California roll

An inside-out roll built on cling film, with the rice outside and the nori hidden.

Shellfish, Egg. Not vegetarian — contains shellfish, tobiko, which is flying-fish roe.

Ingredients

to roll

• 600 g prepared sushi rice, as on its own page
• 4 sheets nori
• 200 g crab meat or crab sticks
• 1 avocado, in long slices
• 1 cucumber, in long batons
• 4 tablespoons mayonnaise

outside and alongside

• 4 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons tobiko
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon wasabi
• 2 tablespoons gari

Method

1. BUILT ON CLING FILM OVER THE MAT, which is the whole method and the reason this is not just a note on the makizushi page. With the rice on the OUTSIDE it would stick to a bare bamboo mat and tear the roll apart as you lift it. Film over the mat, and nothing sticks.
2. THE MAT IS STILL UNDERNEATH. The film alone has no structure and the roll comes out oval and loose.
3. RICE FIRST, ON THE NORI, THEN TURNED OVER. Spread the rice over the whole nori sheet, right to the edges, then flip the sheet rice-side DOWN onto the film. The nori is now facing up and the fillings go on it.
4. WET HANDS AND A SPATULA, AND DO NOT PRESS. Spreading rice with any force compacts it and the roll eats like a brick. Pat it out and let its own stickiness hold it.
5. SESAME AND TOBIKO GO ON BEFORE THE FLIP, scattered over the rice while it is still face up. Sprinkled on afterwards they will not stick and come off in the hand.
6. Fillings in a line across the lower third of the nori, cut long so they run the full width.
7. AVOCADO LAST AND IN ONE LAYER -- it bruises and smears if anything is rolled on top of it.
8. Roll with the film, lifting it away from the roll as you go so it does not get rolled inside. Tighten by squeezing along the finished roll through the film.
9. Rest 2 minutes in the film before cutting, which lets the rice settle against itself.
10. CUT THROUGH THE FILM, wiping the wet blade between every slice, then peel it off each piece. Unwrapped first, a rice-outside roll flattens under the knife.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Japan · All recipes