Dragon Roll Sushi Recipe [+VIDEO] 🐉 MasalaHerb.com (2024)

The dragon roll sushi is a showstopper and it tastes amazing!

This is an inside-out maki sushi roll. You can make it at home now!

This dragon sushi roll is part of our Japanese food series with our Japanese food expert Momoko.

If you like inside-out maki sushi rolls, then check out the rainbow roll , Boston roll, and the California roll.

📕 What is a dragon roll?

The dragon roll is a popular inside-out maki sushi roll.

The topping makes it look like a green dragon scale on the outside.

It's a common sushi maki roll in Japan, but it's also popular in American-Japanese restaurants in the US, such as Benihana.

Another similar sushi roll, but vegan, is the avocado beet cucumber mango roll.

🥑 Ingredients

This sushi roll will be made with common food ingredients so that you can make it at home too.

Originally in Japan, the dragon roll is made with eel and sometimes they include crab too.

There are two types of eel in Japan, saltwater and sweet water eel, and eel is not all the same all over the world.

In Japan, they have so-called eel chefs. A cook whose profession is to just cook eels!

We use cooked shrimp instead of eel in this homemade DIY dragon roll.

You will need the following ingredient:

• nori sheet
• cooked sushi rice
• boiled shrimp
• cucumber
• mayo - preferably Japanese Mayonnaise
• avocado - harder and not too soft for the looks
• tobiko fish roe (optional)

You can also use sriracha mayonnaise if you like.

The shrimp can be substituted with cooked crab lumps or cooked eel.

🔪 How to make the sushi roll?

Here is how YOU can make this pretty amazing sushi roll at home.

This is an overview, the complete recipe with US and metric measurements and details can be found further below in the printable recipe card.

Step 1

Keep your ingredients ready.

Boil shrimp, prepare sushi rice, cut the cucumber into lengthy pieces, and an avocado piece into slices. The avocado half for the topping is cut later when the roll is ready.

Cut nori sheet into two.

Step 2

Spread most of your sushi rice over your nori sheet. It should stick.

Turn around and use remaining 2-3 tablespoon rice on the other side. Keeping about ½-1 inch or 1-2 cm empty from the top and down the border.

Step 3

Pour a line of mayo over the rice.

Place and arrange cut cucumber and shrimp over the mayo.

Step 4

Roll and press down sushi roll gently with both hands to form a tight maki roll.

Step 5

Cut avocado into thin slices and place over the roll with a plastic wrap and your sushi mat. Press down so that the avocado sticks.

Cut your sushi with a clean knife into slices. Rinse with water in between to cut slices easily.

🍴 Serving

We used tobiko fish roes as a topping to decorate and enhance the dragon roll.

The colors pop out and make it look all the more special. This is perfect if you want to amaze your guests!

Fish roe tastes great too but they might not be your thing. Paul doesn't like them, so for his sushi, I use seaweed pearls instead, which look like fish roe but they are vegan.

But fish roes are expensive, they are considered gourmet food. You can choose between Tobiko, masago and salmon fish roe.

Serve your sliced dragon roll with soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled sushi ginger. A citrus ponzu sauce can be used as a dipping sauce too.

💭 FAQs

📖 Recipe