Recipes / Family and Friends
Memory-based reconstruction · Not an original written recipe · Printable
Michti Hoatland's Okinawan Home-Style Sushi
A very large nori-wrapped rice roll remembered from a cooking lesson with a friend from Okinawa. The spelling of Michti's first name is uncertain, and the original Okinawan name of the dish is not recalled.
Ingredients remembered with confidence
- Cooked rice (type, seasoning and quantity not remembered)
- Nori seaweed sheets
- Cooked egg, prepared as one thick strip about the width of a finger
- A small amount of avocado
- Cucumber
- Pickled ginger, placed inside the roll beside the avocado
No fish or meat was included. Exact quantities and the original method for preparing the rice and egg are unknown.
Suggested reconstruction for a future test
These are proposed steps, not instructions recalled from Michti.
- Prepare rice suitable for rolling and allow it to cool enough to handle. Whether Michti seasoned her rice is unknown.
- Cook egg into a substantial omelet strip about a finger thick. Cut cucumber into a lengthwise strip and prepare a small amount of avocado and pickled ginger.
- Lay nori on a sushi rolling mat, joining sheets if necessary to attempt the remembered oversized diameter.
- Spread rice over the nori, leaving an edge for closing. Arrange the egg strip, cucumber, avocado and ginger together.
- Roll firmly using the mat, then cut into portions to serve. The original roll was remembered as roughly 3–4 inches in diameter, much too large to pick up and eat whole.
The correct rice-to-filling ratio, number of nori sheets and exact rolling technique remain to be tested. This is not claimed to reproduce the original faithfully.
How this recipe was remembered
Michti Hoatland, a friend of the author's mother from Okinawa, introduced the author to nori through this large, meatless home-style sushi. Michti described it as an older Okinawan preparation. She obtained ingredients from Japanese shops near the military base and from her garden, and took the author shopping at a Japanese store, helping spark a lasting interest in Japanese food.
Michti demonstrated the rolls and tried repeatedly to teach the author how to roll them, but their exceptional size made them difficult to manage with the author's small hands. Michti gave her a sushi rolling mat and another tool. Her husband affectionately called her “the General.”
Visual confirmation: after seeing a reference image of an oversized nori-wrapped sushi roll with a visible egg strip and vegetable fillings, the author confirmed it was very close to the appearance of Michti's sushi. This supports the description of its look, but does not establish exact measurements, its traditional Okinawan name, or the original technique. This entry preserves a firsthand recollection, not an authenticated name or standardized recipe for an Okinawan regional dish. See also: Michti's Okinawan doughnuts.