The Worst Maki Sushi Roll Is Arguably The Most Famous

You might know that you love Philly rolls, but do you know the difference between sushi and sashimi, or between maki and nigiri? There are dozens of sushi styles available to us, but in America, maki is easily the most recognizable. It's the sushi in plastic clamshells at the grocery store, the one on laminated menus, cut into tidy circles, packed with fish or vegetables (or both), and held together by seaweed and rice.

There are basic maki rolls with just salmon or veggies in them, and there are over-the-top piled-high maki rolls like the dynamite roll. The one roll everyone knows, whether it's your first or 5,000th time eating sushi? The California roll. When we set out to taste and rank classic maki rolls from worst to best, we didn't expect the California Roll to take the gold, but we didn't know it would wind up dead last, either.

From their adherence to Japanese heritage to their heftiness and overall taste, we ranked 15 traditional maki rolls. With roots in North America and imitation crab as a key ingredient, it's hardly surprising that the California roll failed to impress.

The origins of the California roll are debated, but everyone knows they didn't start in Japan. That alone didn't doom it to the bottom of our ranking, but it didn't help either. Among a list of tightly executed, tradition-rooted maki rolls (a few of which the casual sushi eater probably hasn't even heard of), the California roll stood out for all the wrong reasons.

Most versions of the California roll contain avocado, cucumber, and imitation crab, a trio of ingredients that never quite come together. The crab stick (a processed mashup of white fish and other mysterious ingredients rebranded kitschily as "krab") lacks the richness or delicacy of real seafood. The cucumber adds crunch, but not much else. Avocado provides that wonderfully buttery flavor we love, but it can be super hit-or-miss. A perfectly ripe avocado could add some silkiness, texture balance, and nice, neutral flavor to this roll. But, often, we get an avocado that's overripe and mealy. Or worse, an underripe one that is weirdly hard and adds no real flavor to the roll. That's often the price paid for these budget-friendly rolls.

If you're looking for something similar but with better execution, there are plenty of sushi rolls like the California roll that you should try — some of which even involve real crab!