To be perfectly honest I never really liked the idea of sushi, even as an omnivore the thought of raw fish made me shudder. However since becoming vegan I've enjoyed experimenting with different dishes and decided to try making my own vegetable sushi platter which will appeal to both vegans and everyone who cringes when thinking about the traditional fish dish.
The preparation for sushi is fairly simple making it a great dish to make to impress guests, however the difficulty is in the rolling technique. For avid sushi lovers it may be worth investing in a sushi mat to make the rolling process easier. Despite having one, I still struggled and only had a blunt bread knife to slice the sushi with (definitely not ideal) but practice makes perfect and for a first attempt I'd say I didn't do too badly.
Having never made or even tried sushi before, I wanted to make a little selection for my first experience. For my platter I made maki consisting of mixed vegetables and tofu, avocado mango california rolls and red pepper nigiri. All consist of sushi rice and nori, which can be found at most large supermarkets in the world food isle.
Vegan Sushi
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Total time: 60 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For the sushi:
250g sushi rice
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tsp salt
4 sheets of sushi nori
For the fillings:
50g tofu (I used Cauldron Marinated Tofu)
1 carrot
50g red cabbage
1/2 yellow pepper
50g cucumber
1/2 avocado
1/2 mango
1 roasted red pepper (jarred or roast yourself)
Handful coriander
Handful mint
To serve:
Soy sauce
Sriracha mayo
Instructions
Rinse the sushi rice 3 or 4 times until the water runs clear. Add the rice to a saucepan with 330ml of water and bring to the boil.
Simmer the rice for 10 minutes with the lid on then remove from the heat and leave to stand for around 30 minutes - Do not open the lid! This would be a good time to prepare the sushi fillings.
Once the rice is cool, add the rice vinegar, sugar and salt and stir until combined
Tofu vegetable maki
Chop the tofu, carrot, cabbage and yellow pepper into match stick strips
Lay the nori on the rolling mat (or on a flat surface if you are daring to roll by hand). Spoon a third of the rice into the nori and spread over the sheet leaving space around the edge to stick the roll together.
Neatly lay out the tofu and vegetables in a line and add fresh coriander.
Slightly wet the edge of the nori and roll tightly to make the sushi as neat as possible. Once rolled, chop the edges off and slice into 6-8 evenly sized rolls.
California roll
Chop the mango, avocado and cucumber into match stick strips
Lay the nori on the rolling mat (or on a flat surface if you are daring to roll by hand). Spoon a third of the rice into the nori and spread over the sheet leaving space around the edge to stick the roll together.
Neatly lay out the vegetables in a line and add fresh mint.
Slightly wet the edge of the nori and roll tightly to make the sushi as neat as possible. Once rolled, chop the edges off and slice into 6-8 evenly sized rolls.
Red pepper nigiri
With the remaining sushi rice, wet your hands and shape the rice into evenly sized balls.
Chop the roasted red pepper into rectangular strips that are roughly the same size as the rice balls and place neatly on top.
Using small strips of nori, carefully wrap around the rice and red pepper balls.
Notes
Sushi rice is very sticky so it helps to wet your hands and any tools you're using to stop the rice from sticking to them.
To make the chopping process easier you will want to use a sharp knife to create neater looking sushi.
Be careful not to overfill the sushi as this will make them harder to roll.
If you are roasting your own red pepper, remove the seeds and slice into quarters. Drizzle with a little olive oil and roast skin side up at 180ºC for 20-30 minutes until soft and just starting to brown.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy making these cute little sushi rolls and they turn out a little neater than mine. If you do try any of my recipes I'd love to know how they turn out - tag me on Instagram @josiewalshaw!
Josie xox