Look! Sushi Roller

Look, a sushi roller! It's like a pasta machine and a ravioli filler all in one, except, you know, for sushi rolls. This roller is a concept for the kitchen ecology exhibition at Dwell on Design in Los Angeles this June, and it was designed by German group Osko + Deichmann. Read on for step-by-step photos of how it works!

The designers say that this concept is a reflection on the fact that more and more people are making sushi at home. These traditional maki are hand rolls with rice filled with sliced vegetables and covered with a sheet of seaweed (nori). They say that some people get frustrated with the traditional way of rolling up the the maki in a mat, and this little gadget is a way to make it easier.

We have made hand rolls and summer rolls plenty of times, and we don't think they're that difficult. In fact, they're a great meal for company, especially in the summer when their cool crisp textures and flavors can really be appreciated. It's fun to put out a lot of fillings and let everyone roll up their own.

But we can still appreciate the whimsy and fun of a sushi roller; we'd like to see it in action!

• See more of Osko + Deichmann's work here: Osko + Deichmann

(All images Osko + Deichmann)

Comments (17)

this is pretty much a larger, food-safe, version of an old-fashioned cigarette rolling gizmo...

Honestly, I think this would be more work than making the roll the standard way with a mat. You still have to learn to use the thing, dirty it up, figure out how to clean and store it, etc etc. Not for me, though I agree that it might be fun just to see somebody demo-ing the thing.

Very Jetsons! I can dig it, so cute.

Yep, I had one of those cigarette rollers. If it's anything like that roller, it's better to do it by hand. Not that the roller didn't do a good job but once you learned to do it by hand it was easier then the machine.

Why would you pay money for this? You can roll by hand in just a few seconds.

CarrieCooks: Maybe *you* can, but I know several people who would probably benefit from this. We had a "make your own sushi" night, and one of the guys ended up eating a pile of loose rice with stuff on top (with his hands, proper sushi style!) because he couldn't get it to roll... nor could he get the little Onigiri maker to work... it's a MOLD for Heaven's sake!

Ha! My loadie friends in high school used to talk about gizmos like these! Different use of course!

I'm not sure about this. I agree with CarrieCooks that you can roll sushi by hand in just a few seconds. If it breaks apart, it's likely due to the consistency of the rice.

Many many years ago, a friend bought me a sushi maker as a birthday gift. You stick the rice is some plastic thingy that produces square shaped rice. I tried it once and then tossed it.

He also bought one for himself. Shortly thereafter, I asked him if I could use his house to throw a party. He got all excited and then says, "Cool! Bring your sushi maker over and we can both make sushi together for the party." I got burned big time!

I have to agree with the others who compared it to the cigarette roller, with this one amendment.

The cigarette rollers are slower than a person who has been rolling cigarettes for a while, but for people who just do it once in a while, it is a time and energy saver. However the price of a sushi rolling machine would inevitably be much higher than the cost of a $2 sushi mat, so would it really be worth it?

Someone's been smoking too much sushi!

Seriously, what's wrong with the little grass mats?
Besides the complexity of something that should be kept simple, if you try to roll them too tightly, BLOOSH! You've got rice and wasabi all over the ceiling and goodness knows where that tuna shot out.

Making a nori roll with a mat is ridiculously simple - if you're having trouble, there's something wrong with the rice or you loaded too much into it (two problems that this complicated device will not fix). By the time you're on your third roll doing it the old fashioned way, you'll be able to make them in about half the time as this thinger with very little mess.