Kazunori Nozawa making a blue crab hand roll at his former Ventura Boulevard sushi bar, Nozawa. (Bryan Chan / Los Angeles Times) By Betty Hallock . April 3, 2014 11:52 AM PT .

We all know and love L.A.’s iconic blue crab temaki and so many iterations at hand roll bars that lately seem to be proliferating faster than SoulCycle studios in the mid-2010s.

The Viva hand roll has a shrimp tempura, a gob of spicy tuna melting as if soft-serve ice cream, some sauce and a sliver of cucumber. The Tekka uses tuna slathered in a wasabi cream.

Other cities, meanwhile, have embraced a more delicate version of the sushi roll for one, the hand roll, ... Tuesday in the glass-walled space once home to Portland’s original Blue Star ...

The small restaurant (15 counter seats) serves hand rolls that cost around $5 each. Scallop, shrimp, spicy tuna, and blue crab balance on an oval of rice wrapped in seaweed; they are inspired by ...

In the universe of sushi, typical beverage pairings are sake or wine. Moody Tongue Sushi in Manhattan, has a unique take, pairing martinis sushi. The post The art of pairing sushi hand rolls and ...

Four premium hand rolls excluded from the tasting include blue crab, garlic mayo and sautéed onion ($13), and uni, wagyu, and truffled caviar ($25) in a riff on surf and turf.