How To Make a California Roll

A California roll is a creative American twist on sushi. This page will describe the California Uramaki. Uramaki has nori or seaweed on the inside and the rice on the outside, as opposed to a regular sushi roll, which usually has the seaweed on the outside.

Ingredients

• a sheet of nori (seaweed)
• sushi rice
• crab meat (can be imitation or real)
• avocado slices
• mayonnaise - optional
• sesame seeds or "tobiko" (flying fish eggs) - both items are optional

Step 1  

Use Saran wrap to cover your sushi rolling mat. This method avoids rice getting into the mat.

Step 2  

Place the seaweed sheet, shiny side down, on the mat.

Step 3  

Pour water into a bowl and dip your fingers in it. Wetting your hands makes the rice less sticky while you work with it so it stays on the seaweed instead of your fingers.

Step 4  

Get a small handful of rice and thoroughly spread it on the seaweed, completely covering it with a thin layer. Don't mash the rice down but be sure it sticks to the seaweed.

Step 5  

Turn the seaweed to its other side, so the non-rice side is facing you and the rice is on the bottom.

Step 6  

Place the strips of avocado in the middle of the seaweed sheet, parallel with the length. Usually it will take at least 2 or 3 slices, depending on how long each slice is.

Step 7  

Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise either on the top or bottom of the avocado. If you use a squeeze container (like a restaurant ketchup bottle), the mayonnaise will appear neater on the seaweed.

Step 8  

Place the individual crab pieces on the mayonnaise. While doing this, make sure that everything is even; this is important when you actually make the roll.

Step 9  

Make the roll by starting out with the seaweed side closest to you. Start folding the sushi mat away from you in a circle, so it forms a roll. Be sure not to squash the items in the roll as you go along, but make sure that it's sturdy, an even size, and firm.

Step 10  

Take a knife and cut the uramaki in half. Place one slice above the other and divide both pieces into thirds. This will give you 6 equal pieces.

Step 11  

Serve the pieces on their side to present the ingredients that are inside of the roll. This is to create a colorful and interesting palette to the person eating it.

Tips

• To get a cleaner and easier cut on the roll, dip the knife in water after each cut. If the knife is dry, the rice may stick to it and cause the roll to shift with the cut.
• Try to make the sushi as late as possible, so it can be consumed fresh. While chilling helps, if left out too long, the rice will dry out or end up tasting gummy.
• Instead of water to avoid sticking, you can use a mixture of half rice vinegar and half water. you can also sprinkle a bit (JUST A BIT) on the rice before flipping it over.
• You may cover the outside rice with sesame seeds or roe before cutting the roll into pieces. Roe, or tobiko, is flying fish eggs; they are tiny and crunchy, and salty in taste. Tobiko is often mistaken for salmon eggs (ikura), which are larger, gooey and jello-like. these are also salty in taste but will pop or fall off if rolled into sushi.
• Tobiko is sometimes hard to come by. If you can't get real tobiko, try using masago (smelt roe) instead. It looks almost identical - it's a smaller egg than tobiko, but has the same snap and is a little more orange, while tobiko is slightly more golden. It's much more common, and therefore easier to obtain.
• Instead of using straight mayonnaise, you can flavor it with a dash of sugar, salt, or even hot sauce.
• You can cut up or break up the crab meat, and mix with the mayonnaise for an even spread.
• You can experiment with ingredients and variations--there are many:
  
  
  • caterpillar roll - avocado, unagi, carrot greens.
  • dynamite roll - yellowtail (hamachi), fillings such as bean sprouts, carrots, chili and spicy mayo.
  • spider roll - fried soft shell crab and other fillings such as cucumber, avocado, daikon sprouts or lettuce, roe, and spicy mayonnaise.
  • Philadelphia - smoked salmon, cream cheese, cucumber, and/or onion.
  • BC (British Columbia) roll - grilled salmon (preferably wild Alaskan) with sweet sauce and cucumber.
  • crunchy roll - shrimp tempura inside, coated with fried tempura batter crumbs, served with chili sauce.
  • other rolls - scallops, spicy tuna, beef or chicken or teriyaki roll, okra, vegetables, cheese, brown rice, black rice.