1 cup sushi rice, rinsed
1-1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

4 dried seaweed squares
16 pieces of crab meat, sliced into strips
1/2 medium avocado, peeled and sliced into 8 strips
1/2 small cucumber, seeded and sliced into 8 strips
4 teaspoons mayonnaise, (with wasabi, if desired)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted (optional)

1. Rinse the rice and place in a pot with water. Cover.
2. Turn the heat to high and bring the water to a boil, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer until all of the water has been absorbed, about 10 minutes.
3. Remove the pot from the heat. Take off the lid and cover with a tea towel and let cool for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, heat vinegar in a small sauce pan over low heat with sugar and salt until they dissolve into the vinegar. Cool.
5. Transfer the rice to a large bowl and spread out evenly with a wooden spoon.
6. Gently cut, rather than stir, the vinegar into the rice. Fan rice to bring it to room temperature.
7. Lay out a seaweed square on a bamboo sushi mat.
8. Place approximately a cup of prepared rice on to the surface of the seaweed, pressing to approximately 1/2" thickness and staying about 1/4" from the sides.
9. Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of toasted sesame seeds over rice, if desired.
10. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the rice, then flip the seaweed so that the plastic wrap covered rice is now on the bamboo and the plain seaweed is facing up.
11. About 1/2" from the bottom, start by placing a strip of cucumber, followed by crab, then mayonnaise, and finally the avocado.
12. Carefully lift the mat and roll the bottom edge of the seaweed underneath the crab, cucumber, avocado and mayonnaise.
13. Gently roll upwards, pulling away the plastic wrap as the roll takes its shape.
14. Unroll the mat and remove the plastic wrap. Cut into 6 pieces and serve with wasabi, tamari and pickled ginger.

Makes 4 rolls

I've tried to make sushi a small handful of times (4 to be exact, so I suppose a handful for one without thumbs) and I've yet to really get the hang of it. Preparing sushi is an entirely different method of food preparation than what I like to do. It involves actually caring how things are cut to give them uniform shapes, being gentle and patient and there's no oil or butter, so I'm pretty much at a loss.

As you probably recall from my episode with Ahi Tuna, I do not believe that there is such thing as sushi grade fish in my tiny city in Northern Alberta, outside of a sushi bar. So, California Rolls it is. I was a bit worried that Shannon would have a reaction to the imitation crab again, but things seemed to go over well (that is, no trips to the hospital). I have not been historically fond of sushi, but as I acquire a taste for rice vinegar, it's starting to grow on me. I don't think that there was enough vinegar in this recipe to really impart much flavor on the rice, so feel free to adjust it accordingly.

I wish I could offer some tips or suggestions on how to make the whole process easier, but I can't. The instructions I read made little sense until I actually figured out what I was doing. Hindsight is twenty-twenty after that and the whole "tuck and roll" thing seemed to work out a bit better. With only 4 rolls it's hard to really get much experience with the whole process. This was my first time making the inside out rolls. Aside from involving some saran wrap to flip them over, it's basically the same method on a different side. I think I prefer the inside in way of doing things because then I can just pick them up with my hands without getting rice all over my fingers. Chopsticks only work so well, especially when my rolls end up indelibly huge.