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Easy homemade California roll with sushi rice, crab, avocado and seaweed. Learn how to make California rolls with the step-by-step picture guide.
How To Make California Rolls
California roll is one of the most popular sushi recipes in the United States. It’s a real Japanese sushi roll with sushi rice wrapped with nori (seaweed) and stuffed with cooked imitation crab meat (or real crab meat), cucumber and avocado.
If you travel to Japan, you will realize that you can’t find this sushi recipe in Japan. In fact, this sushi roll was invented in California and not Japan, hence its name.
In this post, you will learn the step-by-step picture guide on how to make sushi rolls.
California Roll Ingredients
The main ingredient of sushi is sushi rice. You can’t make sushi without sushi rice. Some sushi is rolled with nori seaweed, hence they are called sushi rolls.
What’s in California Roll?
- Nori or toasted seaweed.
- Imitation crab meat that comes in sticks or chunks. They are widely available at grocery stores nationwide. You can also use real crab meat or crab lump meat.
- Fresh cucumber.
- Avocado.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.
To make California roll sushi at home, you will need a few basic tools. You can shop online for a sushi kit. When rolling the sushi rolls, you want to make sure that each roll is really compact and tight. Practice makes perfect, and in no time, you will be a pro!
Frequently Asked Questions
They are healthy because they are not greasy and made with nutritious ingredients such as seaweed, cucumber and avocado.
This sushi recipe is only 322 calories per serving.
What To Serve With California Roll
This meal is best served alone or with a main dish and appetizers. For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Other Recipes You Might Like
California Roll
Ingredients
Sushi Rice:
- 1 cup sushi rice, Japanese short-grain rice
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon Japanese rice vinegar
- 1/2 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- toasted white sesame
Filling:
- 3 oz (90g) artificial crab meat, or real crab lump meat
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 squirt lemon juice
- 1 small cucumber, seeded and cut into 3.5-inch strips
- 1 avocado, peeled and cut into strips
Condiments:
- soy sauce
- wasabi
- pickled sushi ginger
Instructions
- Rinse the sushi rice with cold water until the water runs clear. Discard the cloudy water and add 1 1/2 cups of clean water to the rice. Cook the sushi rice in an electric rice cooker. Once the rice is cooked, scoop it out onto a plate and let it cool.
- Mix the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt together in a small bowl, ensuring the sugar is dissolved. Add the vinegar mixture to the rice and stir evenly. Set the sushi rice aside.
- Chop the Crab Delights and mix them with mayonnaise and lemon juice. Stir to combine well.
- Lay the bamboo mat on a flat surface and cover it with plastic wrap. Place a small sheet of nori (3.75 inches x 8 inches or 9.5 cm x 20 cm) on the bottom part. Using a spoon, scoop the rice onto the seaweed and spread it evenly in a thin layer.
- Use the back of the spoon to press and flatten the surface of the rice. Sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds on top, then press them onto the rice with the back of the spoon.
- Turn the seaweed over. Arrange 4 strips of cucumber, 2 strips of avocado, and the crab on top. Be careful not to overfill. Roll the California Roll using the bamboo mat, ensuring that you pull the sushi rolls tightly. Continue rolling with the bamboo mat until you have a nice, tight roll.
- Trim both ends of the sushi rolls with a sharp knife, cutting about 1/2 inch (1 cm) off each end. Wipe the knife to remove any residue and wet it with water before cutting each end. Wipe the knife again and wet it before slicing the sushi rolls into pieces. Each roll should yield about 5–6 pieces of sushi.
- Repeat the steps above to make 4 sushi rolls. Arrange the sushi on a plate and serve immediately with soy sauce, wasabi, and pickled ginger.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
i never thought i would find someone that had the recipe for california rolls. this is so cool. i making myboyfriend family recipe folders so i colect recipes .
im excited to addd this recipe to the folders
Hi Laura, thanks for your sweet comment. Please check out all the recipes on my site: https://rasamalaysia.com/recipes/
I made at home, my family love the recipes.
How yummy does that look!!!!
All I can say is WOW!
I made this delicious sushi rolls for my kids with my sushi making tools by Susheff and we were all blown away! My wife looked at me and said “I’m never making sushi again!”. It was super easy to make and incredibly impressive to serve. Great recipe! Thank you!
Hello! I am doing a math project on California Rolls and I was wondering, for my research, approximately how thick the outside layer of rice should be.
Bee, thanks for this step by step California Roll recipe. Simple enough for a sushi maker beginner like me. :-) And particular appreciation for the most recipes in one place I have ever seen. I love all of them!
Hi Sylvieann, aww thanks so much. Yes, the step-by-step picture guide makes it easier to make this California roll.
Do you happen to have a recipe for a “spicy crab sald”? Our local asian restaurant makes one that is just out of this world and was trying to find athe recipe.