Balsamic Strawberry and Cucumber Sushi Rolls

Wow, this is my fourth post for today! I think I'll have to take a few days off after today, I've had to post a lot more than usual because all of my blogging events unfortunately fell on the same day.

Firstly, at 8am this morning entries opened for the infamous Chopped/Vegan challenge hosted by vegan cooking guru Isa Chandra Moskowitz. The challenge was to create brunch dishes using butternut pumpkin, fresh rosemary, popcorn and apricot jam - quite a challenge but I really did enjoy it! Here are my two entries: Pumpkin Rosemary Popcorn Crumble and Lemon Rosemary Popcorn Cupcakes with Pumpkin Apricot Glaze. It was so much fun cooking with this unusual combination of ingredients and I have to say the results were actually quite delicious!

Secondly, it's time again for the Sweet Adventures Blog Hop, this month with a High Tea theme. I entered a German creation, in keeping with the country theme of this month. You can see my German Frankfurter Kranz Cake here, it's a layered bundt cake filled with black cherry jam and delicious vanilla rum buttercream.

Lastly, the Eat the Alphabet challenge. I enjoy this event, because it's fun to experiment with different vegetables and fruits each month. This may be my last one however, because the rules have changed around a bit this time and getting my head around the time zones and the submission rules is getting a bit much!

Here are my other entries this year:

September (P, Q & R) - Afghan Pistachio Biscuits
August (M, N & O) - Roast Pumpkin & Chickpea Salad with Nasturtiums
June (I & J) - Jalapeño Chocolate Truffles
April (E & F) - Vegan Fig and Red Wine Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 quantity sushi rice

6 sheets nori seaweed

1 punnet fresh strawberries (200-250g)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Cracked pepper
1 cucumber, sliced
Mint leaves, fresh

You will also need:

A sushi rolling mat

Plastic wrap

A bowl of water with a splash of rice vinegar

To Assemble:

1. Slice the strawberries and combine with the balsamic vinegar and cracked pepper. Set aside to macerate while you prepare all your other tools/ingredients.

2.  Lay a sheet of nori seaweed on your sushi rolling mat. Wet your hands in the bowl of water (this stops the rice sticking all over your hands) and grab a handful of rice (about 2/3 cup worth, but you don’t need to measure it out). Spread it over the nori sheet evenly, making sure you spread it out to all the edges as well but leaving about an inch or so at one end.

3. Lay a generous amount of strawberries (use more than I did in the picture above), a few slices of cucumber and some fresh mint leaves along the lower edge of the rice (about 1 inch from the bottom).

4. Pick up the edge of the mat and roll it gently over the ingredients, pressing gently on the filling with your fingers as you go to keep them in the centre. Press gently on the roll to mould it together. Be careful not to let the mat get rolled up in the sushi.

6. Once the sushi is rolled into a neat log press gently around it with the matt to make it firm.

7. Repeat steps 2-6 until all the ingredients are used up (approx. 6 thick rolls).

8. Use a very sharp knife to cut each log into eight equal pieces. Serve immediately with soy sauce and wasabi to taste.

Tip: dip the knife in the bowl of water between cuts to prevent the rice from sticking to the knife.

Makes 6 large sushi rolls.

Sweet Potato, Asparagus and Tahini Sushi Rolls

I've been getting back into sushi lately. I tend to have a big huge sushi making glut and then not make it again for months, well that glut is now! I love experimenting with new and interesting fillings for my nori rolls, like my Wasabi Fried Eggplant and Avocado Nori Rolls. These are my new absolute favourite, tahini in sushi rolls may be a bit of an unusual fusion, but trust me on this one it is fantastic! Plus, the Japanese love their sesame seeds, so I'm sure they'd love this! As an aside, I gave some of these to a 3 year old to try and she absolutely loved them, so don't be afraid of giving sushi to your kids!

Sweet Potato, Asparagus and Tahini Sushi Rolls

Ingredients:

1 quantity sushi rice

6 sheets nori seaweed

1 small sweet potato (about 300g)

1 tsp sesame oil

 12 spears asparagus, woody ends removed

Tahini

You will also need:

A sushi rolling mat

Plastic wrap

A bowl of water with a splash of rice vinegar

To Assemble:

1. Peel the sweet potato and cut into strips, about the size of hot potato chips. Toss in the sesame oil and lay out on a baking tray, bake for 1 minutes, or until tender. Blanche the asparagus spears and set aside.

