Ingredients
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 medium avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced into 1/4-inch thick pieces
- 4 sheets nori
- 1/2 batch sushi rice, recipe follows
- 1/3 cup sesame seeds, toasted
- 1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into matchstick-size pieces
- 4 crabsticks, torn into pieces
- Pickled ginger, for serving
- Wasabi, for serving
- Soy sauce, for serving
Directions
Squeeze the lemon juice over the avocado to prevent browning.
Cover a bamboo rolling mat with plastic wrap. Cut nori sheets in half crosswise. Lay 1 sheet of nori, shiny side down, on the plastic covered mat. Wet your fingers with water and spread about 1/2 cup of the rice evenly onto the nori. Sprinkle the rice with sesame seeds. Turn the sheet of nori over so that the rice side is down. Place 1/8 of the cucumber, avocado and crab sticks in the center of the sheet. Grab the edge of the mat closest to you, keeping the fillings in place with your fingers, and roll it into a tight cylinder, using the mat to shape the cylinder. Pull away the mat and set aside. Cover with a damp cloth. Repeat until all of the rice has been used. Cut each roll into 6 pieces. Serve with pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce.
Sushi Rice:
- 2 cups sushi or short grain rice
- 2 cups water, plus extra for rinsing rice
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
Place the rice into a mixing bowl and cover with cool water. Swirl the rice in the water, pour off and repeat 2 to 3 times or until the water is clear.
Place the rice and 2 cups of water into a medium saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, uncovered. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to the lowest setting and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.
Combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl and heat in the microwave on high for 30 to 45 seconds. Transfer the rice into a large wooden or glass mixing bowl and add the vinegar mixture. Fold thoroughly to combine and coat each grain of rice with the mixture. Allow to cool to room temperature before using to make sushi or sashimi.
Yield: 4 cups
1 Video | Photo: California Roll Recipe

















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By JulianCarrillo
on October 13, 2012
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tried this recipe last night. it is awesome!!!! Im going to culinary art school so im trying to learn as much as possible this is just great!: ...one concern the seaweed I had gotten was too small. but I still had managed to make it work! Thanks Alton!
By gledhillm
New Braunfels, TX
on July 14, 2012
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I felt like a Chopped champion after making these! The recipe was very easy & the rice was fantastic. I wasn't sure about the rice vinegar, but after mixing it in with the rice it was amazing. I used cucumber, avocado, and shrimp (bought already cooked...although I did cook them a tad longer because they felt too mushy after they thawed in the rolls. I did not have a bamboo board so I used a hand towel instead. I wrapped the towel in plastic wrap & placed it on top of a cutting board. It worked great! I also covered the entire half sheet with rice instead of leaving a portion open. Rolling was easier than I thought. My rolls weren't perfect, but close enough & everyone loved them. Enjoy with pickled ginger & wasabi paste (found in the International isle of my grocery store...HEB...love that store!
By diane48000
Eugene, Oregon
on May 28, 2012
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Did not like the salt or vinegar taste in my rice. I like a light sweet tasting rice. Wish we would have tried it on a little rice and tasted it before we put it on all of it. Definitely put the avocado down first or it will squeeze out cause we did have problems with it not quite closing all the way only using a half sheet like he said. The package says use a whole sheet and put rice on 2/3 of the sheet. My son bought Krab legs and it didn't have as much flavor as the chunked imitation crab I usually buy. Next time I will buy that and mince it in the food processor. Alton said that the nori was algae but it says on the nori package that it's roasted seaweed. He said put shiny side down, both sides are shiny, but rough side is for rice. I did learned how to make the rice sticky, not gummy. Used medium grain rice since we couldn't find short grain anywhere and it was fine. Looking forward to making sushi myself for now on.
Read all 23 reviews