink and opaque all the way through.

Step 9: Lay a sheet of 4 nori sheets, shiny side down, on a bamboo mat. With wet hands, spread a quarter of the rice over it in an even layer, leaving a 3 cm strip bare along the far edge.

Step 10: Arrange a quarter of each filling in a tight line across the rice about a third of the way up from you.

Step 11: Lift the near edge of the mat and roll it over the fillings to meet the rice on the far side, squeezing firmly, then roll on to seal. Rest seam side down for 2 minutes and repeat with the rest.

Step 12: Leave the rolls whole. Keep them covered at cool room temperature and eat the same day, within a few hours; keep the fillings in the fridge until you roll. To follow the custom, face the year's lucky direction and eat your roll without speaking.