California Rolls Food

CALIFORNIA ROLLS

Steps:

• Wash the rice until the water rinses clear. Drain the rice in a colander and let it stand for 30 minutes. Place the rice in a pot or rice cooker, and add 4 cups of water or follow the instructions on a rice cooker. Bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cover the pot. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove the cover, place a damp towel over the rice, and let cool for 10 minutes.
• You can find sushi vinegar prepared at a grocery story or you can easily make it by pouring the vinegar, sugar and salt into a pan under low heat until the sugar and salt are dissolved. If you like sweeter vinegar, just add more sugar.
• Pour sushi vinegar over cooked rice and mix it gently. You can do this in a wooden bowl for making sushi rice or in your rice cooker by turning off the cooker and pouring the vinegar and mixing gently and evenly and leaving it until it cools down to room temperature. The lid should remain open.
• Cover a makisu (sushi rolling mat) with plastic wrap. Place half of a sheet of the seaweed over the plastic on the mat. Place a handful of rice across the seaweed and spread it evenly over the seaweed. Toss the imitation crab with the mayonnaise in a small bowl. Place some of the imitation crab meat meat along the center of the rice. Add some cucumber and avocado along the center of the rice. Using the mat and plastic wrap, roll the rice around the filling and press lightly to seal. Remove the mat and plastic wrap and sprinkle the roll with sesame seeds. Cut the sushi roll into bite sized pieces. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.

BASIC CALIFORNIA ROLL

Steps:

• Slice the ends off of the cucumber, then cut into quarters lengthwise. Thinly slice each quarter lengthwise to make spears.
• Stir chopped crab sticks and mayonnaise together in a small bowl.
• Lay 1 sheet of nori on a bamboo mat. Pat a thin, even layer of rice over the nori with wet hands, leaving a 1/3-inch edge at the bottom. Sprinkle rice with sesame seeds. Carefully flip over.
• Add 1 tablespoon of the crab mixture in a line across the sheet about 1/3 of the way from the top. Layer with 1 to 2 cucumber spears and 1 to 3 slices of avocado.
• Using the bamboo mat, roll the sheet tightly into a cylinder, starting at the top edge. Moisten the uncovered edge with water and finish rolling once you reached the bottom. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
• Slice each roll into 3/4-inch pieces. Garnish each piece with 1/8 teaspoon tobiko.

CALIFORNIA ROLL

Steps:

• Squeeze the lemon juice over the avocado to prevent browning.
• Cover a bamboo rolling mat with plastic wrap. Cut nori sheets in half crosswise. Lay 1 sheet of nori, shiny side down, on the plastic covered mat. Wet your fingers with water and spread about 1/2 cup of the rice evenly onto the nori. Sprinkle the rice with sesame seeds. Turn the sheet of nori over so that the rice side is down. Place 1/8 of the cucumber, avocado and crab sticks in the center of the sheet. Grab the edge of the mat closest to you, keeping the fillings in place with your fingers, and roll it into a tight cylinder, using the mat to shape the cylinder. Pull away the mat and set aside. Cover with a damp cloth. Repeat until all of the rice has been used. Cut each roll into 6 pieces. Serve with pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce.
• Place the rice into a mixing bowl and cover with cool water. Swirl the rice in the water, pour off and repeat 2 to 3 times or until the water is clear.
• Place the rice and 2 cups of water into a medium saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, uncovered. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.
• Combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl and heat in the microwave on high for 30 to 45 seconds. Transfer the rice into a large wooden or glass mixing bowl and add the vinegar mixture. Fold thoroughly to combine and coat each grain of rice with the mixture. Allow to cool to room temperature before using to make sushi or sashimi.
• Yield: 4 cups

CALIFORNIA ROLL BOWLS

Steps:

• In a bowl, mix the mayonnaise, sriracha, soy, sesame oil and 2 teaspoons of the rice vinegar until well combined. Fold in the imitation crab, then set aside.
• Divide the rice between two serving bowls, adding 1 teaspoon rice vinegar to each. Stir to mix the vinegar into the rice.
• Place the dressed imitation crab into the bowls, followed by the cucumber, carrot, seaweed snacks, onions and pickled ginger. Garnish with the sesame seeds and scallions, then serve.

