Sushi Roll Recipe for Beginners

This Sushi Roll Recipe is great for beginners and those afraid of using raw fish at home (like myself). The roll is a hybrid between a California roll, with the avocado, and a Philadelphia roll, with the cream cheese. Since these two rolls are my favorite, I decided I would combine the two for the best of both worlds. The Sushi Rice Recipe is adapted from Alton Brown’s recipe. He is one of my favorite celebrity chefs, and you must give credit where credit is due. 

Prepare The Sticky Rice

For this recipe, you want to begin by rinsing your rice with water. You can rinse it in a large bowl, or to save dishes, you can rinse it in the pan you plan to cook it with. Rinse and drain the rise until the cloudy water runs almost clear. This can take around 3-4 minutes sometimes.

Once the rice is rinsed, drain it until nearly all the water is gone, and place it in the pan with two cups of water. Bring the rice to a boil, then reduce the heat to a low setting. Cook the rice for 15 minutes, covered with a lid. After the rice is done cooking, remove it from the heat and let sit for ten minutes with the lid on.

While your rice is cooling, mix sugar, vinegar, and salt in a small bowl. Heat the mixture over the stove or in a microwave (30 seconds in the microwave, and 2-3 minutes on the stove). After the rice is done resting for ten minutes, place it in a nonmetallic bowl (plastic, glass, or wood preferably). Mix the vinegar mixture into the rice with a wooden spoon or plastic spatula in a cutting, rather than stirring motion. Let the rice continue to cool while you prepare your filling elements.

Lay Out The Fillings

Slice avocado, cucumber, and bell pepper into long strips. Next, place your seaweed wrap, shiny side down, onto your sushi mat. Sushi mats are essential to the process, and it is incredibly difficult to make sushi without them. If you do not have a sushi mat, you can get one here. On your seaweed wrap, spread your rice thinly across the paper from edge to edge. Now place your veggies near the middle in a single line, stacking if necessary. Place the salmon and cream cheese next to the line of veggies. Remember, less is more when making a roll. The more you pack into your roll, the harder it will be to close your roll and slice your roll. 

Roll Out

Once all your fillings are placed on the rice, begin the rolling process. Confidence is essential for this part! Use the rolling mat to help you close your roll, rice to rice. Tightly squeeze the roll with the mat to close it. Be careful not to squeeze too hard, or the fillings will come out of the sides. It is pretty much like the Japanese version of a burrito. I usually have enough rice to make about 5 rolls. Once you have your rolls you can slice and serve them or store them to cool for slicing later. I wouldn’t keep the rolls over three days. After this time their freshness is compromised.

Slice your sushi into thick pieces. I slice about six pieces per roll. The thinner the slices, the more easily they will fall apart. Serve your sushi with spicy mayo (which is just sriracha and mayo) soy sauce, and or tempera! I hope you enjoy this roll as much as Jessy and I do!

Sushi Recipe

This Roll is a cross between a Philadelphia Roll and a California Roll. It is best served with tempura, seaweed salad, and spicy mayo! I also used smoked salmon, as I am too afraid to eat raw fish at home. I also use Alton Brown’s Sushi Rice Recipe. While Alton Brown uses rice wine vinegar in his recipe, I have found that the taste isn’t noticeably different if you use distilled, rice wine, or even red wine vinegar in this recipe. I suggest you may use any vinegar you have on hand.

Course                    Main Course
Cuisine                   American, Japanese
Prep Time             10 minutes
Cook Time            20 minutes
Assembly Time  20 minutes
Total Time            50 minutes
Servings                5

Ingredients

Sushi Rice

• 2 cups water, plus more for rinsing
• 2 cups Medium or Short grain rice
• 2 tbs Vinegar
• 2 tbs Sugar
• 1 tbs Salt

Filling

• 1/2 Large Avocado
• 4 oz Smoked Salmon
• 5 tbs Cream Cheese
• 1/2 Cucumber
• 1/2 Bell Pepper, Sliced
• 5 Seaweed Wraps

Directions

Sushi Rice

1. Rinse sushi rice in a large bowl or in a pan with water. Rinse and drain rice until the water runs from cloudy to almost clear.
2. Put rice and water in a large pan, then bring to a boil
3. Cover rice and reduce heat to the lowest or second-lowest setting and cook for 15 minutes
4. While rice is cooking, mix sugar, vinegar, and salt and heat for around 30 seconds
5. After 15 minutes, remove rice from heat and let sit for 10 minutes covered
6. Remove rice from the pan, and place it into large plastic, glass, or wooden bowl (anything but metal), and mix in the sugar vinegar, and salt mixture with a wooden spoon or plastic spatula in a cutting rather than stirring motion.

Filling

1. Slice Cucumber, Bell Pepper, and Avocado into long strips
2. Place seaweed wrap shiny side down on to sushi mat
3. Spread rice thinly over seaweed wrap all the way to the edges with a spatula
4. In a line place cucumber, bell pepper, and avocado stacking on top of each other if necessary
5. Add smoked salmon and cream cheese alongside vegetables
6. Using a sushi mat, roll your sushi. Use the sushi mat to help shape your sushi and tighten the roll. Use some force to squeeze the sushi roll tightly, but not enough to squeeze the innards out of the sides.
7. Slice your sushi into thick slices. I usually slice 6 pieces per roll. The thinner the slices, the easier they fall apart.
8. Serve with spicy may, soy sauce, and tempera if you have some! Enjoy room temperature or cold!

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