California Rolls – Top Myths and Facts about Your Favourite Sushi

What exactly is a California roll?

Known as a makizushi sushi roll by the Japanese, the California roll as we have come to know and love it as, is an inside-out sushi roll. The original ingredients of this delicious dish were cucumber, avocado and either real or imitation of crab meat, all coated in an outer layer of rice. The popularity of the California roll has been credited as being one of the biggest causes of global interest in the Japanese cuisine. It is said to have influenced many of the subsequent fusion dishes seen in kitchens across the globe, and can now be found in an overwhelming array of flavours and variations. 

These days, you can find California rolls in cities everywhere, from London to Saudi and the UAE. Not only that, but they are now available with different types of rice and a whole selection of fish and meat choices as your filling. Some new favourites are the Black Tuna California Roll where Tuna is surrounded by a black rice mix, and the Black Garden California Roll which sees a full black rice wrapping around an asparagus and carrot filling with avocado laid on top. The choices seem endless in this day and age.

The California roll has, since its first appearance, become one of the favoured choices for sushi lovers all over the word. It first showed up on the menus of sushi restaurants in America and Canada where the love for and interest in sushi was booming.

So who invented the California roll?

The exact beginnings of the sushi dish are a little hazy as there are several different chefs who each claim to have invented the popular dish. The two competing chefs come from Vancouver in British Columbia, and Los Angeles, California. No one can be sure who is telling the truth but one story starts almost ten years before the other one. 

In Little Tokyo, Los Angeles during the 60’s a Sushi chef at the Tokyo Kaikan called Ichiro Mashita was said to have used a Tuna called ‘toro’ in the place of the avocado, and after more experimentation, the first California Roll was born. It is the inside-out feature of the California Roll that are more widely credited to him though, as his rolls began life this way. The California Rolls made by his counterpart in Canada were a slightly different story.

It was August of 1971 when Chef Hidekazu Tojo moved to Vancouver from his homeland of Japan. He had originally made the dish for his customers back in his country. In his recipe for California Rolls, Hidekazu used cooked crab (namely King Crab leg meat), avocado and cucumber. He said that it was very popular with his customers from LA and therefore became known as California Rolls. The main difference between his California Rolls and the ones that we see worldwide today is that his original rolls had a seaweed covering. This seaweed was almost always removed by his customers from the west so after a while they were just served in their now common inside-out fashion.

 Whoever did invent the California Roll can be thanked for creating a dish that was somewhat easier for first time Sushi eaters to understand. This has since led to Sushi being one of the most favoured cuisines on earth. Now, you can enjoy the great selection of California Rolls Dubai has to offer, or the California Rolls Abu Dhabi Sushi restaurants are creating as the craze finally takes hold in the UAE.  

California Rolls and the myths surrounding them

Although Sushi has been growing in popularity for years in the food world and continues to do so in a massive way, there is still a lot that is not widely known about it. This had led to there being widespread misconceptions as to what exactly makes a dish Sushi as well as a long list of myths that surround specific pieces like the California Roll.

Myth No. 1 – California Roll is not a Sushi

It has been said before, more than a few times on record, that a California Roll is not technically Sushi. Its authenticity has been called into question time and time again, with people claiming that due to its somewhat contemporary nature, it cannot be considered ‘authentic sushi’. This is in fact a myth. The term Sushi is used when talking about any short-grained rice that is seasoned using vinegar or as is more commonly used nowadays, a small amount of salt and a small amount of sugar. It does not matter how big it is or what is its shape, if this type of seasoned rice is used to make it then technically, it is sushi. 

Now, we have already seen that the California Roll is definitely classed as Sushi, and as for its authenticity, both chefs who claimed to have invented the dish are of Japanese heritage so there can be little argument there.  

Myth No.2 – California Rolls are not safe for pregnant women

Many pregnant mothers find that they are suddenly confronted with a list of items that they are no longer allowed to consume. So many limitations, and up until recently, Sushi was high up on this list. The idea being simple, some Sushi contains raw fish which is not safe for a pregnant woman to eat, and some fishes are not believed to be safe even if they are cooked. But it is now more widely known that as long as the fish is ‘pregnancy-safe’ and it is cooked (as it is in dishes like the California Roll) then it is perfectly safe for a pregnant woman to consume. Others on this list of safe-to-eat-when-pregnant sushi are Shrimp Tempura and Spider Rolls.

California Rolls; here are the facts

As the appreciation for sushi grows, so does the need for fact-based knowledge to take the place of the myth and misconception that once surrounded this cuisine. Here is all that you need to know about one of the world’s favourite sushi dishes:

Fact No.1 – Though there has been debates as to who invented California rolls, the Japanese officials has appointed Hidekazu Tojo to be one of the goodwill ambassadors of Japanese cuisine – making us reach the conclusion that our favourite dish is not originally from California but Vancouver.  

Fact No.2 – The original ingredients of a California Roll included King Crab leg meat, cucumber, avocado, rice which was all wrapped in an optional sheet of seaweed.

Fact No.3 – For pregnant women the California Roll is one of the better and safer options to choose from a Sushi menu.

Fact No.4 – The California Roll is one of the most popular dishes in the whole Sushi range and is possibly one of the reasons that Sushi as a whole is so popular around the world.

Fact No.5 – The ingredients in a California roll were chosen carefully so that when the rolls are sliced, the customers could see its artistic form, while giving equal importance to the taste and texture.

How healthy are California Rolls?

As with almost all Sushi dishes, California Rolls can be one of your healthier choices if eating out or ordering online. That is as long as you eat a reasonable amount. Since California Roll mainly consists of cucumber, avocado and sesame seeds along with your chosen meat or fish, and it is all wrapped in rice, the whole dish is low in both fat and calories. A California Roll is not just one piece of sushi itself but is made up of six pieces in total. The California Roll calorie count is low at only 255 calories for the whole serving of six. The fact that the California Roll is low in calories show whys that it is one of the most chosen dishes on the Sushi menu today by health enthusiasts. The sodium levels in California Rolls, while not exactly low, are fairly reasonable for a Sushi dish. There are 80 milligrams of sodium in each piece of a California Roll. If salt is an issue for you but you still enjoy California Rolls, then one even healthier option is to eat your California Rolls without the addition of soy sauce. Also certain fresh ingredients will have far less sodium than the more processed, like the usual crab meat.   


Article originally published by Sushi Counter. Read the full article here, https://bit.ly/2X3dRIj