CALIFORNIA ROLLS

Steps:

• If the crab is in sticks, cut in half. If in chunks, roughly chop. Transfer to a small bowl and fold in the mayonnaise, if using, until well combined; set aside.
• Combine the rice vinegar with 1 cup water in a small bowl. This will keep the rice from sticking to your hands.
• Place a bamboo sushi mat with the slats running crosswise directly in front of you on a clean work surface. Lay 1 piece of the nori, shiny-side down, with a short side closest to you.
• Lightly moisten your fingers with the vinegared water, and scoop up about 3/4 cup (a loose mound the size of a tennis ball) of the sushi rice with your hand and spread in a thin, even layer onto the nori, leaving a 1/2-inch strip uncovered at the edge closest to you. Flip over so the rice side is on the mat to make inside-out rolls.
• Smear a dab of the wasabi crosswise across the center of the nori. Top with some of the crab, cucumber and avocado, without overstuffing the roll. Add a squirt of Sriracha, if using.
• Lift up the uncovered strip of the nori and roll into a log over the rice and fillings with your fingertips as you roll. Wrap the roll in the mat, lining up one end of the roll against the edge of the mat. Firmly tug on the rounded mat over the roll as you pull on the edge of the mat to tighten the roll. Flip the roll over to line up the other end against the edge of the mat and repeat the tugging. Sprinkle sesame seeds over the rice.
• Moisten the edge of a sharp knife, slice the roll in half crosswise. Line up the two halves. Wipe the knife with a damp towel and cut the 2 rolls crosswise into half again. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Serve the rolls with wasabi and soy sauce
• Place the rice in a fine-mesh sieve and rinse under cold running water, massaging the rice, until the water runs clear. Drain well.
• Transfer the rice to a rice cooker, add the water and cook according to the manufacturer's directions. (Alternatively, combine the rice and water in a 2-quart heavy saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Cover, and bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let rest until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is shiny and tender, 20 minutes.)
• Combine the vinegar, sugar, salt and kombu in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar and salt dissolve. Remove from the heat and let cool.
• Meanwhile, transfer the rested rice to a large wooden salad bowl and delicately spread into an even layer using a silicone spatula. Let the rice rest again for about 15 minutes undisturbed.
• Slowly drizzle most of the kombu vinegar all over the rice and gently fold together, without smashing any grains of rice. You can press any large lumps apart and fold the rice back into the vinegar. Taste the rice and, if desired, add more of the kombu vinegar. Continue to press the rice apart until no lumps remain and the grains are uniform and shiny. You can keep the sushi rice covered in a large Dutch oven lined with plastic wrap until ready to use. Makes about 6 cups.

CALIFORNIA ROLLS

Steps:

