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Filled with creamy avocado, sweet crab meat and crunchy cucumber, California roll is by far the most popular sushi roll in the US. In this recipe, you’ll learn how to make the delicious sushi roll at home. I also include a video that demonstrates how you can perfect the sushi rolling technique below.
What was the first sushi roll that you tried at a Japanese restaurant? For many of you, it might be California Roll (カリフォルニアロール) as it is probably by far the most popular style of sushi in the U.S. Today I’ll show you how easy you can make California Roll at home.
What is California Roll?
Before we get to the recipe, let’s talk about what exactly is California Roll. California Roll is a kind of sushi roll (we call makizushi in Japanese) containing crab meat (real or imitation), avocado, and cucumber. Usually it is an “inside-out” roll (we call uramaki), which means that sushi rice is shown on the outside of the roll, and nori (seaweed sheet) is on the inside. The roll is sprinkled with toasted white sesame seeds for nice crunchy texture, but sometimes they are garnished with tobiko or masago fish roes for a more elegant presentation.
Quick History on California Roll
Did you know California Roll or many creative-name sushi rolls are not from Japan? When Japanese people (from Japan) say “sushi”, it usually implies nigiri sushi (a slice of sashimi-grade raw fish on top of rice pillow). In fact, when it comes to for sushi roll (makizushi), we only have a few choices such as Futomaki and Hosomaki. It’s quite different from sushi roll menus in the United States! So who invented California Roll? Apparently, it was the creation of an ingenious sushi chef named Hidekazu Tojo who moved from Japan to Canada in the 70s. In Vancouver, he learned that most Western people didn’t eat raw fish and didn’t like seaweed as well. Therefore, he substituted avocado for toro (fatty tuna) as it has the similar creamy texture and hid nori seaweed by using uramaki technique, so nori is not visible from the outside. That’s the how California Roll turned into a popular menu item! And in my opinion, California Roll tells the story of a successful adaptation and re-imagination of food.
5 Key Ingredients for California Roll
Unlike nigiri sushi or other kinds of sushi rolls, California Roll does not include any raw fish. Therefore, you can make this sushi roll fairly easily at home. All you need is perfectly ripen avocados, cucumber, and crab meat. Crab Meat: I’m unfortunately allergic to crab, so I use imitation crab. Avocado: Find those perfectly ripen avocados! Japanese Cucumbers: For sushi making, we use thin and long Japanese cucumbers. They have little and less seeds in the center compared to regular cucumber. If you can’t find Japanese cucumbers locally, you can use Persian cucumbers or English cucumbers (but remove the seeds in the middle). Japanese Mayonnaise: I always season the crab meat with Japanese mayonnaise first. Japanese mayonnaise is the key for this roll, so please try your best to find it (you can easily purchase it on Amazon). If you want to know more about Japanese mayonnaise and make it yourself at home with American mayonnaise, read the post here. Sesame Seeds: If you have a few extra minutes, toast the sesame seeds in a non-greased frying pan until one or two sesame seeds pop. It adds wonderful nutty flavors and aroma. For me personally, I like to add toasted white sesame seeds in the crab meat mixture, since I use fish eggs (tobiko/masago) for decorating the sushi rice.
How To Roll Sushi Roll
Many people are intimidated by the sushi rolling part. Relax and take it one step at a time by following my recipe and tips. The key is not to overstuff the sushi and tug the roll compact enough for assembling. It’s not difficult and you should be able to make decent sushi rolls with some practice. Maybe your first roll may not look pretty, but practice will make it easier! You can also watch the video below which demonstrates the technique on how to assemble a sushi roll.
Watch How To Make Dragon Roll ドラゴンロールの作り方(レシピ)
Learn how to assemble a sushi roll
I hope you enjoy making this California Roll recipe! If you try it, don’t forget to share your picture on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter with #JustOneCookbook. Thank you so much for reading, and till next time!
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- 6 cups sushi rice (cooked and seasoned) (1 cup of cooked sushi rice is 180 g; to make Sushi Rice from scratch, click here. Cover the prepared sushi rice with a damp cloth at all times to prevent it from drying).
- 9 oz cooked crab meat (255 g or 2 cans)
- 6 Tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
- ½ English cucumber (or Persian/Japanese cucumber)
- 2 avocados
- ½ lemon (for avocado)
- 8 sheets nori (seaweed)
- ¼ cup toasted white sesame seeds
- Ikura (salmon roe)
- Tobiko (flying fish roe)
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tsp rice vinegar
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Gather all the ingredients. Sushi rice should be at room temperature.
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Cover the bamboo mat with plastic wrap and prepare vinegar water (Tezu) to dip your fingers to prevent them from sticking.
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Crab meat: Combine the crab meat with Japanese mayonnaise and mix together.
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Cucumber: Peel and remove seeds with a spoon. Cut into thin long strips, the same length as the nori sheet.
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Avocado: Peel, pit, and cut into ¼" (0.5 cm) thick slices (See How To Cut Avocado). Squeeze the lemon juice over the avocado to prevent browning.
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Nori: Cut off ⅓ of a nori sheet (save it) and use the ⅔ sheet of nori.
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Lay a nori sheet, shiny side down, on the bamboo mat. Wet your fingers in Tezu and spread ¾ cup (135 g) of the rice evenly onto the nori sheet. 6 cups (1080 g) of rice can make 8 rolls.
