Hiroko’s Thick Roll from The Sushi Experience by Hiroko Shimbo

Ingredients

• Sea salt, sugar, and komezu (rice vinegar)
• 1 medium carrot (3½ ounces), cut into fine julienne, 4 inches long (about 1 cup)
• 16 medium shrimp in their shells (31 to 35 count per pound)
• 4 large eggs
• Sixteen ½-inch-square and 4-inch-long cucumber sticks from 1½ Japanese cucumbers or other cucumbers (for cutting instructions)
• Sriracha mayonnaise sauce (optional)
• 6 simmered shiitake mushrooms (3 ounces), cut in thin slices, or 8 brown mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 12 asparagus spears, with tough bottoms removed
• 4 whole sheets nori (laver); choose the thick variety
• 6 cups (lightly packed) prepared sushi rice (1½ cups, 9.5 ounces, per roll)