I've never been a fan of sushi, but everyone in my family is...so I've decided to look into it and tackle it for their sake. And mine, since I'm pretty curious by this time, after having tried it a few times. I looked in how to make sushi rice (thanks to various food blogs and youtube clips). It dawned on me that I didn't have Japanese short grain rice, so I used regular Jasmine long grain rice instead. After having rolled some sushi rolls, I can understand why the short grain rice is the better choice. If you've cooked with short grain rice and long grain rice, then you'll know the difference and for sushi rolls, it's definitely the short grain rice. The longer rice cooks up firm with each grain well individually separated, so it's not as sticky as the shorter grain rice, which cooks up plump and sticky so it's easier to clump them in the roll. The next time you eat a sushi roll, take a good look at the rice upclose while you are holding it in your hand. (I did. I always examined the food that I'm going to eat. lol) Notice how the rice is perfectly shaped, not squashed or smashed? With the long grain rice, because it's not as sticky as the short grain rice, I had to smash them together for them to stick together, so most of the rice was flatten. Plus, because they don't stick, they kept falling apart in my hands, and in the roll as you eat. Also, I didn't have "sushi vinegar", so I decided to go to the grocery store (Winco's) to see if any of the popular Asian brands carried them and wouldn't ya know it - KiKKoman had a vinegar that can be used for "sushi, rice and salads", so I bought a bottle. The smell of the strong acidic vinegar is very foul when you first add it to the rice, and your nose will crinkled up in distaste as you're mixing it, but don't worry, the strong acidic vinegar smell well phase off and you won't even notice it in the rice when it's rolled up with the other ingredients.
This was my first attempt at making sushi and this (below) was my 4th roll. Not bad, if I should say so myself. Not bad at all.
We ate them the minute I had them sliced so this is what I managed to saved for the picture.
Like I've mentioned, I don't particularly care for sushi (esp if it's raw), but the California roll is a safe bet for me, so that's what I made.