The Volcano Roll is highly addictive and will definitely blow your mind! It’s made with seafood, avocado, and cucumber rolled in seaweed sheet and sushi rice, with an incredibly delicious spicy lava topping. This Japanese sushi recipe is easy to make and I’ll share with you the secrets on how to make a mouth-watering crab salad lava topping!
Volcano roll is a popular item in many sushi restaurants, but this homemade recipe rivals the authentic version. It will take your love of sushi to the next level! When it comes to Japanese seafood sushi rolls, Spicy Salmon Roll, Caterpillar Roll and this delicious Volcano Roll are my favorites.
What is a volcano roll?
Known for its unique volcano eruption-like appearance, the volcano roll is an inside-out maki roll where the nori seaweed wraps the seafood and vegetable fillings inside, and the sushi rice is on the outside. It’s then topped with a baked spicy and creamy “lava”-like crab salad, making it look like a volcano or lava.
What ingredients go into volcano roll sushi?
The fillings of a volcano roll usually contain seafood (or imitation crab), avocado and cucumber. The toppings are made with seafood and spicy mayo. You can customize it to your favorite fillings and adjust the level of spiciness.
- Seafood: Traditional volcano recipe contains crab meat and other seafood. You can use imitation crab sticks (kanikama), shrimp, scallops, fish such as tuna, salmon, and yellow tail.
- Vegetables: You can use cucumbers or avocado. If you use American cucumber, make sure to remove the seeds as they contain too much water.
- Nori (Seaweed Sheets)
- Sushi Rice: I recommend using Japanese short grain rice for the best fluffy rice. To add some flavors to your rice, you can season it with a small amount of rice vinegar, sugar and salt.
- Spicy Mayo: You can make your own spicy mayo by combining Sriracha sauce and mayo.
- Masago or tobiko (optional)
Pro Tip: You’ll also need a sushi rolling mat to assemble the sushi. It’s fairly inexpensive, and you can buy it at Asian supermarkets or online.
How to make a volcano roll
The volcano roll has a show-stopping impressive look, but it’s easier than you think with a few simple tips:
Step 1: Cook sushi rice
The best rice for sushi rolls is high-quality short-grain sushi rice. It uses less water than regular steamed rice. A 1:1 ratio is great for making sushi rolls so the rice can stay fluffy even after being pressed tightly.
Pro tips: To prevent the rice from sticking to your hands, use Tezu to wet your hands when handling rice. It’s a hand-dipping liquid made with 1/4 cup of water and 2 teaspoons of rice vinegar.
Step 2: Make the crab salad topping
A creamy and spicy crab salad topping is key to this recipe:
- Cut imitation crab (kanikama) and shrimp into small chunks.
- Add them to a mixing bowl, and season with salt, pepper, and spicy mayo.
- Place the mixture in a baking pan, and bake at 400°F for 10-15 minutes.
Pro Tips: The heat comes from Sriracha sauce or Sriracha mayo, and you can adjust the amount to make your rolls more or less spicy. You can also use regular mayo for a non-spicy version.
Step 3: Make the volcano roll
- Pat down a thin layer of cooked rice over half of the nori seaweed sheet. Sprinkle with optional sesame seeds. Then flip the rice-covered nori sheet so that the rice is facing down.
- Place the fillings on top of the nori, and start rolling using a bamboo mat. Apply some pressure while rolling to tighten it up. Once the roll is complete, you can move it to the cutting board and cut them into pieces.
- Arrange about 8 sushi pieces on a plate, and top them with the freshly baked crab salad topping. You can drizzle some spicy mayo and sprinkle optional tobiko or masago on top.
Pro tip: To prevent sushi rolls from falling apart, you’ll need to squeeze the roll gently while rolling. Once you finish, you can place the bamboo mat over the sushi roll and gently squeeze the roll again.
Substitutions and Add-ins
Typically the Volcano roll is made with seafood, imitation crab, avocado and cucumber. You can substitute the crab for whatever seafood you’d like in there as well as adjust the spice level of the spicy mayo.
FAQ
Does a volcano roll contain raw fish?
It doesn’t typically contain raw fish as imitation crab is already cooked. However, you can opt to use raw fish if you prefer.
Is the volcano roll spicy?
Yes! It uses spicy mayo that is made with sriracha sauce. You can reduce the heat by adding less sriracha.
How to serve a volcano roll
Serve volcano roll right away when they are nice and warm. Drizzle with more spicy mayo and serve with soy sauce!
More Japanese Sushi Roll Recipes
These volcano rolls are heavenly delicious. Enjoy, everyone!
Volcano Roll Sushi Recipe {with A Lava Topping}
Ingredients
For Sushi Rice
- 1 1/2 cup sushi rice short grain sushi rice
- 1 ½ cup water
- 1 ½ tablespoons optional sushi vinegar (or mixing 1 tablespoons rice vinegar, 1/2 tablespoon sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt )
Crab Salad Topping
- 8 oz imitation crab (kanikama)
- 6 oz shrimp
- 1 cup spicy mayo (you can mix Sriracha sauce with mayo with a 1:2 ratio)
- salt and pepper (to taste)
For Volcano Roll Sushi
- 2 sheets nori seaweed
- 6 oz imitation crab (or crab meat)
- 1 avocado
- 1/2 cucumber (optional, cut into 1/4-inch strips)
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds (optional)
Garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Cook sushi rice: Add the washed rice and water to the rice cooker, and cook according to the instruction. Once cooked, transfer the hot rice to a large bowl and let it cool down slightly. When it’s still very warm, stir in the sushi vinegar (or the mixture of rice vinegar, sugar and salt).
- Make crab salad topping: While the rice is cooking, preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Cut imitation crab and shrimp into small chunks.
- Add them to a mixing bowl, and season with salt, pepper, and spicy mayo. (If you’d like to make a non-spicy version, you can use mayo only.)
- Place the mixture to a baking pan, and bake for 10-15 minutes until the top is slightly golden brown.
- Make volcano rolls: Lay out the bamboo mat with an optional piece of plastic wrap on top (this will prevent the rice from sticking to the mat).
- Fold the nori sheets in half and split them by hands or using a pair of scissors.
- Place half of the nori sheet on top of the bamboo.
- Take ¾ cup of cooked rice and evenly spread over nori. (You can dip your hands in vinegar water to prevent sticking.)
- Pat down the rice with your hands and sprinkle with optional sesame seeds.
- Flip the rice covered nori sheet so that the rice is facing down.
- Place imitation crab sticks, avocado, and cucumber on top of the nori.
- Place the thumbs underneath the bamboo mat and lift the edge up and over the filling.
- Roll the bamboo mat away from you and apply some pressure to tighten it up. Keep rolling until the ends meet.
- Once the roll is complete, move it to the cutting board and cut each roll into 8 pieces.
- Arrange about 8 pieces of sushi rolls on a plate, and top them with the freshly baked crab salad topping. You can drizzle some spicy mayo and sprinkle optional tobiko or masago on top. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Tezu water for dipping hands: Mix together 1/4 cup water and 2 teaspoons rice vinegar.
- To toast sesame seeds, add them to a dry skillet on medium heat. Spread them evenly in the skillet and cook for about 5 minutes until lightly browned.
Nutrition
Lisalia says
My sushi loving family GOBBLED this up! So delicious and such a beautiful presentation!
Ashley says
Made this for dinner and we loved it!
Cecille says
Can I add some melting cheese on top before bsking or after putting it on top of the roll.. Just torched it to melt and brown the cheese.tnx
izzycooking says
Hi Cecille, you can definitely add some cheese on top. It’ll be very delicious!