Today’s recipe, California Rolls is the first of the 4 Sushi Rolls Recipe Series, and the most popular sushi in Australia and the US. The fillings of my California Rolls consist of imitation crab meat called kanikama, avocado, and cucumber. You can of course use real boiled crab meat.
Total Time does not include making sushi rice.
- 240g/8.5oz sushi rice (note 1)
- 1 sheet yaki nori (roasted seaweed sheet), halved
- 1 tbsp roasted white sesame seeds (note 2)
- 1 tbsp tobiko (seasoned flying fish roe, note 2)
- 40g/1.4oz kanikama , break/shred into 1cm/⅜" wide pieces (note 3)
- 2 x 19cm/7½" long thin cucumber wedges (note 4)
- 4-6 slices avocado , sliced lengthwise (note 5)
- A sushi rolling mat (bamboo mat) wrapped in cling wrap (note 6)
- A cup of water mixed with 1 tablespoon of vinegar
- A sharp knife
- A wet kitchen towel to wipe the knife
-
Beak or shred kanikama into long, thin pieces of about 1cm/⅜" wide.
-
Place a piece of yaki nori on a sushi rolling mat.
-
Wet your hands with the vinegar water in the bowl, take ½ of the sushi rice and make an oval ball.
-
Place the rice in the centre of the yaki nori sheet and spread the rice in all directions, covering the entire yaki nori. Ensure that the rice evenly covers the yaki nori sheet, and do not press the rice down too hard.
-
Sprinkle roasted white sesame seeds all over the rice.
-
Turn the rice with yaki nori over, facing the yaki nori up, and place it to the edge of the rolling mat closer to you.
-
Place your kanikama in the middle, spreading thinly from the left end to the right end. Place avocado and cucumber pieces along the kanikama (note 7).
-
Using the thumb and index finger of both hands, hold the end of the mat and lift it up.
-
Keeping the thumbs on the mat, place your fingers on the fillings firmly. While placing these fingers on the fillings, roll the bamboo mat away from you.
-
When the edge of the rolling mat is at the top, let go of your fingers on the filling and keep rolling slowly until the edge of the rolling mat reaches the other end of the rice.
-
By now, the mat should be completely covering the sushi roll. Don't roll the end of the mat into the rice!
-
Press the rolling mat around the sushi roll gently but firmly.
-
To completely roll the rest of the rice, hold the roll by placing one hand over the mat, then pull the end of the mat with the other hand a few centimetres away from you so that the sushi inside the mat rolls a further 90 degrees or so.
-
Using both hands, gently but firmly press the mat over the sushi, then unroll the mat.
-
Place the sushi roll on the plate/cutting board with the overlapping seam line down.
-
Wipe a sharp kitchen knife with a wet towel to give moisture to the knife. This will prevent the knife from sticking to the rice, resulting in a clean cut.
-
Cut the roll in half, then cut each half-length roll in half, then cut each piece in half again. You should have 8 small pieces.
-
Transfer the California Rolls to a serving plate and serve with soy sauce. Wasabi paste is optional.
-
To make California Rolls with tobiko, follow the same instructions above but replace white sesame seeds with tobiko using a small spoon to scatter.
1. Please refer to Temakizushi (Hand Rolled Sushi) for how to make sushi rice.
2. I made one roll with roasted white sesame seeds and one roll with tobiko. But you can make both rolls with the same coating.
3. You can buy frozen kanikama at Japanese/Asian grocery stores. It comes in different shapes and textures. Some are like a fish paste stick. Some are imitated more like real crab meat, including how the crab meat breaks into shredded meat.
Please visit my post Crab Omelette on Rice (Tenshinhan) for more details about kanikama with a photo.
4. My cucumber was short, so I made 3 wedges and used 1½ cucumber pieces per roll.
5. The number of avocado slices you need depends on the size of your avocado. You need to connect 2-3 slices to make 19cm/7½" long per roll.
6.This is to prevent the rice grains from sticking to the mat.
7. The filling should be placed slightly closer to you.