An uramaki of vinegared rice filled with raw salmon, avocado and cucumber, rolled inside out in sesame seeds.
Some evenings you want sushi without ordering anything, just a platter of neat rolls to pick at with the tips of your chopsticks. The California roll has a comforting softness: glossy, lightly sweet rice studded with toasted sesame seeds.
With each bite, meltingly tender salmon and its touch of mayonnaise meet creamy avocado and the cool crunch of cucumber. A little soy sauce, a slice of pickled ginger, and the first piece disappears before youโve finished cutting the next.
What Is a California Roll?
The California roll is an uramaki, an inside-out sushi roll: the seasoned rice is on the outside and the sheet of nori is hidden inside, wrapped around the filling. The most common version combines crab or kanikama, avocado and cucumber.
Here, the crab makes way for sticks of raw salmon spread with Japanese mayonnaise. The outside is rolled in sesame seeds, or in tobiko or masago for a briny, orange accent.
In Japan, vinegared sushi rice is called sumeshi, or shari in sushi-counter lingo. The name California refers to the West Coast of the United States, where the roll made its name. Another explanation points to the initials of crab and avocado, โC.A.โ
A Sushi Born in North America
Two sushi counters lay claim to its birth. In Los Angeles in the 1960s, the idea is often credited to Ichiro Mashita of the Tokyo Kaikan restaurant. Unable to get fatty tuna year-round, he is said to have replaced it with avocado, whose buttery quality recalls toro. The nori was then supposedly hidden under the rice for customers put off by the seaweed.
In Vancouver, chef Hidekazu Tojo, who arrived in Canada in 1971, tells a different story. In the late 1970s, his Tojo roll brought together cooked Dungeness crab, egg, avocado and spinach for diners who were uneasy with raw fish and visible nori.
Whether it was Mashita, Tojo or several cooks at once, the idea met the same need: making sushi more approachable for North American customers. The inside-out roll, the uramaki, then made its way into sushi bars around the world.
Main Ingredients of the California Roll
It all starts with short-grain Japanese rice, which is rich in amylopectin, the starch that makes the grains stick together without turning them to mush. It is seasoned with rice vinegar, sugar and salt, which make it glossy, tangy and lightly sweet.
The salmon (or tuna) is cut into long sticks and spread with a little Japanese mayonnaise. Choose very fresh, sashimi-grade fish, since it is eaten raw. The avocado gets a drizzle of lime juice to keep it from browning, and the Lebanese cucumber, partly seeded, adds crunch without making the nori soggy.
The nori sheet, cut in half, ends up on the inside: its rough side grips the rice and holds the filling in place. On the outside, sesame seeds add a toasty note and tobiko a light, salty crunch. Pickled ginger and soy sauce are served alongside.
Technique Tips for a Good California Roll
Rinse the rice until the water runs almost clear, then cook it at a gentle simmer: it should keep a little bite and cool down before rolling. Since the rice is on the outside, cover the bamboo mat, the makisu, with plastic wrap, and dip your fingers in a little vinegared water to keep the rice from sticking.
A very sharp knife, wiped between cuts, keeps the slices clean. Cooked rice should not sit at room temperature for more than two hours: make the rolls and eat them the same day.
Ingredients
Sushi Rice
- 165 g sushi rice
- 240 ml water
- 1.5 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 0.5 teaspoon salt
Filling
- 4 slices tuna or salmon, cut into long sushi-style slices
- 1 tablespoon Japanese mayonnaise
- 0.5 cucumber Lebanese
- 0.5 avocado
- 1 teaspoon lime juice, about
Rolls
- 2 sheets nori
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, or flying fish roe (tobiko)
To Serve
- Ginger pickled
- Soy sauce
Instructions
Sushi Rice
- Put the rice in a saucepan or large bowl with plenty of cold water.165 g sushi rice, 240 ml water
- If time allows, let it stand for 15 to 20 minutes; otherwise, go straight to rinsing.
- Stir the rice in the water with your hands, swirling it around, until the water turns cloudy.
- Pour off the water.
- Repeat once or twice, until the water stays almost clear.
- Put the rinsed rice in a saucepan with the cooking water.
- Cover and set over medium heat.
- As soon as the water comes to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 10 to 12 minutes, until all the water has been absorbed and the rice is cooked but still has a little bite.
- While the rice is cooking, put the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a microwave-safe bowl.1.5 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon sugar, 0.5 teaspoon salt
- Microwave for about 15 seconds, until the sugar and salt have dissolved.
- Take the rice off the heat and transfer it to a large bowl so it cools faster.
- Pour the vinegar mixture over the rice and mix to distribute it evenly.
- Let the rice cool.
Filling
- Prepare the strips of raw fish.4 slices tuna or salmon,
- Spread a little mayonnaise on the cut side of the strips.1 tablespoon Japanese mayonnaise
- Cut the half cucumber lengthwise into four sticks.0.5 cucumber
- Remove some of the seeds if there are a lot of them.
- Cut the avocado into long slices.0.5 avocado
- Drizzle the avocado slices with a little lime juice and gently rub them to spread it, so they don’t turn brown.1 teaspoon lime juice,
Rolls
- Cut the nori sheets in half along the fold, using scissors if they don’t separate easily.2 sheets nori
- Cover the sushi mat with plastic wrap, or slip it into a freezer bag.
- Divide the rice into four equal portions.
- Lay half a sheet of nori on the covered mat.
- Press one portion of rice in an even layer over the entire half sheet, right to the edges, working from one long side to the other.
- Sprinkle the entire surface of the rice with sesame seeds, or with tobiko.1 tablespoon sesame seeds,
- Carefully flip the sheet over, seaweed side up.
- Lay a cucumber stick along the full length, close to one of the long edges.
- Lay a line of salmon or tuna right next to it.
- Lay a row of avocado slices, keeping it as even as possible along the full length.
- Lift the edge of the mat on the filling side and fold it over, to enclose the filling in the nori, pressing lightly.
- Pull back the edge of the mat so it doesn’t get rolled up inside the roll, then keep rolling the mat so the roll turns over on itself.
- When you reach the end of the rice, unroll the mat: the roll is formed.
- Place the roll on a cutting board.
- Cut it in half through the middle with a very sharp knife.
- Cut each half into three pieces.
- Repeat with the remaining nori, rice and filling.
- Serve with pickled ginger and soy sauce for dipping.Ginger, Soy sauce
