California Sushi Rolls

I had a sushi craving last night...so after our appointment at Edward Jones, we stopped by Safeway and bought some terrible, stale sushi. It was awful, but it was also motivation to pull out the old recipes and make some sushi at home.

I'll be honest, making sushi rolls isn't a piece of cake. It takes time...and practice...but even when they look a little lopsided, they taste pretty wonderful. I'll try to keep this entry pretty simple (and I took lots of pictures).

You have a lot of options when it comes to what goes in your sushi. Here is a short list, but my recommendation is to pick only three otherwise your sushi becomes difficult to roll.

avacado
cucumber, seeded
red or yellow pepper
carrot
imitation crab

Before you get started assembling the sushi, slice the vegetables and crab into long slices.

You'll also need:

a bamboo rolling mat(called a makisu)
sushi rice (see earlier blog entry)
seaweed wraps (also called nori)
roasted sesame seeds
pickled ginger* (also called Gari)
wasbabi sauce*
soy sauce*

*these ingredients are optional



When making sushi, it is a good idea to wrap the bamboo rolling mat in plastic wrap. This makes clean up so much easier because you won't have to pick the rice out from between the pieces of bamboo.




Cut the Nori in half and spread the rice on one side of the Nori.




Flip your Nori over (rice side down) and lay your vegetables down the center of your Nori. I used red pepper, avacado, and cucumber.




Roll your sushi. See that little bit? I am going to add a little rice to cover up the seam.




Roll your sushi again. Now sprinkle with sesame seeds.




Transfer the sushi roll to a cutting board and cover with a piece of plastic wrap.




Cut the sushi roll carefully with a sharp knife. Cut the roll in half first, then quarter, then eights. This helps the sushi maintain it's shape.




Transfer to a plate and serve with Gari, Wasabi and Soy Sauce. Here's what the they look like. I found these ingredients in the Asian aisle at our commissary.