Learn how to make California Rolls at home with this step-by-step tutorial and California roll recipe!

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Today has been filled with random odds and ends, highlighted by homemade California Rolls for dinner!

My older brother and I have had our own competition looming between the two of us for months – an eating competition. He thinks he can down more than me (HA!) so we’ve been trying to agree on what food we should compete with.

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Neither of us want to eat something super disgusting like cheeseburgers or chicken nuggets, so inspired by last week’s wraps, I shouted out CALIFORNIA ROLLS when we were discussing it at dinner Friday night!

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The competition date is still TBD, but all that talk gave me a craving that last week’s wraps just hadn’t satisfied, so I took some time to whip up a few actual California Rolls today. It wasn’t nearly as messy or hard as I remembered!

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First I laid out all the soft and hardware.

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Software:

Nori, aka sheets of roasted seaweed.

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You can find nori in some grocery stores, all Asian food stores, and someone mentioned that Trader Joe’s might have it too.

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Sushi rice. Sushi rice is short grain rice that has been cooked then seasoned with rice vinegar, sugar and a dash of salt. You can find it in any grocery store.

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Sliced imitation crab and cucumber,

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and avocado.

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Hardware:

Sushi mat. You can get these at Williams-Sonoma/any specialty kitchen store, or any Asian Grocery store. You don’t need a mat to make homemade sushi, it just makes it a little bit easier.

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Cup of water. I use the water to wet my hands to make it easier to spread the sushi rice on the nori. I also use it to seal the end of the roll. You’ll see!

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Software: check. Hardware: check. We’re ready to roll!

Step 1: Lay a sheet of plastic wrap over the sushi mat, then lay down a sheet of nori. Wet your hands with water and press down 1 cup cooked sushi rice, leaving a 1″ section clear at the top.

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Step 2: Place 2 slices each avocado, cucumber and crab on the bottom third portion of the rice.

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Step 3: Using the sushi mat, make one full roll, pulling back firmly on the mat to tighten the filling inside.

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See?

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Step 4: Continue rolling, pulling back firmly on the mat to compress the filling, until you come to the end of the nori.

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Step 5: Wet the clear section of nori at the top, then make the final roll and press down to seal.

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Whee!

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1 cup un-cooked rice makes 3 cups cooked rice – which yields 3 large rolls.

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Step 6: After you have all three rolls made, cut them into 1/2″ slices using a sharp knife.

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If you’re having trouble cutting, it may help to dip the knife in warm water in between slices.

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Step 7: Rejoice over the fact that you’ll never have to pay $6 per California Roll at a restaurant ever again!

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These are sooo refreshing!

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I could seriously pop piece after piece forever.

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Actually, my brother and I decided to shout out at the same time how many pieces of California Roll we thought we could eat in one sitting. Him: 30. Me: 68. BAHAHAHA! This one’s in the bag. ;)

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