Today is Kevin’s birthday! We celebrated over the weekend with some homemade California rolls. California rolls are usually my go-to order whenever I’m at a sushi restaurant. Kevin would always order his raw salmon over rice and I would always order my dragon roll and California roll. At least once a month, we would stop by our favorite sushi spot near our home for some sushi. A few years ago, Kevin and his friends would meet up every Thursday at a sushi restaurant in the Cincinnati area for Thursday sushi nights. I occasionally joined them when they changed the Thursday sushi nights to Friday nights. Overtime, everyone got busy and Thursday sushi nights were cancelled. For a period of time, Kevin and I revived Friday sushi nights and stopped by a local sushi restaurant to satisfy our sushi cravings. Recently, we discovered a sushi/burrito fusion spot near where we live. The restaurant operated like a Chipotle for sushi. We got to pick our base (rice), toppings (mostly sushi fillings), and protein. I built my sushi bowl just like my favorite dragon and California rolls. After going there for dinner one time, we definitely made it a goal to go back again in the near future. When I lived in New York, I craved sushi all the time. There were multiple sushi spots in the Brooklyn neighborhood where I grew up. Every other week, I would meet up with some friends or my brothers for sushi at different sushi restaurants throughout Brooklyn. No matter where we went, I would always order my favorite dragon roll and California roll. All of the California rolls I’ve had always featured imitation crab meat, avocado, and cucumber rolled tightly with some sushi rice and a seaweed wrapper. The dragon roll tends to have variations in fillings depending on which sushi restaurant I went to. In honor of Kevin’s birthday, I made him some California rolls for lunch and some confetti cookies for dessert. The California rolls were very simple to make and did not require me to handle raw fish. The best part about California rolls is how light and filling they are. The only real cooking involved is in preparing the rice in a pot. When I made sushi in the past, I didn’t think to season my rice ahead of time. This made the rolls taste pretty bland. This time around, I added some salt and sugar to the rice during the cooking process. The rice turned out perfectly seasoned and made for some darn good California rolls. I just wish I remembered to pick up some ginger and wasabi to serve alongside my California rolls. Other than the typical pickled ginger and wasabi, my California rolls made for the perfect light lunch. To top off this week, my final class for spring semester is on Friday. After Friday, my summer vacation from schooling will officially begin. I’ll be able to get two weeks off before I start two online classes during the summer.
For the sushi rice:
· 1 cup sushi rice
· 1¼ cups water
· ½ teaspoon kosher salt
· 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
For the rest of the California roll:
· 3 nori seaweed sheets
· 4-5 pieces imitation crab meat sticks
· ½ cucumber, julienned
· ½ avocado, thinly sliced
· Soy sauce for serving
Directions:
1) Heat a small pot on medium heat. Add the sushi rice and water. Once the water begins to boil, turn the heat down to medium low. Sprinkle in the salt and sugar. Stir to combine the ingredients. Close the lid and let the rice cook until tender, about 20-25 minutes. Let the cooked rice cool for 20 minutes before using to make rolls.
2) To assemble the California roll, lay a sheet of nori seaweed on a bamboo mat (wrapped in plastic wrap) or a nonstick surface. Add a layer of sushi rice until it covers ¾ of the seaweed sheet. Add 1½ sticks of imitation crab meat, some julienned cucumber, and thinly sliced avocado on the end of the sheet with the sushi rice. Begin tightly rolling the California roll until you form a log. Press the edges to seal the roll.
3) To slice the California roll, start in the middle and slice the roll in half. Slice the two halves in half two more times until you form eight pieces or into thirds to form six pieces. Serve your rolls with some soy sauce.
Takeaways: To ensure clean cuts, wipe your knife between each cut of the California roll. You can customize the rolls by adding in any fillings of your choice. You can swap out the imitation crab meat for cooked shrimp or add sesame seeds to your roll for an extra crunch. The rolls are very versatile and can be customized to suit your taste.