• 1. We will begin by getting the rice ready. First, make sure that you have a bag of "sushi" rice. I find that Nishiki brand sushi rice is readily available at most supermarkets. Measure out 1.5 cups of this sushi rice.
• 2. Pour the rice into a metal strainer. Turn on your kitchen sink faucet and begin to rinse the rice underneath the water. I like to have a spoon on hand so that I can turn the rice while I'm rinsing it.
• 3. Rinse under the faucet until the water is nearly clear (and no longer white).
• 4. Sit the strainer of rice aside to dry for about one hour. You will notice a major improvement in the appearance of your cooked rice.
• 5. While the rice is drying, I move onto preparation of what will go inside the roll. First, I get my frozen crab meat sticks (Kanimi makes a nice 14 oz. package). I place them in a room temperature plastic container full of water to let them thaw. You may need to change the water 2 or 3 times to make sure it doesn't get ice cold.
• 6. While the rice is drying, and the crab is thawing, I prepare my vegetables. A typical California roll contains avocado and cucumber. Begin by peeling each vegetable. I use a standard peeler for the cucumber, and a pairing knife for the avocado.
• 7. Once peeled (and seed removed), do your best to cut the avocado into lengthwise wedges. They don't have to be perfect. Just try and make them long and skinny as opposed to short and fat. Keep these "avocado wedges" in a plastic container.
• 8. For the cucumber, keep the peeler handy. I go over the cucumber with the peeler just as if I were taking off the peel. In this case, though, keep the strips in a plastic container. These are your "cucumber strips".
• 9. Get some cellophane and wrap your rolling mat with the cellophane. I usually go around it several times, and both ways (across, and up-and-down). This will make your mat non-stick.
• 10. Measure out your 1/2 cup of rice vinegar. This is what will make your sushi rice "sticky" and allow it to retain its shape. Lay out a fork and a spoon next to your portion of rice vinegar. Also, set out a large baking sheet and make sure you have something stiff that you can fan with (a magazine, folder, etc. will work fine).
• 11. Remove three nori papers from the package. Cut them lengthwise so that you remove approximately an inch of paper from each. These papers tend to have a bit more nori than necessary.
• 12. Once the crab is thawed, I use kitchen shears to open the bag, and cut the strips in half. I dump the pieces into a food processor, and use the "pulse" function until the strips are turned into smaller minced pieces (quarter inch or less in length). Don't go too crazy, or you may end up with crab meat "powder"!
• 13. Remove the minced crab meat from the food processor, and transfer it to a mixing bowl. Add about 8 tablespoons of Miracle Whip (or mayonnaise) and 2 teaspoons of salt. Mix this into the crab meat with a wooden spoon until the consistency is even. This is your "surimi".
• 14. When your rice has sat about an hour, measure out 2 cups of water, and pour into a rice cooker. If you don't have a rice cooker, a covered pot is fine. Add the rice into the water and press "cook". For a regular pot, cook over a low flame for about 10 minutes.
• 15. When rice has cooked 10 minutes (or rice cooker is done), turn off heat and allow rice to sit for about 10 more minutes.
• 16. Spoon rice onto a baking sheet. Add a few spoonfuls of your rice vinegar over the top of the rice. Use a fork to fluff and stir the rice. The idea is to coat every grain with vinegar. While you are fluffing, lightly fan the rice with whatever you have available. Repeat this process until you are out of the rice vinegar, then fan a bit more for good measure. Your rice is now "sticky" rice -- or as the Japanese call it -- "sushi". Sushi is not raw fish, but rather, the rice!
• 17. Turn your faucet on so that it is running cold water. Fill a cup with ice cold water, and place a VERY sharp (not serrated) knife inside. I also like to keep a steel wool pad or Scotch pad handy. If you prefer to wear food preparing gloves, feel free.
• 18. Lay out one of your "cut" sheets of nori seaweed paper.
• 19. Moisten your hands with cold water. Coat all but the back edge with about 1/4 inch of rice. You will probably need to rinse rice off of your fingers/hands a few times. That is why I keep cold water running, and I work near a sink. This also prevents the rice from sticking to your fingers. Usually, a ball of rice about the size of a baseball will cover most of the nori. Leave that back edge devoid of rice. That will eventually become your "seam".
• 20. When you have your nori coated with 1/4 inch of rice, sprinkle with sesame seeds. You can also add masago (orange fish eggs) if you prefer.
• 20. Flip over your paper so that the rice is facing down, and the seaweed is facing up. The edge without rice should be right next to you.
• 21. Lay out avocado wedges end-to-end along the midline of your paper going from the left to the right edge. Add fingerfulls of surimi crab meat alongside the avocado wedges. Then, lay out strips of cucumber along the other side of the surimi crab meat. You will notice that the crab meat is "confined" between the avocado line and the cucumber line.
• 22. Lift up the edge of the mat near you, and begin to roll the "riceless" end of the paper forward over the ingredients you laid out along the middle.
• 23. When that edge makes contact with the seaweed paper (i.e. you have formed a circle), pull back on your mat a bit to tighten the roll. This will "seal" your seam (the point when the seaweed joins).
• 24. Once you have pulled to seal the seam, finish rolling until you run out of paper. This will "cover" your seam with a bit of extra rice so the seam doesn't come open as easily.
• 25. Lay the roll out on a cutting board. Drape the mat over the top of it, then crimp the edges underneath the roll and press down lightly. This is just one last way to preserve the roll's shape.
• 26. With the mat still draped over the top of the roll, align the edges of the mat with each edge of the roll. Lightly pat the edge of the roll with your palm to "flatten" them (i.e. no ingredients sticking way out).
• 27. Get your ice cold sharp knife. Gently cut the roll down the center. By gently, I mean do not even force it down with your arm strength. Only use your arm strength to "saw". Let the weight of the blade accomplish the downward cutting. If you press down while you cut, your roll will be flat where you cut it. You want it to be round.
• 28. After you cut it down the middle, lay out the two halves next to each other. Rinse your blade off, and I recommend brushing off the rice residue with a steel wool pad. That residue will only make it harder to cut on subsequent attempts, so I find that it is best to get rid of it completely.
• 29. With the two halves next to each other, make 2-3 cuts across both halves -- again cutting very gently, and rinsing the blade between cuts. Obviously, more cuts produce thinner pieces. If you're a beginner, you'll probably only feel comfortable making 2 cuts -- and you'll end up with super-filling thick roll pieces.
• 30. In a lot of sushi restaurants, they throw away the end pieces because they look bad compared to the middle pieces -- and I tend to agree. But you don't have to waste the food if you don't want to! Clearly, you can see now that there is a certain "art" to sushi-making. It takes some time to get very good at it.
• 31. Lay out your pieces on a plate. Serve with soy sauce and -- if available -- wasabe (adds a lot of spice to the soy sauce) and pickled ginger (can be eaten to cleanse the palate). Eat with chopsticks.

