California rolls may be commonly served in many Japanese eateries but the name originates from the United States itself when Japanese sushi chef Ichiro Mashita reinvented sushi making by replacing tuna with avocado and making the ‘inside out’ sushi know as uramaki in the 1970s. These sushi with rice on the outside and seaweed on the inside were called California rolls and became widespread in the 20th century.
There are many variations of the California roll today and it’s really easy to make not to mention healthy and delicious. It’s usually made with avocado, cucumber and crab stick but it’s totally up to you on how you want to make them. Be creative, add different vegetables and savoury meats if you like!
In this article we’ll be teaching you how to make a basic California roll, with the seaweed on the outside because it’s much easier for beginners. This recipe is for 4 servings.
Ingredients:
4 cups of Sushi Rice
4-8 sheets of Dried Seaweed
Mayonnaise
1 pack of Crab meat
A pack of smoked salmon
1 cucumber
2 carrots
1 tin of sweet corn kernels
6 tablespoons of Rice vinegar
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of salt
Sushi rice should be prepared much earlier by rinsing and soaking the rice for half an hour. Then cook it in a rice cooker or a pan of shallow water. While waiting, prepare the vinegar dressing by heating together the rice vinegar, sugar and salt mix. Cook on medium heat until all the sugar dissolves but do not allow mixture to boil.
After rice is cooked, transfer it to a bowl and gently stir together. Careful not to use too much force as you want all the rice to maintain their shape and form.
Now put the rice aside to allow it to absorb the flavours from the vinegar mix and start preparing the fillings! Wash and peel the cucumbers as well as remove their seeds. Then cut them into thin slices of about 1 cm wide. Crab sticks should also be cut in half. You should also shred the smoked salmon into smaller bite sized pieces.
Now take out your bamboo sushi roll mat and make sure that you’ve given it a good rinse and scrub before your first use and also after subsequent uses. You don’t want the extra flavours from elsewhere.
Now spread it out on a clean surface and place a sheet of seaweed on it. Take a spoonfull of rice and press it along one third of the sheet. Careful not to put too much rice or your roll will not be able to close up nicely. Have a bowl of clean water nearby so that you can spread the rice out using your wet fingers. It gets stuck to the spoon too often.
Got your rice nicely and evenly flattened out? Go crazy with the fillings! Place pieces of smoked salmon or crab stick along the centre of the rice as well as the carrot and cucumber sticks. Add a sprinkle of corn kernels, a dash of pepper and mayonaisse to taste.
Everything should be done in a horizontal direction in a straight line. You might be tempted to add as much ingredients as you like but always remember that less is more as you want the rice to complement the flavour of your ingredients.
Roll the mat horizontally in a way that will ensure the fillings to be the center of the roll, covered by the rice and finally the seaweed. Make sure you press and roll firmly to ensure no loose spaces in between. Remove the roll from the mat. You can choose to serve them long (some people call them the Japanese hotdog), or slice them into 2cm thick slices.
Now your California rolls are ready to roll! They’re easy to make once you get the hang of rolling them to perfection and they make great finger foods for your house parties, barbeques and also as a complete wholesome meal. Protein, carbohydrates and fibre (from your veggies!) all rolled into one. Excuse the puns, we can’t help it!
Serve your rolls with soy sauce, vinegared ginger and wasabi. All ingredients above can be obtained from any local Japanese store or hypermarket. You can try Jusco, Cold Storage and Jaya Grocer for a wide selection of ingredients. As for the mayonaisse we suggest you use authentic Japanese mayo that comes in those soft plastic bottles with a little red cap. They go for about RM6 per bottle and are creamier than your usual mayo. Bon appetit!
