Tricolored California Roll - Sushi


Whose in for Japanese Cuisine? 
Tricolored California Roll, a Western-style sushi! 


It's the most often picked cuisine in our family. The idea of uncooked seafood doesn't compute to most in the world. So am I :) Quite skeptical to serve raw meat especially when homemade. Not all sushi is raw, which may come as a surprise to some. I personally love to prepare sushi if its either vegetarian or fully cooked meat. A good restaurant does have a lot of options to pick for a beginner who is not ready to try raw meat.



Do you know that authentic sushi varieties are very less when compared to what we get in the restaurants in this modern world? California roll is one of them, the most popular styles of sushi in the US market. It is a "Makizuchi", a kind of sushi roll usually made inside-out. Which means, the nori or roasted seaweed inside and seasoned sushi rice on the outside. California roll usually contains cucumber, avocado and sometime crab sticks, sprinkled with roasted sesame seeds or tobiko (flying fish roe).


I have been making sushi for the past 2 years. Learnt the tricks and tips by watching food tv shows (hardly remember the exact source). This homemade Tricolored California Roll I came up with is completely vegetarian, flavorful and attractive with its vibrantly colored rice. I found the black and green sushi rice and got excited. Felt a bright color would look catchy and came up with a bright peach, by using food color into the cooking white sushi rice.

Ingredients:
  1. Sushi rice(cooked):
  • -1/2 cup orangish pink colored rice
  • -1/4 cup of green colored  rice
  • -2 tbsp of black rice ( check notes) 
  1. Avocado - 1 - pitted, peeled and sliced into strips (cut when ready to use to retain color or sprinkle lemon juice)
  2. English Cucumber - 1- peeled, seeded and cut into match sticks/ strips.
  3. Nori / Roasted seaweed - 1pack - (1 half sheet for each roll) 
  4. Roasted/Toasted white sesame seeds - 1 tablespoon
  5. Roasted/Toasted Black sesame seeds - 1 tablespoon
  6. Wasabi - to serve
  7. Soy sauce (low sodium) - to serve
  8. Sushi ginger - to serve
  9. Spicy mayo  sauce - to serve. (Homemade - 3 parts of Mayonnaise and 1 part of Sriracha  hot sauce mixed together)


Requirements:
Bamboo rolling mat - 1
Ziplock - 1 gallon or cling/plastic wrap (Optional)

Directions:
1. Wrap the bamboo rolling mat with cling/plastic wrap or a gallon ziplock for hygiene purpose. Place the rolling mat on a flat surface.

2. Place the nori cut into half on the prepared bamboo rolling mat and spread a generous handful of rice. In this case the orangish-pink colored rice. Wet your fingertips often to avoid the rice sticking to your hands. Make sure the rice is evenly spread covering the entire nori.

3. Flip the nori gently upside down so the orangish-pink rice is facing down. Now spread a thin layer of green colored rice on the nori evenly as above.


4. Assemble all the necessary ingredients leaving about an inch. Place 3 sliced avocados, 2 cucumber sticks and  2-3 tablespoons of black rice lengthwise.

5. Using the rolling mat as guide, carefully but firmly start rolling the Tricolored California Roll. Give it a tight hug and roll into a log. 



6. Remove the rolling mat, sprinkle the roasted sesame seeds both black and white on the flat surface and roll the California roll for the seeds to stick to the rice.


7. Cover the roll with a plastic wrap and now is the time to cut the roll. 

8. A clean knife give a clean cut look always. So run your knife with a clean damp cloth after each cut to prevent the rice from sticking. 



9. Once you trim of the sides, the next cut should always be in the center. From there on, eye ball and cut into 6 pieces, about an inch sized. 

10. Place the rolling mat once again on the roll and give it another final hug for the roll to retain the shape.

11. Gently remove the plastic wrap and using a large knife, you may transfer them together or individually hand pick each piece and assemble as you desire.

12. Serve with pickled ginger (used pink ginger), soy sauce and wasabi paste.


Notes:
  • You may purchase different colored rice or use white rice cooked separately in  3 containers with any of your choice of food color added while cooking.  For even simpler version, just stick to any 1 or no color.
  • Black rice takes longer time to cook and it requires more water. 
  • 1 Gallon ziplock works very well, to cover up the bamboo rolling mat.


Comments

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