California Rolls

I have been wanting to make these for a while now, but just got around to it.  I like buying them at the grocery store sometimes and wanted to see if I could duplicate them at home.  The only problem with this is not everyone in my family was excited about them.  I feel like every once in a while I need to make something I want and not worry about the masses though, ya know?  

I don't have a bamboo mat thingy, which I read that I needed, but I decided to try it with just wax paper and it seemed to be just fine.  I read the back of my Sushinori (seaweed) package to find out how to prepare the rice.  There is a vinegar, sugar and salt mixture that you mix into it.  I was skeptical so I did half with the mixture and half with plain rice.  I couldn't tell a huge difference the day we had them but the day after, the vinegar mixture reined supreme.  The rice and wrapper were more tender and the right texture.  The regular rice was not great the next day so I am sold on the vinegar stuff.  It could have been a bit less salty, so I adjusted the recipe accordingly.  Especially if you like soy sauce with yours, like I do, the salt reduction would be helpful.

These are way cheaper than buying them at the store.  I splurged and bought real crab meat (it was on sale) and also bought some imitation crab to see if there was a difference.  Even with the real crab, the cost was pretty low, but I really couldn't taste much of a difference between the two varieties.  So, either route would be fine taste-wise, just decide if you want to eat the real thing or not.  You can fill these with other veggies if you chose, this is just what I used.  

California Rolls

4 sheets Sushinori (seaweed, you can find it on the international isle of the grocery store)

2 1/2 cups Calrose Rice

3 cups water

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp salt

1-2 avocado, cut into long wedges

1 cucumber, cut into long sticks

1-2 carrots, cut into long sticks

1 lb real (cooked and shelled) or imitation crab meat

Wax paper

To serve, optional:

Soy sauce 

Wasabi (I used the powder and mixed w/ water)

sushi ginger (refrigerator section, I found it by the Japanese noodles)

Add rice and water to saucepan and bring to boil, reduce heat and cover and simmer for 20 minutes.  Remove from heat and keep covered for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile in a separate sauce pan, bring vinegar, salt and sugar to boil.  Boil until sugar is dissolved remove from heat.  Transfer rice to a non-metal bowl and pour vinegar mixture over, stir to combine.  Place a sheet of wax paper on the counter and a sheet of sushinori on top.  Spread rice over 2/3 of the sheet.  It doesn't spread all the easily, I used a spatula to place the rice on the seaweed and then pressed down all over.  Try to get it a uniform thickness and even at the top and bottom.  Place veggies and crab in the middle of the rice.  

While holding veggies in place, roll into a cylinder.  

Let sit on the seal (where the seaweed comes together) while you repeat with remaining ingredients.  After all 4 are rolled, cut into 1-1 1/2 inch pieces or desired thickness.  Serve with soy sauce, wasabi and sushi ginger.  

Store in an airtight container in the fridge if not serving right away.

 The recipe above yields about 20 pieces.  I doubled the recipe to try both kinds of rice.  I didn't realized how much that would produce.  Let's just say, we have leftovers.  I am thinking of opening a sushi stand with them.

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