California Rolls with Crab
5 servings
45 minutes
California", invented by the Japanese Ichiro Mashita for Americans - in California, actually - has become an international dish and for some reason especially loved by Russians. How to make these rolls correctly was shown to us by a Korean chef from the Sumosan restaurant, one of the few Japanese restaurants in Moscow where you don't have to worry about the quality of the food
1
Rinse the rice thoroughly in cold water five or six times until the water is no longer cloudy and completely clear. While rinsing, do not rub the rice too hard to avoid breaking the grains; just stir it gently with your hand.
- Nishiki rice: 150 g
2
Then transfer the rice to a sieve set over a container and leave it for fifteen to twenty minutes: the water will drain, and the necessary amount will penetrate into the rice. After that, boil it in a rice cooker with an equal weight of water - this will take about half an hour. It should then sit in the turned-off but closed rice cooker for another fifteen minutes.
3
Mix vinegar into hot rice thoroughly so it absorbs completely. Cover with a damp towel and let it rest for another fifteen minutes. Prepare the crab (it needs to be boiled for about twenty minutes in unsalted water, then cooled). The tastiest meat is in the second segment. First, remove the hard plates, then cut the chitin and extract the flesh. It should be finely chopped.
- Sushi Vinegar: 2 tablespoons
- Crab meat: 175 g
4
Clean the avocado. You will need narrow slices, and it's easiest to cut them from the whole fruit first, then separate from the pit and peel.
- Avocado: 100 g
5
Wrap the sushi mat in plastic wrap. Spread warm rice in a thin layer, one grain thick, over the matte side of the nori sheet.
- Dry seaweed nori: 5 piece
6
Flip the nori sheet rice side down. Place two slices of avocado in the center. Draw a line with Japanese mayonnaise next to it. Finish with a strip of crab meat.
- Avocado: 100 g
- Japanese mayonnaise: 50 g
- Crab meat: 175 g
7
Rolls should be wrapped gently without pressing, just shaping them: they can be square or round. Coat the roll in tobiko, which is flying fish roe.
- Tobiko caviar: 100 g
8
Trim the edges with a knife for neatness, cut the roll in half, place the halves close to each other, and cut them into three equal parts. Arrange the rolls on a plate, add pickled ginger (preferably white, not pink) and wasabi (preferably grated, not powdered).
- Pickled ginger: to taste
- Wasabi: to taste