How To Make A California Sushi Roll

It will have you “Feeling ‘soy’ happy with this sushi feast!”
Janell Atkins, George Weckerle, Jack Galloway

Image courtesy of yummyhealtheasy.com

The Ingredients You Need

Ingredients for sushi roll: Japanese rice, toasted sesame seeds, avocado, cucumber, cutting board, parchment paper or sushi rolling mat, rice cooker, and imitation crab sticks

2 cups of japanese rice (sushi rice such as Homai or California Calrose, medium or short grain)
2- 2.5 cups of cold water (2 cups for cooking stovetop rice, 2.5 cups for rice cooker)
5 tbsp sushi vinegar
- Can also be made with 4 Tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tbsp sugar, and 2 tsp salt, mixed until sugar and salt dissolves
½ lb imitation crab meat (preferably “log shaped” crab meat, easier for rolling)
1 avocado (ripe, but firm), sliced into ½ inch thick slices

½ of a medium cucumber, peeled and sliced into 2-3 inch long, wide or “thick” strips (about the width of your pinky)

1 Package Toasted Nori seaweed sheets
½ cup of Toasted sesame seeds
1 Sushi rolling mat with plastic wrap (parchment paper works as well)

Making the Sushi Rice

Use a rice cooker, cook the rice according to the instructions for how to make “white rice”
Cook the rice in a rice cooker or according to the instructions on rice packaging
- Sushi Rice is very starchy, and film on the sides of your pan as it cools is also very common, this is starch film. To thin out the starch film, make sure to rinse your rice at least once in cold water to keep the texture of rice firm
Place the rice in a large bowl (deep enough to fit all the rice and add some liquid) and break up clumps
Mix in sushi vinegar and use immediately
- The sushi vinegar will also firm up the rice in case it was overcooked or has a thick starch film over it.

How to Assemble the California Rolls

1. Wrap the flattened mat with plastic wrap and place it in front of you horizontally

2. Break a sheet of seaweed in half by folding it and tearing (Use a larger piece of seaweed if you prefer to have larger pieces of sushi and adjust the amount of your ingredients accordingly.)

torn seaweed placed vertical on parchment paper

3. Place the half sheet on the roller so that the entire sheet is on the mat

4. Wet your hands and spread a even layer of rice evenly over the seaweed. The rice should cover the entire surface of the seaweed sheet, can be a thin or thick layer, this depends on your preference.

one torn piece of seaweed placed horizontally on the parchment paper with a thin layer of rice on top

5. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the rice layer

6. Flip the seaweed and rice over so that the rice is face down on the mat

7. Place the cucumber, avocado, and crab meat longways across the center of the seaweed. The orientation of the ingredients depends on your preference. The ingredients should be facing horizontally along the mat.