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Easy homemade California roll with sushi rice, crab, avocado and seaweed. Learn how to make California rolls with the step-by-step picture guide.
Table of Contents
How to Make California Rolls?
California roll is one of the most popular sushi recipes in the United States. It’s a real Japanese sushi roll with sushi rice wrapped with nori (seaweed) and stuffed with cooked imitation crab meat (or real crab meat), cucumber and avocado.
If you travel to Japan, you will realize that you can’t find this sushi recipe in Japan. In fact, this sushi roll was invented in California and not Japan, hence its name.
In this post, you will learn the step-by-step picture guide on how to make sushi rolls.
Other Recipes You Might Like
- Sushi Rice
- Hand Roll (Temaki)
- Onigiri Japanese Rice Balls
California Roll Ingredients
The main ingredient of sushi is sushi rice. You can’t make sushi without sushi rice. Some sushi is rolled with nori seaweed, hence they are called sushi rolls.
What’s in California Roll?
- Nori or toasted seaweed.
- Imitation crab meat that comes in sticks or chunks. They are widely available at grocery stores nationwide. You can also use real crab meat or crab lump meat.
- Fresh cucumber.
- Avocado.
To make California roll sushi at home, you will need a few basic tools. You can shop online for a sushi kit. When rolling the sushi rolls, you want to make sure that each roll is really compact and tight. Practice makes perfect, and in no time, you will be a pro!
Frequently Asked Questions
Are They Healthy?
They are healthy because they are not greasy and made with nutritious ingredients such as seaweed, cucumber and avocado.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This sushi recipe is only 322 calories per serving. Check out the nutrition facts below for more details.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
This meal is best served alone or with a main dish and appetizers. For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.Miso Soup
Chicken Teriyaki
Garlic Butter Edamame
Gyoza
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California Roll
Easy homemade California roll sushi with crab and avocado. Learn how to make California rolls with the step-by-step picture guide.
4.62 from 13 votes
By Bee Yinn Low
Yield 4 people
Prep 30 minutes mins
Cook 30 minutes mins
Total 1 hour hr
Ingredients
Sushi Rice:
- 1 cup sushi rice (Japanese short-grain rice)
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon Japanese rice vinegar
- 1/2 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- toasted white sesame
Filling:
- 3 oz (90g) artificial crab meat or real crab lump meat
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 squirt lemon juice
- 1 small cucumber (seeded and cut into 3.5-inch strips)
- 1 avocado (peeled and cut into strips)
Condiments:
- soy sauce
- wasabi
- pickled sushi ginger
Instructions
Rinse the sushi rice with cold water until the water becomes clear. Discard all the cloudy water and add 1 1/2 cups clean water to the rice. Cook the sushi rice in an electronic rice cooker. After the rice is cooked, scoop the rice out onto a plate, let cool.
Mix the rice vinegar, sugar and salt together in a small bowl. Make sure the sugar is dissolved. Add the vinegar mixture to the rice, stir evenly. Set the sushi rice aside.
Chop the Crab Delights and mix with mayonnaise and lemon juice. Stir to combine well.
Lay the bamboo mat on a flat surface and cover it with plastic wrap. Lay a small sheet of nori (3.75 inch x 8 inch) (9.5cm x 20cm) on the bottom part. Using a spoon, scoop the rice onto the seaweed and distribute it evenly in a thin layer.
Use the back of the spoon to press and flatten the surface of the rice. Sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds on top of the rice and use the back of the spoon to press the sesame onto the rice.
Turn the seaweed over. Arrange 4 strips of cucumber and 2 strips of avocado, follow by the crab. Make sure you don't overfill. Roll the California Roll using the bamboo mat and make sure that you tug the sushi rolls very tight. Keep rolling using the bamboo mat until you have a nice roll.
Cut both ends of the sushi rolls using a sharp knife, about 1/2 inch (1cm) off each end. Wipe off the residue on the knife and wet with some water before cutting each end. Wipe off the residue again and wet with some water before you start slicing the sushi rolls into pieces. Each roll should yield about 5 - 6 pieces of sushi.
Repeat the steps above to make 4 sushi rolls. Arrange the sushi on a plate and serve immediately with soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger.
Course: Japanese Recipes
Cuisine: rice
Keywords: California Roll
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
California Roll
Amount Per Serving (4 people)
Calories 322Calories from Fat 108
% Daily Value*
Fat 12g18%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Cholesterol 2mg1%
Sodium 200mg9%
Carbohydrates 47g16%
Fiber 5g21%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 4g8%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated, using Spoonacular, for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