- Sprinkle the rice with sesame seeds or tobiko.
- Turn the nori sheet over so that the rice is facing down. LIne the edge of nori sheet at the bottom of the bamboo mat. Place the cucumber, crab meat, and avocado at the bottom of the nori sheet.
- Grab the bottom edge of the mat while keeping the fillings in place with your fingers, roll it into a tight cylinder, tucking the fillings in firmly.
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Lift the edge of the bamboo mat slightly and roll it forward while keeping gentle pressure on the mat. Cover the completed rolls with a damp cloth at all times to prevent from drying. Continue making the rolls until the ingredients are finished.
- You can use the left over ⅓ of nori sheet to make Ikura Sushi. Cut the nori sheet into half lengthwise. Make small balls with sushi rice and wrap it with nori sheet. Place ikura on top.
- With a very sharp knife, cut each roll in half and then cut each half into 3 pieces. Remember to clean the knife with a damp cloth after every few cuts.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on Aug 19, 2011. The content has been updated in May 2017.
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Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it explained that well before. Thanks for the post. We’re saving this one for a Friday night in. Do you have any other post that show how to make with out seaweed paper?
Hi Brad! I’m glad you think this post is helpful and I hope you will enjoy making your own California rolls. So far I don’t have any other post on sushi without using seaweed paper (nori). Are you talking about nigiri sushi? I’m not an expert in making sushi, but I’ll think about it for my future post. 🙂
yes, nigiri sushi. i forgot what it was called I like mine with nori & my wife likes nigiri. thanks again. We look forward to the post if you decide so.
Hi Nami,
I’m making California Rolls and want to take them to work the next day. I always think they taste best the very day they are made and at room temperature. How are they supposed to be served (room temp or cold) and is there any special way to store leftovers? —-Lorna
Hi Lorna! We eat right away too but at Japanese stores they sell at refrigerated counter. The avocado usually change color (dark color) next day. If you don’t mind the look it should be ok next day. Make sure to keep it chilled and served at room temp. 🙂
Hope this helps!
i am chef in greek kichen. what ever i see hereis fantastic
Hi Akis! Thank you for your kind words. 🙂
Made these tonight! Used the sushi rice recipe and mayo recipe. Flavors were good. My rolling wasn’t the best. Going to keep practicing! Tackling gyoza next week.
Hi Cine Bean! Thank you so much for trying this recipe! Your rolling skill will definitely improve with practice. Mine is not perfect at all (compared to professionally made ones), but homemade taste wonderful regardless. 😉 Hope you will like the gyoza recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback!
Hi! I want to use imitation crab in my CA roll too. Do you use the flake style or crab sticks? What brand do you prefer? Do you chop them up into small pieces and then mix with Japanese mayo?
Hi Cindy! Either is okay… Taste and texture of your preference matters.
For crab sticks/imitation crab, I like using Japanese brands because they taste quite good and the texture is more stringy. I’ve seen some of them that are sold in regular American grocery stores and they don’t seem “right” for California rolls in terms of texture… I never tasted it so I can’t tell the flavor is correct or not.
Here’s what I use: https://www.justonecookbook.com/imitation-crab-sticks/
Can you see in my recipe images how thread-like they are? You can loosen them up slightly, or unloosen, and squeeze Japanese mayo over, too, instead of mixing all together.
Hi Cindy! I use Japanese “Kanikama” or imitation crab which is made with surimi.
https://www.justonecookbook.com/imitation-crab-sticks/
Japanese brands tend to shred nicely. You can keep it long or cut into small pieces, but it’s easier for you to roll if it’ in stringy than chopped. 🙂
Hi Nami,
I see that you are using real crab in a can. Can you tell me what brand it is and where I can purchase it? Thank you.
Hi Susan! Since I got allergic to crab, I haven’t made it with real crab..and I don’t remember which canned crabmeat I used for this particular recipe in the photo… Check reviews of the brand, but this one is the most popular on Amazon (https://amzn.to/2E1Y3AJ).
Hi Nami! I’m really looking forward to trying this recipe. I’m not an expert at cooking, but I love to explore. Can I use american mayo instead of Japanese mayo since I already have it at home? If so, do I need to adjust the amount? If its successful, I let you know 🙂
Hi Sophia,
Thank you for trying this recipe!
Yes, you can use American Mayo. It is not precisely the same, but this shortcut is something you can quickly put together to replicate the taste of Japanese mayo.
For 1 Tbsp of American mayonnaise,
add 1/2 tsp rice vinegar,
add 1/8 tsp sugar, and whisk until sugar dissolves.
If you would like to make it from scratch, Nami has a recipe! https://www.justonecookbook.com/japanese-mayonnaise/
I hope this is helpful!🙂
Another excellent in depth article explaining the origin and composition of these 2 rolls. I really appreciate the links to ingredients that have their own recipes (Japanese mayonnaise! ) as well as the links for purchasing ingredients if necessary. As always the recipes are delicious! I have learned so much about Japanese cooking from your website, thank you
Hi Lorena,
You have no idea how much your kind words meant to us!💕
Thank you so much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback.
This is so fun and easy to make. thanks for sharing
Hi dc,
We are so glad to hear you enjoyed making this California Roll. Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!