#MyManilaHotel Tour: How To Make A California Maki Roll

7/22/14

Yesterday, I attended the #MyManilaHotel Tour. One of the highlights of the tour was the activity at Cafe Ilang-Ilang where Chef Jonathan taught us how to make California Maki Roll. 

Trivia:
California Maki did not originate from Japan. It was in the '60s when a sushi chef in Los Angeles created this now popular food.




First, make sure that you have clean hands because you will not make use of any utensils. We were instructed to wash our hands with soap and warm water and then we wore plastic gloves.

Notice the sushi rolling mat (makisu)? It is covered with saran wrap to avoid the rice sticking to the mat since we are going to roll the California Maki with the Nori inside. We also put ample amount of mayonnaise on our plastic gloves to avoid the rice from sticking.

Ingredients:

Japanese Rice
Mangoes sliced into strips
Crab Stick
Cucumber sliced into strips
Seaweed Sheet (Nori)
Mayonnaise
Flying Fish Roe




Lay a half sheet of nori on the board. Get a handful of Japanese rice (around 100 grams) and form it into a ball.




Carefully spread out the rice on top of the nori. Make sure you completely cover the nori with the right thickness of rice up to the edge.




Transfer the nori with rice onto the bamboo mat with the rice facing down. Spread a thin line of mayonnaise on the center. On the bottom half of the nori, place the crab stick, cucumber and mango.




This part made me nervous. Make a roll by carefully folding the mat away from you towards the other half. Make sure that you only exert the right amount of pressure to avoid the fillings from getting squashed out.




Your thumbs must be positioned at the bottom of the mat while the other fingers are holding the fillings. 




The roll should be firm in order to neatly cut into bite size. Remove the roll from the bamboo mat and then transfer to the cutting board.




Use a long, sharp and thin knife to cut the California Maki Roll in half. 




Cover the maki with flying fish roe. Actually, it was only yesterday that I've learned about the flying fish roe. I thought any roe will do.




Divide the roll into eight equal pieces just big enough to make it bite size.




Now time for plating the California Maki Roll to make it more appetizing.




Garnish the plate with parsley, lemon slice and ginger




Chef: Don't forget the wasabi!




California Maki Roll by Snapped and Scribbled ;)



Chef's creation -- Ebi Tempura Maki Roll