California rolls

 prep time 20 minutes, cooking time 15 minutes, serves 8 people

California rolls usually contain cucumber, avocado and crabsticks, or  smoked salmon instead of crabsticks. But feel free to use whatever filling you prefer.

Ingredients

Equipment Needed:
  • Bamboo sushi-roll mat
  • Clean cutting board
  • Sushi knife or very sharp knife
  • Rice Cooker (optional)
  • Wood spoon or plastic rice paddle for spreading rice
  • Plastic wrap
  •  4 cups sushi rice, cooked
  • ¼ cup seasoned rice vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 6 sheets sushi grade nori
  • 1 teaspoon sesame seed, optional
  • 8 pieces imitation crab
  • 1  cucumber, cut into matchsticks
  • 2 avocado, thinly sliced
  • 200 g smoked salmon

Instructions

  1. Wash the rice with cold water until the water runs clear. Drain well. If you have a rice maker (way easier!), follow rice maker instructions (add 2 cups rice and 2 1/2 cups water) (no salt required!) and cook .
  2.  Season the sushi rice with the rice vinegar, sugar, salt fanning and stirring until room temperature.
  3. On a rolling mat, place one sheet of nori with the rough side facing upwards.

       4.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.

          5.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.

              6.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.

             7.Transfer the roll onto a cutting board. Rub a knife on a damp paper towel before slicing the roll into six equal portions.

            8. You can serve them with soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger. Enjoy!