Killer California Rolls?

[soypower]

my mom has asked me to make some california rolls for a church get together tomorrow...
as i was prepping the ingredients, i was wondering if there would be any way to jazz them up to bring them from the mundane to the extraordinary...or even just extra yummy. but i thought i should ask for some tried and true renditions before i start experimenting with sriracha and such...

TIA

[hannaone]

I've never actually had a california roll. How is it different from kim bop or sushi?

[soypower]

wow. i'm shocked that you've never had a california roll...a lot of people call it beginner's sushi and it's also served at a lot of korean restaurants that have sushi on their menu...

here's a pic and recipe:

http://www.bento.com/trt-incali.html

[hannaone]

Okay
Free form kim bop using sushi rice instead instead of sesame oil rice, sub the standard kim bop fillings with avocado, cucumber, crab, and a slather of wasabi paste. (and mayo??) Sprinkle with roe, or not.

[Miss Needle]

I think a bit of fruit like mango (and sriracha) is a good mix with the avocado and fake crab meat. However, I'm not sure it will go over well with the Korean church crowd (I'm assuming they're Korean).

[soypower]

yes, they're korean...i just ended up making plain old california rolls this morning with mayo, imitation crab, avocado and cucumber...but i have a lot of leftover ingredients, so i will definitely try these ideas...

[Sam Fujisaka]

I find California rolls horrible, horrible, horrible. Apparently Koreans don't feel the same? I don't think anyone from a Japanese church would take kim chee made with ketchup.

[hannaone]

Maybe not from a Japanese church, but I had a young Japanese customer (student from Japan) that absolutely loved ketchup and would add ketchup to everything, including the kimchi. He always asked for ketchup in his kim bop also. All the other Japanese students he came in with would just shake their heads and laughingly called him Ketchup instead of by name.

[soypower]

maybe it's a west coast thing? koreans seem to love mayo. i personally like them, especially with the fish roe sprinkled on the outside.

[Springhaze2]

A little mayo mixed with Sriracha hot sauce and some wasabi is called a spicey California roll in the New York metro area.

[Miss Needle]

Experiment? I love Sriracha with my california rolls. I also do it with kim bap as well. I just put a small drop on every slice. It goes so well together.

[bitsubeats]

gotta love sriracha and mayo mixed into tuna or spam in kimbap

[Miss Needle]

I can see the sriracha and mayo with the tuna. In fact, I always put sriracha on my tunafish sandwiches/salads. Well, I think sriracha is great with just about anything (well, almost anything as we saw in Top Chef).

Loved Spam as a kid in almost everything except kimbap. My preference was for bulgogi. But I can definitely see Spam working with sriracha.

[Sra. Swanky]

You can try adding some cilantro and maybe a little wasabi mayo to the crab filling. Gives the cali roll a little something extra.

[sweeterpea]

Add deep fried bean thread or thin rice vermicelli for crunch and interesting texture; make a lime/wasabi mayo for dipping or for putting in the roll.

[petradish]

Jalapeños & cheddar added to a dinner roll recipe might be good.

[paulj]

Cheddar in California (sushi) rolls? The cream cheese in Philly rolls is controversial enough! :)

[torty]

I really think petradish was thinking bread rolls versus sushi......