California Roll
Author: Ari LeVaux
Sushi Rice/California Roll
This is how we made rice in sushi class. You will need a pot with a lid, a large mixing bowl, and a wide, thin, wooden or plastic spoon. And you will need a fan, or some type of flat, lightweight object to wave at the rice – a large Tupperware lid works well.
Makes 8 rolls
Two cups sushi rice (short grain, Japanese); ½ cup rice vinegar; 1 teaspoon salt; 4 tablespoons sugar
Rinse the rice in the pot by covering it with water in a pot and sloshing it around with your fingers. When the water gets milky with rice starch, dump and replace it. Do this as many times as necessary until the water runs clear. Drain the rice of all rinse water, and place it in a pot with 1 ¾ cups of water. Let soak for 30 minutes. Put it on the stovetop and turn the heat to high for five minutes. Then turn down to medium-low for 10 minutes.
While the rice is cooking, dissolve the salt and sugar in the vinegar in a bowl. It will take some stirring with a whisk or fork.
Transfer the rice to a large bowl, ideally a wooden bowl. Then, with one hand fanning the rice, use the flat spoon with your other hand to slice into the rice and fluff it. Always slide it into the rice edge first, and be careful not to mush the rice. You will see the steam flying from the fan. Keep fanning until there is no more visible steam. Pour the sweet and salty vinegar over the rice, and gently slice it in with the flat spoon until mixed.
Let it cool to room temperature.
California Rolls
To roll you will need a bamboo sushi mat, available in large supermarkets, or Asian supermarkets, or online. And a sharp knife. If you want to roll it inside out, you will also need plastic wrap.
2 cups prepared rice, as above, cooled to room temp; 1 package of nori seaweed; 1 12-ounce package fake crab, preferably in stick form; 1 cucumber, peeled and cut into long, thin pieces; 2 avocados, cut into long, thin pieces; Optional: mayo Soy sauce and wasabi for serving
In a little bowl, combine ¼ cup each of rice vinegar and water. Use this to keep your hands wet so the rice won’t stick to them, and to wet the end of the sushi roll to seal it, and to wet the knife to keep the rice from sticking to it when you cut the rolls.
Lay a sheet of nori on a rolling mat. Spread a third of a cup of cooked rice over two-thirds of a sheet, leaving the final three inches blank.
If you want to make inside-out California Rolls, flip the riced nori onto a piece of plastic wrap, atop the sushi mat.
Pull a stick of fake crab in half, the long way along the grain. Lay the two pieces end to end across the middle of the rice, flanked by cucumber, avocado and mayo. Carefully curl the mat around the sushi so the rice goes all around the contents, squeezing the mat as you roll it a little bit at a time, keeping everything as tight as you can.
Wet the knife with vinegar water and slice each roll into 6-8 pieces. (If you rolled it inside out, peel off the plastic before slicing.)
Article Images
Click on Image Thumbnail(s) to view fullsize image
PhotoCredit: Ari LeVaux
Image 1 Caption: California Roll
