California Roll Stack Recipe

Sushi rolls are practically the best party and comfort food you can eat, but sushi rice recipes aren’t exactly filling, considering they’re made in bite-sized pieces. If you want a more filling, but still aesthetically-pleasing version of a California roll, a sushi stack is your go-to.

One great sushi stack recipe is the California Roll Stack recipe. These stacks, made of cucumber, avocado, crab, sesame seeds, and sushi rice, are incredibly easy to make and require little to no experience in cooking. You’ll only need a steel measuring cup to get an easy California rolls stack with a restaurant-worthy presentation. Learn how to make this by reading more below.

Sushi Stack Recipe

Do you want California rolls but don’t have the time? Sushi stacks recipes are the best alternative, with all the flavors of your favorite sushi but none of the effort to roll it into shape. Sushi stacks are light, delicious, and can include a little bit of everything, from avocado, soy sauce, chives, crabs, shrimp, and many more. You can even use frozen rice instead of freshly cooked grains. The neat part about sushi stacks recipes is that it doesn’t require rolling your ingredients into seaweed sheets and can be assembled in less than 10 minutes using only a measuring cup.

How To Make California Roll Stack

This California sushi roll stack is ideal for a date night or dinner party, and you can use any of your favorite sushi roll fillings, such as popcorn shrimp, crab meat, avocado, smoked salmon, or even spicy tuna. This easy but delicious recipe can easily top your family’s party favorites.

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cooking Time: 5 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cup uncooked sushi rice
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar, or to taste
• 1 lb. fresh crab meat
• 2 avocados, sliced
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper
• 4 tsp mayonnaise
• 1 tsp Sriracha sauce
• 4 tsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 cups diced cucumber
• 1/4 cup diced chives
• Toasted black sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Cook the rice per the package directions.

2. In a bowl, stir the rice vinegar into the cooked rice and mix properly. 

3. Heat sesame oil in a large skillet to medium-high heat. Add in the crab. Cook crab meat for 2 minutes on each side then set aside.

4. In a small bowl, combine the cucumber, salt, garlic powder, ground pepper, and chives. Mash the avocado with a fork in a separate small bowl. Set aside the avocado and the cucumber mixture.

5. In a dry one-cup measuring cup, spoon in 1/4 cup sliced cucumber, 2 tablespoons mashed avocado, 1/4 (2 ounces) crab, and 1/3 cup cooled, cooked rice. To compress the stack, softly push down on the brown rice using a spoon.

6. Carefully turn the measuring cup upside down and softly touch the bottom to release the stack onto a plate. Since it can be difficult to transfer the stack to a plate, use the plate you want to serve your sushi stack on.

7. In a separate small bowl, blend the mayonnaise and Sriracha sauce until thoroughly incorporated. Add a little bit of salt to taste.

8. Repeat steps 5 to 6 with the remaining ingredients to make four stacks.
   
9. Drizzle 1 teaspoon soy sauce over each layer. Top with sriracha mayo and sprinkle with toasted black sesame seeds.

Cooking Tips

• Instead of topping your roll stacks with Sriracha mayonnaise and black sesame seeds, you can serve it with tamari sauce and fresh pickled ginger on the side.
• If the stack won’t come out of the measuring cup easily, try running a thin spatula or a butter knife over the inside edge to loosen the stack from the measuring cup.
• You can use short-grain brown rice instead of sushi rice in this recipe.
• For a more Philadelphia sushi roll flavor, use smoked salmon in place of crab and cream cheese in place of mayonnaise and sriracha.
• For a bigger serving, you can use a two-cup measuring cup to shape your sushi stack.
• To quickly cool your rice, spread the rice out on a prepared baking sheet, but don’t let it become too cold. Warm rice holds the stack together best.
• You can use frozen rice in this recipe, as long as you reheat it properly before use.

Final Note

Whether you’re an aspiring chef, a recipe developer, or an individual who loves food and eating, this great recipe is a sure hit. It’s super easy for beginners to make but is good enough to be served to your guests. With only a 10-minute prep time, you can even make this dish when you don’t have the time to create an elaborate meal for a dinner party.

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Frequently Asked Questions:

What is the black stuff in a California roll?

California rolls often come with black sesame seeds sprinkled on top. You can also sprinkle other sesame seed varieties or remove them altogether from the recipe.

Is there any raw seafood in a California roll?

In contrast to nigiri sushi and other varieties of sushi rolls, California roll recipes don’t contain any raw fish or other raw seafood. This dish is typically made with ripe avocados, cucumber, and crab meat. Because of this, California roll recipes are the perfect dish for those who want to try sushi but aren’t willing to eat raw seafood.

Does traditional Japanese sushi have avocado?

Sushi is typically served with raw fish and minimum seasonings so that people can taste the freshness of the ocean delicacies to their fullest. That is still true of sushi in its authentic form, and nori, the seaweed sheet, is occasionally used to bind the rice and fish in a roll together. Avocados in sushi only became popular when sushi came to the United States.