YAY!!!!! My first time making sushi was not an epic failure!!! Well, a couple were weird looking, but the majority of the rolls turned out FANFLIPPINGTASTIC!
The first time I had California Rolls, years ago, I hated it. The flavors made me want to gag! Then came the night I met Kieran’s family for the first time….we tried getting dinner at this quaint Italian joint, but it was booked up, so we needed another option for dinner. Next door to the Italian place was a sushi restaurant. Kieran’s entire family enjoyed sushi…so I put on a brave face and agreed to try it again.
I don’t know what happened between the first time I had California Rolls, and the time with Kieran’s family, perhaps the quality of the food was better, or my tastes had grown up, but I REALLY enjoyed the rolls that time! That experience lit a “sushi fire” in me and I started to crave sushi on a regular basis. Over the years I’ve grown bolder and enjoy everything from your basic rolls to Sashimi. However, whenever I eat sushi, I have to get at least ONE California Roll to complete my experience.
Making sushi for the first time was a lot of fun, but be prepared to spend a couple of hours making it, until you get enough practice to go faster! I tried to multitask my time the best I could. For example, while the rice was cooking, I cut up my vegetables. I used a mandolin slicer to cut my cucumber which is a HUGE time saver! I used the julienne blade on the smallest setting which worked out OK, but next time I will make the julienne slices a bit bigger. I toasted my sesame seeds the day before so I wouldn’t have to toast them on the same day. I’m not certain, but imagine you can buy toasted sesame seeds in the stores now. Definitely purchase a sushi rolling mat! They are inexpensive and really easy to find!
Oh yeah, sushi rice is great. If you don’t feel like monkeying around with it, you can follow the sushi rice directions on it’s packaging, and have plain normal rice. I think the sushi rice tastes worlds better, but that’s just my opinion.
Also, making sushi rice, or any kind of rice, is easier if you have a rice maker. You can easily find them at Target.
- 2 cups Japanese short or medium grain rice
- 2½ cups cold water
- 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoon salt (I used bourbon smoked sea salt)
- Bamboo mat (wrapped in plastic wrap)
- ½ lb Imitation crab meat, cut up into long strips (the “log” shaped crab meat is the easiest to work with)
- 1 Avocado, ripe but still firm, cut up in long strips
- ½ medium cucumber, peeled and sliced into long julienne strips
- Nori Seaweed, cut in half crosswise
- Toasted sesame seeds
- Pinch of sugar
- Rinse the rice with cold water until the water runs clear. Drain well. If you have a rice maker, follow rice maker instructions and cook on the white rice setting then skip to step #3
- Put drained rice in a heavy sauce-pan, add 2 cups cold water. Cover tightly and set the pan over high heat and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and let cook covered until all the water is absorbed (7-8 min). Do not remove the cover to check, but listen for the bubbling to stop. Once you hear a faint hissing sound, reduce the heat to very low and cook another 6 min. Remove from the heat and let stand 15 min covered.
- Transfer the hot rice to a large bowl and break it up to get rid of all the hot clumps.
- Let the rice cool down until it is just warm, then stir in your cooled sushi vinegar
- Sprinkle a pinch of sugar over your crab meat, mix well.
- Lay a sheet of nori, shiny side down, on the bamboo mat (wrap with plastic wrap first). Wet your fingers in the water mixture, spread a generous handful of rice evenly over nori sheet.
- Turn the sheet of nori over so that the rice side is facing down. Line the edge of nori sheet at the bottom end of the bamboo mat. Place the crab meat, avocado, and cucumber in the center of the nori (avoid over stuffing or the sushi won't seal shut).
- Grab the bottom edge of the bamboo mat while keeping the fillings sin place with your fingers, roll into a tight cylinder (if its not tight enough, it will be difficult to cut). Lift the edge of the bamboo mat and continue to roll it forward while keeping gentle pressure on the mat. Sprinkle the roll with toasted sesame seeds.
- Dampen a paper towel in the water mixture and wipe the blade of a very sharp knife, then cut the roll in half and then cut each half into 3 pieces. Clean the knife with the paper towel every few cuts.
Sushi Rice recipe from natashaskitchen.com
Directions on how to Assemble your California Rolls with some photos
1. Lay a sheet of nori, shiny side down, on the bamboo mat (wrap with plastic wrap first). Wet your fingers in the water mixture, spread a generous handful of rice evenly over nori sheet.
(This picture shows the full nori sheet. Don’t forget to cut it in half, crosswise, first!)
2. Turn the sheet of nori over so that the rice side is facing down. Line the edge of nori sheet at the bottom end of the bamboo mat. Place the crab meat, avocado, and cucumber in the center of the nori (avoid over stuffing or the sushi won’t seal shut).
3. Grab the bottom edge of the bamboo mat while keeping the fillings sin place with your fingers, roll into a tight cylinder ([i]if its not tight enough, it will be difficult to cut[/i]). Lift the edge of the bamboo mat and continue to roll it forward while keeping gentle pressure on the mat. Sprinkle the roll with toasted sesame seeds.
*I don’t have a photo for rolling the sushi, but here is a 3 minute video from YouTube that does a good tutorial. Click here.
4. Dampen a paper towel in the water mixture and wipe the blade of a very sharp knife, then cut the roll in half and then cut each half into 3 pieces. Clean the knife with the paper towel every few cuts.
5. Enjoy your homemade California Rolls!
Hi there just wanted to give you a brief heads
up and let you know a few of the pictures aren’t loading properly.
I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue.
I’ve tried it in two different browsers and both show the same outcome.
Hey! Thanks for the heads up. I’m currently doing an overhaul on the entire site, since it kinda looks like 2 year old built it. HA! Bare with me while I work to fix this and make this a better site!
~Shock Munch
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