Bring all of your sushi dreams to life this summer with incredible at-home sushi rolls. A great beat-the-heat treat and healthy food option, making sushi at home is easy, affordable, and so fulfilling once you know how to do it. And better yet, it’s completely customizable — you get to choose which ingredients you love the most and omit those you don’t! Get started making your homemade sushi with these four simple steps.

Invest in Equipment

First things first, while making a sushi roll at home is incredibly easy, you don’t want to rush the process. Take the time to prep all of the ingredients and invest in a few critical pieces of equipment you might not have in your kitchen. While rolling with your hands is fine, a bamboo sushi rolling mat will come in handy to get that tight roll. For filleting a fish, a sushi knife makes precise, easy cuts.

Gather Ingredients

To make a classic maki roll — or a sushi roll with fish, vegetables, or other ingredients rolled up inside of seaweed (nori) and rice — you will first need to gather all of the ingredients you’d like to use. The must-have items on your list will include sushi rice, nori, and sushi-grade salmon or tuna. Any other fillings depend entirely on what you like. Suggestions include: avocado, cucumber, carrots, peppers, cream cheese, tofu, crab, spicy mayo, and asparagus.

Assemble & Roll

Once you’ve got your ingredients prepped and out, it’s time to get things assembled. Start by firmly pressing your rice onto a piece of nori, leaving about an inch of nori free of rice at the end. You will then add your fillings horizontally and side-by-side. Using the sushi mat, you will work to tightly roll your nori, rice, and ingredients into a beautiful, delicious maki roll.

Serve & Devour

Carefully slice your maki roll into eight bite-sized pieces, followed by a slight drizzle of spicy mayo, toasted sesame seeds, or any other toppings you’d prefer. Accompany the roll with wasabi paste and soy sauce for dipping. And voila! You’ve made your very own at-home sushi roll.

Once you make sushi at home, you’ll learn to love it and possibly even prefer it to your favorite local sushi restaurant. Beat the heat this summer and use these four easy tips for getting started on making your own at-home sushi rolls.

Roll up more fun this summer with ideas from the Olympus Carrington blog.