The Japanese take food very seriously. Their devotion to high aesthetics has elevated their cuisine to an art-like form. This is probably why Japanese food has captured the imagination of people from different parts of the world. Here in the Philippines, Japanese restaurants are all over the place – authentic or otherwise. What with the ever reliable Filipino ingenuity and our knack for creating good food, Pinoy chefs have learned, if not mastered the art of cooking Japanese food from Japanese chefs or on their own obsessive researches.

But you don’t have to be a culinary stalwart to make the most popular Japanese fare, sushi. A quick trip to your neighborhood Japanese grocery and a sincere devotion to Japanese food is enough for any jap-loving foodie to cook up their own lip-smacking sushi rolls that are easy yet still very oishi!

In our recent visit to Bubble Tea, Tomas Morato, a new Japanese restaurant known for their bubble milk teas and has now come up with an extensive menu of traditional and western-inspired Japanese food,  we were treated to a step-by-step tutorial from Chef Rafael Fronda in making the popular California Maki.

This sushi-maki roll is a creative American twist on sushi. It has nori or seaweed on the inside and rice on the outside, as opposed to regular sushi rolls. Here are the quick and easy steps of rolling your own California Maki.

California Maki

Ingredients:

1 cup sushi rice (cooked Japanese rice mixed with sushi vinegar)
1 crab stick
2 thin slices of cucumber
2 thin slices of mango
2 thin slices of iceberg lettuce
Mayonnaise
Ebikko (shrimp eggs)
Nori sheet

Procedure:

1. Wet your hands with water so the rice won’t stick to your hands. Spread the rice evenly over the nori.

2. Turn the seaweed to its other side, so the non-rice side is facing you and the rice is on the bottom. Spread a thin layer of mayonnaise on top.

3. Place the crab stick, cucumbers, mangos, and lettuce along an inch strip on the middle of the nori sheet.

4. Using the sushi mat, begin to tightly roll the sushi. Start at the side nearest to you, and roll away from you.

5. Rub the roll with ebikko for the signature orange color.

6. To cut the roll, dip sharp, thin-bladed knife into hot water. Using sawing (back-and-forth) motion and very light pressure, slice the roll into eight one-inch slices. For easier cutting, frequently dip knife blade into hot water.

7. Serve the pieces on their side to present the ingredients that are inside the roll.

Bubble Tea is located at Scout De Guia corner Tomas Morato, Quezon City.