California Avocado Roll

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It’s California avocado season, so we have to eat ALL THE AVOCADOS, right?

But seriously, we could eat this avocado roll everyday. The sticky tangy rice brings out umami flavors of the avocado we never knew existed. If you haven’t tried avocado rolls, you should immediately! They’re fun and easy, making them the perfect economical, on-demand fix for your sushi craving. Customize your rolls by adding carrots, cucumbers, sushi-grade fish, or anything else you can think of. Avocados go great with any sushi filling combo, but you must promise us you’ll also try it alone!

*Disclaimer: The longest part of sushi making is waiting for the rice to cool down, so plan ahead—you can even get some errands done while the rice is cooling. Alternatively, you can make it in the morning before work and come home to ready-to-roll sushi rice.

Ingredients:
4-6 servings

1 ½  cups uncooked short-grain sushi rice
¼ cup seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4-6 sheets sushi nori
1-2 ripe California avocados

Preparation:
120 minutes

Rinse and cook the short-grain rice using the rice cooker or a small pot, as instructed on packaging. We rinse until the water runs mostly clear. Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto suggests using equal parts water to rice.

Start making the seasoning 5 minutes before the rice is ready. Using a small sauce pan on medium heat, combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt then stir until dissolved.

Transfer the cooked rice using a wooden spoon into a wooden or glass bowl (metal bowls and spoons will give the rice an off taste). Pour the seasoning over the rice. Fold the rice until the seasoning coats all of the rice evenly. Cover with a clean towel and let the rice cool down to room temperature (about 1 hour).

Now it’s rolling time!
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This is truly an art so we suggest watching sushi chef Mamie Nishide’s video to learn her rolling technique: http://www.howcast.com/videos/504086-how-to-make-an-avocado-roll-sushi-lesss/

We did these rolls slightly different than Mamie Nishide—we covered a full sheet of nori with rice and stuffed the inside with a ¼ avocado to make a larger roll. You can also use a rubber spatula to spread the rice on the nori if you don’t like the sticky feeling of the rice on your fingers.

Use a damp towel to wet your knife and slice your rolls. Serve with pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce.

Now go ahead, throw that sushi making party you’ve been jealous of on Instagram. We’ve got your back.

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