The Steamboat Pilot & Today: California roll preparation

Makes 4 or 5 rolls

Ingredients
Sticky Rice
1 English cucumber – Cut into strips half the length of your half sheets of nori
Crab mix/sticks – Use whichever suites your taste
1 sushi-ripe avocado – Sliced to desired thickness (fig. 1)
5 half-sheets of nori
Goma (toasted sesame seeds)
Vinegar dip – 75 percent water, 25 percent vinegar

1. Cool your hands under cold running water. Dry your hands. Cold hands will sweat less and stick less to your rice.
Dip your fingers in the vinegar dip and clap your hands to remove excess water. Take some rice with your finger tips. Place the rice ball in the center of the nori and gently distribute the rice over the sheet. Don’t work your rice too much; if you smash your rice grains you are pressing too hard. Flip the nori so the rice is facing down. Make sure your cutting surface is slightly damp, but not wet so the rice does not stick. Now you can put the ingredients into the roll.

2. Place a row of cucumber strips lengthwise in the center of your nori sheet. Leave some room on the sides of your nori so the filling doesn’t get squeezed out. Put the avocado alongside your cucumber and do likewise with your crab sticks (fig. 2)

3. Gently fold the side of the nori nearest to you over the ingredients and tuck it under. (fig. 3) Then gently roll forward until the crease where the nori ends is on the bottom. (fig. 4) Form your roll by pulling and lightly squeezing your mat. (fig. 5) Gently hold your ingredients in on the ends while forming your roll. (fig. 6)

4. Use a very sharp knife for cutting your roll. Also, dip the knife blade in the vinegar dip and tilt it back so the water runs down the blade. This keeps the rice from sticking to the knife. Cut the roll into halves, then halve these halves, and then do it once more. (fig. 7)

5. Enjoy the fruits of your labor. (fig. 8)