Whenever I think of my grandmother, I imagine her home-cooked, delicious meals. One of my favorite dishes is her scrumptious California roll.

Every time my brother, my cousins, and I visited my grandmother, we used to beg her to make them. Once she gave in and prepared them, every single piece was devoured within seconds. She would bring them as appetizers to all the family gatherings and make huge rolls for us to bring home so that we could eat them later.

My grandmother grew up in Japan and lived there until she was 25 years old. As a little girl, she was taught how to make sushi by her mother. When she moved to America, she kept her roots and continued to make Japanese inspired cuisine, like the California rolls.

My grandmother travels to the Asian market to buy all of the ingredients. To keep the supplies fresh, she puts them in the refrigerator and prepares the sushi soon after, so that the rice doesn’t get hard.

My mother has always tried to duplicate the rolls, but has yet to find success. Over the past weekend, my grandmother came to visit, and she taught me how to make them. “It is all about the rice. In order to make good sushi, the rice needs to be made perfectly,” my grandmother said.

In addition to the California rolls, my grandmother makes other sushi rolls. An example is “a football roll,” which has rice inside a brown wrapping called abura (deep fried tofu sheets). The cucumber roll is also very popular in my family. It has sliced cucumber and rice surrounded by seaweed.

Good food can be found anywhere, from hole-in-the-wall places to four-star restaurants. What makes the California Roll so special is that my grandmother makes it for her grandchildren and other family members in her own kitchen. “The sushi is amazing. What makes it so delicious is that it is all home-made,” my brother claims.

I would definitely recommend California Rolls to everyone. These yummy crab and avocado filled sushi rolls are the perfect appetizer for a normal meal, party, or formal dinner. Also, it is the perfect snack, as it is light and filling at the same time. In addition, it is  simple and quick, taking  5 minutes per roll.

Ingredients:

Cooked rice

1 package imitation crab

3-4 fresh avocados

1 packet of large nori (Seaweed)

1 packet of Tamanoi Sushinoka (Seasoning for rice)

1 container of tobico (Fish eggs)

Bamboo sushi roller

Instructions:

1. Cook the rice and add seasoning to the rice. Mix in the seasoning and let it cool until room temperature.

2. Wrap the bamboo sushi roller with saran wrap. Lay 1 sheet of nori on the bamboo sushi roller.

3. Put a thin layer of seasoned rice onto the nori. Then, sprinkle the desired amount of tobico onto the rice.

4. Flip the nori over so that the rice and tobico are face down on the bamboo sushi roller.

5. Slice the avocado in half and take out the pit. Cut the avocado into thin slices.

6. Lay 3-4 slices of avocado and crab meat onto the nori.

7. Curl the end of the bamboo sushi roller and roll it up until the sushi is completely covered with the bamboo sushi roller. Then squeeze the sushi until it is stuck together.

8. Cut the sushi into individual rolls.

9. Repeat steps 2-8 to make more sushi rolls.