Why do my sushi rolls fall apart?

Your rolls are falling apart

You did everything right. You cleared the time, picked the best ingredients, cooked the perfect sushi rice. The whole nine yards. But in the final act of cutting the sushi roll it simply breaks apart in your hands. Why is it happening, how to fix a broken sushi roll and most importantly how to avoid sushi rolls from falling apart?

First of all, it’s not your fault

Just kidding, it most likely totally is. Rolls fall apart for to main reasons:

1.  The nori is in bad shape. The packaging was left open for too long and it soaked up moisture. This is easy to fix by toasting the nori on open fire or in an oven until the seaweed is dry and crisp.
2. The most common reason for rolls breaking apart is using too little nori for too much sushi rice and fillings. It happens to everyone. This will be our main topic today.

How to fix a broken roll

The key here is early detection. The first step is preparation: Cut a narrow strip of nori and keep it next to your sushi working station. This is a good practice if you sushi rolls tend to break often.

If your roll falls apart – act quickly and place a strip of nori where the sushi roll breaks. To make the fix stick, apply a tiny bit of water on the nori fix and press it to the roll using the sushi mat. Catastrophe avoided! The sushi roll below was fixed that way – you couldn’t possibly tell it ever fell apart.

How to prevent sushi rolls from breaking

In order to prevent your sushi rice from breaking apart in the first place – make sure to use the right nori size for the right amount of sushi rice and fillings.

For example, when making a maki roll, try to use little rice and only filling if you plan to use half a nori. If you plan to use more rice and/or fillings inside the roll, better use a full nori sheet, or at leas 2/3s.

When rolling inside-out sushi, you can use more rice and more fillings while using just half a nori if you like.

Hope this helps you keep it together. Please use the comments below if you have any questions. ideas etc.