Vegan Sushi
For the rice
1½ cups medium grain rice
1½ cups water
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
For the sushi
Sheets of nori (dried seaweed)
Bamboo sushi rolling mat
Vegetables of preference
Making sushi is easier than you think, and only gets easier with practice. All of the ingredients can be found in most grocery stores. As for the yield, the number of sushi rolls you’ll end up with depends on how thin you spread the sushi rice over the nori, so it varies. This was my first time making sushi, and it turned out… well, it looked liked sushi in the end! It’s also a lot of fun to do. I followed the basic recipe on the back of the package of nori but made the steps more detailed because they left out a few things that beginners like me wouldn’t know. Here:
- Wash the rice in a strainer repeatedly with cold water and drain until the water runs clear.
- Put the rice and 1½ cups of water in a pot with a lid and boil over high heat. Once the water boils, reduce heat to low and let simmer until the water is absorbed (about 10-20 minutes).
If you have an electric rice cooker then skip step 2 and cook rice as you would in the cooker.
- Once the rice is cooked, turn it over into a large bowl. Combine the vinegar, sugar and salt in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until the sugar dissolves. Pour mixture over rice and fold in with a flat spoon; do not stir. Rice will be sticky!
- Lay out a dry sheet of nori on the bamboo mat (yes, dry) and, when the rice is cooled to room temp, spoon some out onto the nori. Use the back of the flat spoon to flatten the rice against the nori, leaving about an inch of space un-riced around the edges of the nori. The thickness to which you flatten the rice is personal preference, but make sure it is not too thick or the nori will break when you roll it.
- Make a line of the veggies or tofu, tempeh, etc., along the sushi (also not too thick; not that mine was very thick, and in turn my sushi turned out quite thick). In mine I used spinach sauteed in a little teriyaki sauce, some lightly-browned tofu, and shredded carrots.
- Using the bamboo mat to get you started, roll the sushi onto itself until it makes a circle. Let the bamboo mat fall back flat, and use your fingers to continue rolling the sushi around the rest of the nori.
- This is a step that my package of nori forgot to include in the directions: wet the nori all around the sushi thoroughly with water. Just pat it on, do not rub in, or the nori will break. Good. Now slice the sushi roll into pieces about an inch thick each, serve with soy sauce and wasabi if you like, and enjoy!