California Roll Recipe

The California roll is one of the most common sushi rolls in the U.S. With its simple ingredients, it is one of the easiest rolls to make. Containing no raw fish, it is also a great starter sushi for newcomers.

Ingredient list:

                        1 avocado

                        1 cucumber

                        8 imitation crab sticks

                        4 half sheets of nori

                    Sushi rice:

                        1 cup of sushi rice

                        1.2 cups of water

                        1/8 cup of rice vinegar

                        1 tablespoon of sugar

                        1/4 teaspoon of salt

                     Optional:

                        Wasabi

                        Soy sauce

                        Pickled ginger

Instructions:

Preparing the sushi rice:

1. Wash rice in clean water. Stir/rub with fingers to remove starch. Drain cloudy water out and repeat several times until water is clear.
   
2. Cook the rice and water in a rice cooker if available. If you don’t have a rice cooker, place rice and water in a medium pot over high heat. Keep uncovered and bring water to a boil. Once water boils, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for 15 minutes.
   
3. Place rice, rice vinegar, sugar and salt in mixing bowl (wooden or glass bowl is best). Mix the ingredients by folding the rice over itself, using a bamboo or plastic rice paddle. After its mixed, cover with damp cloth and allow to cool for 10 minutes.

*NOTE* Don’t worry about rice that sticks to the bottom of the pan. The stuck rice is either burnt or will break apart. Either way, it is unfit to be used as sushi rice. Be sure to mix rice gently to keep rice fully intact.

Creating the sushi roll:

1. Place plastic wrap on the bamboo sushi mat to prevent the rice from sticking. Take a nori sheet and cut it in half. Cut parallel to the distinctive lines on the nori sheet. Lay it down, smooth/shiny side facing your bamboo sushi mat.
   
2. Prepare your avocado by cutting it into thin strips. To prevent browning, you can put a little lemon juice on the slices. Don’t use too much or it will affect the taste. Peel and slice your cucumber into thin strips. Length wise, slice your crab stick in half so that they aren’t too thick.
   
   
   
3. After your rice has cooled for about 10 minutes, spread it onto your nori sheet with the rice paddle and/or your hand to make sure the nori is evenly covered. It needs cover the majority of the sheet, but you don’t want it to be too thick.
   
   *NOTE* To prevent the rice from sticking to your fingers. Make a mixture of about ¾ cups of water and 1 tablespoon of rice vinegar. Dip your fingers into it as necessary.
   
4. Flip the nori sheet over so that the rice is on the plastic wrap/bamboo mat side. It should be positioned close to the top of the mat.
   
5. Place the crab stick, one line of avocado and two slices of cucumber onto the nori. Too much filling will make it hard to roll, so keep the fillings thin.
   
   
   
6. Use the mat to roll nori sheet. Use your fingers to hold the filling in place while rolling the nori over to keep everything snugly in place. After rolling, you should have some nori that overlaps. First press down to keep things in place, and move the plastic out of the way. Finally, roll what’s left onto the overlapping nori. Press down gently again to complete.
   
   
   
7. Take your rolled sushi to the cutting board. Mark the top of the sushi with knife-divets to make sure you’ll get 8 even pieces, then use your sharpest knife to cut. Don’t press down with the knife too hard or you will squish the rice. This happens especially if your knife isn’t sharp enough. Try sawing back and forth and pressing down gently until your knife goes all the way through.
   
8. Plate the California roll pieces and assemble with soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger, if desired.
   
   
   
9. Enjoy your California roll!