This is the first roll many sushi lovers eat, so perhaps it is a good first roll to make. Once you have mastered one type of roll, you can try many others. Tuna and cucumber is quite good, or you can experiment with a wide variety of fish and vegetables.
A California roll consists of avocado, cucumber and imitation crab meat. You will need a bamboo mat for rolling the sushi, sheets of nori (seaweed), and plastic wrap to place between the nori and the surface of the bamboo mat. Spread some rice so that it makes a thin covering on the nori sheet which should be lying on the plastic wrap and the bamboo mat. Leave an inch of nori uncovered on one side. Don’t pack the rice; spreading the rice too thick is a common mistake in making sushi. The rice layer should be no more than ¼" thick, and the nori should be visible through the layer of rice. Place avocado slices on top of the rice, close to the edge which is on the opposite side of the uncovered nori. Next place thin slices of crabmeat on top of the avocado slices, followed by the cucumber. Fold the mat over the slices and tuck in the end of the nori until it is attached. Roll until you reach the end, occasionally lifting to check that the nori is being rolled properly and pressing it, if needed. Cut into 6-8 pieces, moistening your very sharp knife after each cut.
Futo Maki
By now, you may be quite experienced with rolling, and want to try something more challenging (or filling, since Futo Maki means "fat roll"). Futo maki contains 6-8 ingredients including kampyo (gourd), oboro (pink powder), tomago (omelet)shittake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, cucumbers, carrots, your fish of choice and greens. The nori sheet needs to be cut in half, then in quarters. The quarter sheet should be pasted on the half sheet to make the half sheet as wide as normal but 1 ½ times as long. Roll the Futo maki as you would any other roll, by spreading rice thinly on the nori. Make sure all the ingredients are cut in thin slices and neatly arranged. The Futo Maki is more of a challenge to roll, but it means making less sushi, because it is more filling.