I have been in love with Japanese culture and (especially) Japanese food since I was 12. This has been a ten year long love affair with food that began back when I lived on an island in Alaska.
In high school and college even I flirted with the idea of majoring in Japanese language, but after 4 years of schooling decided that it was not my calling. Despite this fact, the culture will always have a special place in my heart. Sushi has always been toward the top of my list of favorite Japanese foods, but to be honest....
It has always intimidated me.
Rice is one of the most important parts of Japanese culture - so important that the word for "rice" (gohan) also means "meal" (for example: asagohan is a combination of "morning" and "breakfast"). That isn't something that you slap together willy-nilly and hope for the best! And then there are so many different kinds of rolls, and where do you find the ingredients, and...
Needless to say, I have been putting this off for a few years. I understand if you are scared. But you know what I found out? It's very, very easy to make a simple sushi roll. In this case, we are making California rolls.
This recipe will produce approximately 24 large or 32 small sushi rolls.
Special tools you will need: a bamboo rolling mat, a wooden paddle, and an extremely sharp knife (you can get all of the above here, plus a box to put them in!).
Ingredients: nori (seaweed), short-grained sushi rice, avocado, cucumber, and imitation crab sticks (surimi), white rice vinegar.
You must use sushi grade rice and prepare it correctly. This ensures that the rice is sticky and your roll holds together. Use the guide here for instructions on rice preparation, but cut the vinegar mix in half, as follows:
2 cups rice
1 1/2 tablespoons white rice vinegar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
While you are preparing the rice, cut up your vegetables. Aim for matchstick-sized pieces that are 2 inches long. Get your nori ready by putting it on your bamboo mat, with the rough side facing up.
When you are done preparing the rice, put it in a large bowl made of any material but metal (it will make the rice taste funny). Wood is preferred, but I used plastic and had no problems. Allow rice to cool (fanning the rice will make it cool much faster).
Wet your hands entirely with cool water to prevent the rice from sticking. It is important that your hands aren't dripping wet - you want the nori to remain as dry as possible. Using your hands, place an even layer of rice on the sheet of nori, leaving about an inch of space on one end to seal the "maki" (the full roll before being cut) after you roll it up.
On the opposite end from the inch of space you left, place your ingredients. For a California roll you would use surimi (crab sticks), cucumber, and avocado. Keith ate all of the cucumbers without my knowledge, so I improvised here. Don't be afraid to put on more ingredients than you see above... My rolls needed more goodies in the middle!
Starting at the end with the fillings, start rolling your maki. Make a tight rectangular shape with the mat, making sure to keep everything tight by putting pressure on all three sides at the same time. Your maki should have a square shape when you are all finished.
Wet your extremely sharp knife with luke warm water. Your knife must be sharp for this to work properly. The warm water keeps the nori and rice from sticking. Make sure to re-wet the knife from time to time while you are cutting.
Start by cutting your maki roll in half. From there, cut each half into three or four pieces. This will give you six large or eight small rolls per maki roll. Continue to make maki rolls until you run out of rice (this recipe should make 4 maki rolls).
Enjoy with some soy sauce or wasabi!
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