Is there any secret to making sushi rice that doesn't instantly make nori sheets wet when making a roll?

I like sushi rolls with the nori sheet still dry and crispy (that's why I usually order temaki, because they are made to order and do not sit on the counter). But when trying making them at home, nori gets wet the instant I press the roll together with the sushi mat. Seems I am missing some crucial step here, but not sure exactly which...

I make sushi rice in accordance with the instructions on the package, and it feels and tastes OK otherwise...

There, that’s the problem. I’ve never seen a usable set of directions on a package of that kind of rice.

Whatever the measure of rice you are using don’t add more than 1.10 (1 and a tenth) as cooking water.

I can go through all the steps if you want.
ETA - here we go. I’d preempted you but you weren’t yet ready:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/32259727-post55.html

1.10 by weight or volume?

Now I remember that post, but I fell for instructions on the rice packaging again

Volume.

Agree with LapLap . My rice was far too wet using the package instructions. Use the instructions linked in that post and you're going to see an immediate difference. Especially the advice to lower the water a touch if you're going to make seasoned sushi rice with that batch. Another "fix" if you end up in this predicament is to let it cool a bit longer than usual and try to start from the top of your rice.

This won’t solve the problem and they aren’t a necessity but, once you’ve achieved appropriately cooked rice, will slightly improve the seasoning process:


It’s a sushi oke or hangiri, and whilst it is better to buy them in Japan where you can give the wood a sniff first (the classic kind is made of cypress) so long as the wood has some absorbency you should still get a better texture combining hot rice with vinegar in one of these. The one in the link is likely to be pine wood.

The price for these - which ideally come with a lid - is very affordable in Japan https://shimizumokuzai.jp/en/sushioke
This link has excellent instructions on how to wash and get a sushi oke ready before using it for the first time.

——
Another way to improve vinegared rice is to carry out that extra suggestion in the rice making instructions at Step 5, Resting. The easiest way to do it is to have a second lid handy with a tea towel secured onto it that covers the underneath part of the lid. Once the rice has finished cooking, very, very quickly, losing as little steam as possible, swap over the lids.

Without a tea towel, or paper towel, lining the top, once cooked, the steam inside the pot is going to collect onto the top, condense and then drop back onto the rice. The cooled drip water won’t be reabsorbed consistently and will contribute to making rice feel wet.

Yes, the rice got much better (still a little too wet because I failed to account for vinegar).

Maki rolls still look like after a car crash though.

Last trouble shooting point is particular to sushi rice (that made with vinegar) and that’s to begin the seasoning process the second the rice has finished resting as you’ll want the rice to be as hot as possible during the mixing process.

I personally don’t usually load rice with enough seasoned vinegar to be “authentic” (I’ve often made my own sushi su and know how much salt and sugar is super-saturated in there) but I know it’s part of the art of making sushi, professionals use piping hot rice, sushi oke, and put muscle memory skills into action by fanning the rice as they stir in the vinegar. You might find adding, say, 25% or 20% less than the recommended amount of seasoned vinegar is a totally acceptable compromise.

There is one last suggestion, and that’s to join many other Japanese households and “cheat” with this last step using a powdered seasoning vinegar that won’t introduce additional moisture. It’s called Tamanoi sushi no ko and is a common addition in home style chirashi sushi.

https://dawayo.de/en/product/tamanoi-sushi-no-ko-75g/

Might be that the nori sheets aren't at the right moisture level as well. We live in a humid area so I have to put mine flat in a dry pan over low heat for a minute or so (sometimes less) per side and they get "crisp" again. Also, work fast. I found when I am rolling maki if I use a plastic sheet over my bamboo mat (maki-su is the right name I think) I end up with soft nori because I work slowly. If I just go without the plastic I fare a bit better.

There was this terrible cheat I used to do in order to make long thin �soba maki� - which was a way of making soba noodles into finger food snacks for my kid. I found rolling nori around soba noodles much trickier than making nori rice rolls and, in order to keep them firm so that the contents wouldn�t slip out, I�d very gently toast the roll in a dry pan. The nori would contract a bit and tighten around the filling and I would then cut it up in pieces which would survive a toddler�s grip just long enough to reach the mouth.

Advice I�ve seen repeated again and again is to not toast wilted nori on both sides when applying heat to crispen it up. The pro technique is to place two sheets together, smooth side of each on the outside, and apply heat keeping them in that position. The idea being that the taste/aroma will stay sandwiched inside and won�t dissipate into the air.

Yes, I think working too slowly is my main problem - it takes me too much time to spread the rice evenly over the nori sheet.

When I was Youtube'ing my way through, another tip I saw was that you can spread the rice flat on a plate, cover with clingfilm or plastic wrap and flatten it into an approximate size of a nori sheet. Let it cool a little and then upend the plate so the rice separates, put the rice side on the nori, and remove the plastic. Seemed like a great way to cool things down. All this talk has me ready for some maki. I'm going to make some tomorrow.

That's a great idea!

My plan for the next time was to spread the rice inside a cold teflon coated frying pan, then put nori on top, then gently turn the pan upside down and remove the rice coated nori sheet this way. A plastic wrap probably makes it even easier.

I think getting the nori on there at the latest possible time is the best move for us amateurs. I debated doing the whole process without nori and then just wrapping it at the end. Inspiration for that came from the way onigiri is packaged in Japan. Keep it crispy until the last second before you eat!

Made another attempt at salmon maki. This time, I made the roll without nori first (used a transparent film instead), then removed the film and wrapped nori around the roll. Looked and tasted much better, but the nori would sometimes come off the roll when cutting it into pieces.