Instead of covering your sushi mat with plastic wrap, you can just put it inside a 1-gallon plastic storage bag. Avoid the freezer bags because they are thicker and more difficult to use. You absolutely MUST get that sushi mat covered with plastic for inside-out rolls (uramaki) or the rice will stick to the bamboo mat. Be sure to use a mat that is flat on one side (often a bit green in color on that side) and curved on the other for best results with sushi rolls. The ones that are round on both sides don’t produce rolls that look as nice and appearance is a lot of it with sushi. The flat side goes up. Fear not though, even ugly sushi rolls still taste good!

2. Don’t use too much rice. You want a thin layer and don’t smash it into the Nori, spread it gently to the edges.

3. Buy the already toasted sesame seeds instead of toasting them yourself. They come in both natural and black like you see on the picture of the finished roll above. After putting the sesame seeds on the rice, turn the rice over onto your sushi rolling mat (makisu) and gently pat all over the nori side before adding your filling. This helps the sesame seeds sink slightly into and stay on the rice with the finished roll.

4. Place the crab mixture in the middle of the Nori, the soft avocado on the side of it close to you and the cucumber on the other side. That way, when you start to roll it up, your fingers will have the stiffer cucumber to anchor your fingertips against when rolling instead of smashing the ripe avocado into a paste with your fingers as you try to roll it.

5. Don’t use nearly as much filling as you show in the third picture of step 4 above. You will never get the ends to meet and it will come apart when you try to cut it. And that is way too much avocado.

Because avocado slices are curved, I will straighten them out the cut pieces in the middle of the curve, breaking that slightly in the middle of the curve to straighten them out. Then put one slice on each end with the fat ends towards the outside overlapping the thin ends in the middle. If the thin ends are not long enough to overlap, then add part of another slice to the middle. Usually straightening out the avocado slice and overlapping the thin ends is enough.

Also you don’t have to remove the avocado from the skin to cut the slices. Instead, remove the nut and hold one half in your off-hand, face up. Then use a butter knife (NOT a sharp knife) to cut one slice at a time out of the avocado scraping up with the edge of the knife as you finish the slice to separate it from the inside of the skin. Make slices 1/8″ to no more than 1/4″ thick on the edge against the skin. It’s easy to hold and slice this way.

If you choose to go ahead and remove it to slice it, use the tip of a sharp knife to do the slicing. If you slice with the belly of the blade the avocado slices will tend to stick to the blade. The riper the avocado, the more it sticks. I use a long Yanagiba knife (sushi/sashimi knife with a long blade) but any sharp knife like a chef’s knife will work for cutting ingredients and cutting slices of your uramaki roll. With a long blade I stand at about a 45º angle so I can point the tip down and then pull my elbow straight back to make the slice without bumping into my belly.

6. When cutting your cucumber, cut off the ends and then cut it in half first. Then remove the seeds with a spoon when using a your “normal” cucumber. With an English cucumber it’s easier just to set it on a cut end and cut down next to the seed core. 4 slices will do it. Then slice into about 1/16″ to 1/8″ slices. The thicker the slices, the fewer pieces you’ll need. Figure on 4 pieces for most rolls.

7. One final tip, after cutting the roll, put your makisu (sushi mat) back over it and gently squeeze it to reform it back into a round shape. If your knife is not real sharp or your roll was not tight enough, some of the pieces can get misshapen easily. Putting your makisu back over it and gently squeezing to reshape it will make the finished roll look good. Then remove the plastic and plate it to serve.

Thanks Lisa! Happy to hear you enjoyed these tasty California Roll! 🙂
Stay well & hope you enjoy a wonderful summer~
Take care,
Amy

Thank you SK 🙂

Have a wonderful Sunday
Jacky