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Shaggy Dog Roll FAQ and Tips

Is a shaggy dog roll raw?

Typically, no! The shaggy dog roll contains tempura shrimp and imitation crab as its two meats making it a fully cooked roll.

What fish is in a shaggy dog roll?

A shaggy dog roll’s main fishes or meats are tempura shrimp and imitation crab making the shaggy dog roll a completely cooked roll!

How many calories are in a shaggy dog roll?

Although there are many variations of a shaggy dog roll, it is safe to say that most rolls contain around 400 calories!

Is a shaggy dog roll spicy?

The short answer is yes since one of the main sauces is a spicy mayo sauce. Spicy mayo sauce is a mixture of sriracha and mayonnaise. If you make the sauce yourself, you can control how spicy the sauce is by adding more or less sriracha.

What other sushi rolls are like a shaggy dog roll?

The shaggy dog sushi roll is unique as it combines flavors such as a tangy teriyaki sauce with a spicy mayo sauce. Additionally, this roll contains both tempura shrimp and imitation crab as its fish making it fully cooked! This makes this roll extremely popular. Rolls that compare to the shaggy dog roll are the dragon roll, a rainbow roll, and a simple Alaska roll with its combination of two meats, salmon and crab.

What is a shaggy dog roll made of?

Sushi Rice: It is very important to use sushi rice instead of traditional long grain white rice when making sushi. Sushi rice and normal white rice differ in the fact that sushi rice is short grain and has more starch and protiens than long grain rices which is the traditional kind. The increased levels of starch and protein makes the sushi rice sticky which allows you to shape it into a roll. Click here to read our post about why you should use sushi rice instead of white rice!

Tempura Shrimp: There are two ways to make shrimp tempura. The easy way (but less fun) is to buy pre-battered tempura shrimp in the frozen section of your grocery store, then all you have to do is be smart enough to follow the directions on the box to cook it in the oven. The other option is to buy your own shrimp and follow our tempura batter instructions and cook them yourself.

Imitation Crab: Did you know that the vast majority of crab used in sushi is actually imitation crab? Imitation crab is made of starch and finely diced white fish and shaped to imitate the look of real crab meat from a crab leg. Real crab meat can be used as well, however it is not as easily found and is expensive and messy to remove from the crab. Imitation crab can be found at any grocery store. Check out these other sushi rolls that contain crab!

Nori Sheets (Seaweed): Sheets of dried seaweed, otherwise called nori, are what are used to align the guts of the sushi roll. Nori is very healthy for you, and has relatively little flavor. Sheets of nori can be found at most grocery stores like Walmart, Kroger, or HEB or can even be ordered off of Amazon.

Spicy Mayo Sauce: This delicious topping can add a kick to liven up numerous dishes, not just sushi! Spicy mayo sauce is just a combination of sriracha and mayonnaise. You can make the sauce spicier by adding more sriracha and mellower by adding more mayo. Check out our recipe here.

Teriyaki Sauce: This sauce on a shaggy dog roll helps give that perfect blend of spicy and tangy. Teriyaki sauce can be found at any grocery store in the condiment section. Teriyaki sauce is made out of soy sauce, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, honey, and mirin. Teriyaki is also known as a Janaese cooking style in addition to the sauce.

Avocado: Avocado is found in most sushi rolls, not just the shaggy dog roll. This is aside from the fact that avocado is just down right delicious and could be a topping on just about anything! To pick an avocado, look for dark skin colors and place them in the palm of your hand. If it is to firm, it is not ripe yet. If it is to squishy, it is overripe. You should be looking for a dark skinned avocado that you can give a slight squeeze!

Shaggy Dog Roll Ingredients

• 2 Cups Cooked Sushi Rice (Click link for easy sushi rice instructions)
• 1/4 Cup Seasoned Rice Vinegar
• 16 pieces Tempura Shrimp Frozen (Can be bought at most grocery stores, or check out our tempura batter recipe and make your own)
• 4 Half Sheets Nori (Click link for folding instructions)
• 1/2 Cup Spicy Mayo Sauce (Click link for an easy recipe)
• 1 Small Avocado Sliced into strips
• Teriyaki Sauce
• 4 Sticks Imitation Crab
• Chopped Green Onions *Optional
• 1 tsp Sesame Seeds *Optional

Cooking Equipment

Cooking Instructions

Preparation

1. Add the seasoned rice vinegar to the cooked sushi rice and mix together.
2. Place your bamboo rolling mat inside a plastic gallon bag. (Trust us, this makes clean up much easier, all you have to do is throw out the bag!)
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and cook frozen tempura shrimp until golden and crisp (about 6 minutes per side)
4. Once shrimp are cooked, remove tails from 8 of the shrimp, leave the tails on the other 8.
5. Place one half sheet of nori on the rolling mat (remember we tore the full sheet in half hamburger style) with the rough side facing up.

Making the Roll

1. ONLY ONCE THE RICE HAS COOLED, grab a handful of rice and cover the rough side of the nori leaving a 1 inch gap at the top without any rice. If using sesame seeds, sprinkle them over the rice. Grab the nori by the top, and flip it over so the rice is against the bamboo rolling mat and the 1 inch gap is now on the bottom.
2. Starting 1/3 of the way up from the bottom begin to align the “guts” of the sushi roll in a horizontal line beginning with the tempura shrimp. Add two tempura shrimp with the tails off in the middle, and add two more tempura shrimp with the tails on to the outside of the rolls with the tails hanging off of the side of the sheet.
3. Add the avocado slices above the tempura shrimp.
4. Grab both the sushi mat and the nori and roll the mat over from the bottom until the empty space we left at the bottom is touching the other side, squeezing down on the roll to make it nice and tight and allowing to hold its shape.

Sauces and Presentation

1. Slice the imitation crab sticks in half and flatten them out, slicing them very finely along the way.
2. Now that the roll has taken shape, add the finely sliced imitation crab to the top of the roll to make it look “shaggy”.
3. Once the imitation crab has been added, it is time to add the spicy mayo sauce and teriyaki sauce! There are two ways to do this. 1) The easy way is to just spread it across the top of the roll with a fork. 2) The “Instagram-worthy-way” is to put the sauces in small bags, cut off the corner and then push the sauce out of the bag while doing zig-zags up and down the roll. In place of the teriyaki sauce, most restaurants use Unagi eel sauce. Click the link here or in the notes for our easy recipe.
4. Add the chopped green onions to the top for garnish!
5. Place the roll on a cutting board and get a knife and damp paper towel. Cut the toll into 8 equal sizes (easiest if you start by cutting the roll in half). Before you make each cut DAMPEN THE KNIFE WITH THE PAPER TOWEL or else the roll will fall apart when you slice through it.
6. Serve with soy sauce, take some pictures for your friends, and enjoy!

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