For my monthly Wine & Dine event tonight, we're highlighting Japanese cuisine and sake. In addition to the Spicy Scallop Maki roll I made for the event, I also made some California Rolls. These are pretty standard on any sushi menu, especially for those who are starting to try sushi for the very first time.

For sushi rice:
1 cup brown rice, freshly cooked
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoons sugar

Prepare your brown rice as directed on the package.
When the rice is done and still hot, add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine; cool.


For maki filling:
5 sheets nori
1/2 cucumber, seeded and sliced into thin strips
1 egg omelette, cooled and cut into thin strips
1 avocado, pitted and sliced thinly; tossed with fresh lemon juice
5 sticks of imitation crab leg

Prepare the above ingredients and have it ready, making it easy to fill.
Be sure to have avocado slices gingerly tossed with the lemon juice to prevent browning.



To assemble:

Place one sheet of nori on a bamboo rolling mat.
Take 1/5 of the rice mixture and evenly scatter it on top of the nori.
On the end closest to you, place one imitation crab stick along the bottom. You can keep the crab stick whole or tear each leg apart into thin strips and distribute evenly along the bottom (which is what I did.)
Top with strips of omelette, cucumber and 2 slices of avocado.
Using the bamboo rolling mat, carefully roll up the nori with the fillings inside. Be careful to not overfill so that the contents don't spill out the ends.
The key is to keep the roll nice and tight and when fully rolled, place it on a platter, seam side down.
Repeat with the other sheets of nori until all the ingredients are used up.