How to Make an Inside Out California Roll

Japanese cuisine is becoming increasingly popular in the West. Sushi, sashimi and California rolls are some of the most widely known and loved Japanese dishes outside of Japan. With a little know how, you can make your own delicious and healthy California rolls with the rice on the outside. These inside out California rolls are great for entertaining and taste just as good as regular California rolls.

Things You'll Need

• Plastic wrap
• Bamboo sushi mat
• Seaweed
• Cucumber
• Sushi rice
• Knife
• Avocado
• Crab sticks
• Sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Lay your bamboo sushi mat down on the counter or workspace and cover it with plastic wrap.

2. Take a large handful of cooked sushi rice, which is sticky short-grained rice, and shape it into a log.

3. Place a piece of seaweed, or nori, on the bamboo sushi mat. Make sure that you place the dull side down.

4. Lay your rice log on top of the seaweed. Flatten the rice out evenly on top of the seaweed so that the rice covers the entire sheet of seaweed.

5. Sprinkle a small amount of sesame seeds on top of the sheet of seaweed and rice.

6. Flip over the sheet of rice and seaweed so that the seaweed is now facing up and the rice is now directly touching the plastic wrap covered bamboo mat.

7. Line up thin slices of avocado lengthwise on the seaweed mat. Put the slices from one end to the other directly down the center of the sheet.

8. Put your crab sticks directly on top of your avocado slices and slices of cucumber next to the avocado slices.

9. Pull one side of the seaweed and rice sheet over the top of the ingredients you've added and roll it over.

10. Surround the roll with the bamboo mat, and press down firmly to make the roll stick together.

11. Cut the roll into sections. You can make the sections approximately one inch long.

Tips & Warnings

• You can rub a small amount of mayonnaise over your food preparation gloves to prevent the rice from sticking to you or dip your hands in water if you are working without gloves.

• You can add mayonnaise to the inside of the sushi roll when you are laying down the avocado, if you like the added flavor.

• If you are allergic to or don't like any of the ingredients, you can easily omit them. Once you get good at making inside out California rolls, you can also experiment with other ingredients.

• Dipping your knife in water before cutting sections from your rolls will help prevent the rice from sticking to it and give you a cleaner cut.