Food Friday - Sushi Madness!

I love sushi. Always have.

Sushi, fortunately, is one of those things that is super easy to make vegan. A quick note on that. When you mention sushi, most people automatically think that you are referring to raw fish. Raw fish by itself is sashimi, and nigri sushi is a piece of raw fish on a small mound of sushi rice. Sushi rolls (maki) do not need to contain raw fish, and in fact frequently do not. .

Recently, a twitter friend who is also vegan, and a cyclist (Peter, again) posted on his blog a recipe for making vegan sushi.

I couldn't resist. I had to try it.

Nori, jasmine brown rice, and fortune cookies!

Pre-roll

Not bad or my second attempt (the first one fell apart).

I took a video of my daughter trying her first piece, but she won't let me post it. Her overall impression: "the seaweed tastes weird"

Go check out his post for the recipe. Also check out the Post Punk Kitchen for some more sushi recipes.

A couple of notes from my sushi-making experience:

• Brown rice takes longer to cook. I followed the instructions on the package, and still had a considerable amount of water in the bottom of the pot when it was done. Also, use less water - if it calls for 2c of water for 1c rice, use 1.5c.
• be creative, I made some rolls with jalapenos, and pickled green beans.
• practice, practice, practice. my first rolls were disasters - they fell completely apart. The next ones turned out pretty good.
• leave about 1 inch or so at the end of the nori sheet free from rice. I slightly moistened that section with a little water on my fingers to help it stick to the rest of the roll - don't know if that is how you are supposed to do it, but it seemed to work pretty good for me.
• use a wet knife blade to cut the roll - and re-wet the blade after cutting each section.
• If you don't have a bamboo mat, you can use a towel and some cling-wrap - but it is easier with a bamboo mat.
• frequent your local Asian market for your supplies. you can find nori sheets at your local Wal*Mart, but you'll typically find a better selection and prices at an Asian market.

Good luck, and happy sushi making!