VEGETARIAN CALIFORNIA ROLLS (SUSHI)

Steps:

• Prepare the sushi rice according to package instructions (I use a rice cooker - fool proof).
• Prepare your veggies while the rice is cooking.
• Once the rice is done put it in a bowl and season to taste with rice vinegar and sugar - the mixture should be pleasantly sweet and sour. Spread up the edges of the bowl to cool for a couple of minutes.
• Lay down a nori sheet on a rolling mat. Using a spoon dipped in water spread the rice (min. 1/2 in / 1.5 cm thick) on the nori leaving a strip of about 2 in / 5cm at the far side of the sheet facing away from you.
• Use a teaspoon to spread some plum sauce down the middle of the rice. Top with 1-2 slices of cucumber, carrots, avocado and green onion each depending on size of the veggies you cut (they need to spread all along the middle of the rice from end to end).
• Using your mat roll up the nori pressing down with your hands as you roll to keep the roll firm.
• Set the rolls on a plate with the bare strip of nori facing down. The moisture from the rice will seal the rolls. Let sit to firm up.
• Using a sharp knife cut the ends of the rolls and eat immediately ; )
• Cut the rest of the rolls into neat bite sized pieces and serve with the wasabi and pickled ginger and soy sauce for dipping - you may want to let your guests decide on how much wasabi to use, especially if they are French : ).

CALIFORNIA ROLL - SUSHI

Steps:

• Add crabmeat, light cream cheese, light mayonnaise, and green onion (if desired) to small food processor (or small mixing bowl) and pulse or beat until nicely blended.
• Turn a burner of your stove to low flame or low heat. Wave a sheet of nori over the heat (both sides) to soften slightly.
• Lay the sheet of nori on a bamboo sushi roller (available at import stores and Asian markets).
• Dip your hands in warm water, and use them to spread a cup of hot, sticky rice on the nori, leaving a 1-inch border on each long side.
• Spread about 1/4 teaspoon wasabi paste in a horizontal strip down the middle of the rectangle of rice.
• Arrange a heaping 1/4 cup of the crab mixture (one-fourth of the total mixture) down the center of the rice rectangle.
• Arrange avocado slices down the center as well.
• Roll up the bamboo mat, pressing forward, to shape the sushi into a cylinder so that the two long edges of the nori meet and overlap slightly. Press the roll firmly inside the bamboo roller.
• Remove roll from the bamboo mat and wrap it with foil or plastic wrap and keep in refrigerator until needed.
• Repeat with remaining nori, rice, crab, and avocado. When ready to serve, cut each roll into about 8 pieces using a serrated knife. Serve with light soy sauce.

CALIFORNIA ROLLS

Steps:

• Put sushi rice on a seat seaweed (nori).
• Spread on seaweed evenly.
• Now turn the seaweed so that it comes up and the sushi rice comes down.
• Put the cucumber, avocado and crabstick in the center of the seaweed.
• Roll it up tightly.
• This becomes easy if you use plastic wrap.
• Put tobiko on top and cut into 6 pcs.

CALIFORNIA ROLLS (JAPANESE)

Steps:

• Peel an avocado and cut it into strips or mash it.
• Put imitation crab in a bowl and mix with salt and mayonnaise.
• Cover a bamboo mat with plastic wrap.
• Put a sheet of dried seaweed on top of the mat.
• Spread sushi rice on top of the seaweed and press firmly.
• Sprinkle sesame seeds over the sushi rice.
• Turn the sushi layer over so that the seaweed is on top.
• Place avocado and crab lengthwise on the seaweed.
• Roll the bamboo mat forward,
• pressing the ingredients inside the cylinder-shaped sushi.
• Press firmly the bamboo mat with hands, then remove the rolled sushi.
• Cut the sushi roll into bite-size pieces.

CALIFORNIA ROLL WRAPS

Steps:

• Divide the wasabi mayonnaise evenly among the 6 tortillas and spread to within 1/2 inch of edges. Layer with crabmeat, avocado, jicama, red pepper, cucumber and bean sprouts. Roll up tightly.

CALIFORNIA TORTILLA ROLLS

Steps:

• Mix cream cheese and Sriracha sauce until blended; spread onto tortillas.
• Place 2 imitation crabmeat sticks, end to end, down center of each tortilla. Top with avocados and onions; roll up.
• Place, seam sides down, on cutting board. Cut each into 10 slices.

CALIFORNIA ROLL RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Season the sushi rice with the rice vinegar, fanning and stirring until room temperature.
• On a rolling mat, place one sheet of nori with the rough side facing upwards.
• Wet your hands and grab a handful of rice and place it on the nori. Spread the rice evenly throughout the nori without mashing the rice down. Season rice with a pinch of sesame seeds, if using, then flip it over so the nori is facing upwards.
• Arrange, in a horizontal row 1 inch (2.5 cm) from the bottom, the crab followed by a row of avocado and a row of cucumber.
• Grabbing both nori and the mat, roll the mat over the filling so the extra space at the bottom touches the other side, squeezing down to make a nice tight roll. Squeeze down along the way to keep the roll from holding its shape.
• Transfer the roll onto a cutting board. Rub a knife on a damp paper towel before slicing the roll into six equal portions.
• Enjoy!