2.  Lay a sheet of nori seaweed on your sushi rolling mat. Wet your hands in the bowl of water (this stops the rice sticking all over your hands) and grab a handful of rice (about 2/3 cup worth, but you don’t need to measure it out). Spread it over the nori sheet evenly, making sure you spread it out to all the edges as well but leaving about an inch or so at one end.

3. Smear a line of tahini over the rice and then add a line of sweet potato and 2 pieces of asparagus.

4. Pick up the edge of the mat and roll it gently over the ingredients, pressing gently on the filling with your fingers as you go to keep them in the centre. Press gently on the roll to mould it together. Be careful not to let the mat get rolled up in the sushi.

6. Once the sushi is rolled into a neat log press gently around it with the matt to make it firm.

7. Repeat steps 2-6 until all the ingredients are used up (approx. 6 thick rolls).

8. Use a very sharp knife to cut each log into eight equal pieces. Serve immediately with soy sauce and wasabi to taste. Tip: dip the knife in the bowl of water between cuts to prevent the rice from sticking to the knife.

Makes 6 thick sushi rolls. 

Wasabi-fried Eggplant and Avocado Sushi Rolls

Sushi is the perfect party food - it's pretty, colourful, filling and adaptable to whatever you want to put in it! It's also a very fun thing to make with friends. It's lovely to spend some quality time with friends, one prepares the sushi rice while another prepares all the fillings. Then you can roll them up together while another fried slices them up and arranges them on a plate. Easy and great fun, after all, cooking with people is much more fun the cooking for people!

I've been experimenting with new and delicious sushi fillings recently, and this is the first of several you'll be seeing from me. Sushi just feels like perfect spring fare, so I've been having a hankering for good sushi lately. This one didn't disappoint. Now, I know that wasabi isn't everybody's cup of tea, so to speak, but don't fear that. Honestly, I'm not much keen on it myself, however, the wasabi in this is not too strong, and I personally loved it. So if you're not a wasabi lover, don't be deterred - you will still love this! If you are a wasabi lover on the other hand, then I encourage you to double the quantity of wasabi!

Wasabi-fried Eggplant and Avocado Sushi Rolls

Ingredients:

1 quantity sushi rice

6 sheets nori seaweed

4 thin asian-style eggplants, cut into strips

1 tbsp oil

2 tbsp sake (optional)

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp sesame oil

11/2 tsp wasabi (use 2-3 if you love wasabi)

1 avocado, cut into strips

You will also need:

A sushi rolling mat

A bowl of water with a dash of rice vinegar

To Assemble:

1.  Heat the oil in a frypan and add the eggplant strips.

2. Combine the soy sauce, sesame oil, wasabi and sake (if using) in a small cup or bowl and mix well to completely dissolve the wasabi. Pour over the eggplant strips and fry for 5-7 minutes, turning frequently. The eggplant slices should be soft and slightly charred. Remove and drain on some absorbent paper towel.

3. Lay a sheet of nori seaweed on your sushi rolling mat. Wet your hands in the bowl of water (this stops the rice sticking all over your hands) and grab a handful of rice (about 2/3 cup worth, but you don’t need to measure it out). Spread it over the nori sheet evenly, making sure you spread it out to all the edges as well but leaving about an inch or so at one end.

4. Place a couple of pieces of eggplant and some slices of avocado along the middle of the rice.

5. Lift up the edge of the mat (not the edge with the inch of nori left bare) and, rolling away from you, roll the mat over once whilst gently pressing on the ingredients in the centre with your fingers to hold them in place. You should have rolled over all the rice and only have the bit of nori you left bare showing. Press gently on the roll to make the sushi roll neat and firm.

6. Wet the edge of the nori with a bit of water (to make it stick easier) and roll the sushi that last little bit (being careful not to roll the mat up with it). Press again gently into either a circle or square shape.

7. Repeat steps 3-6 until all ingredients are used up (should be about 6 rolls).

8. Use a very sharp knife to cut each log into eight equal pieces, dip the knife into the bowl of water to prevent it sticking to the rice as you cut. Serve immediately with soy sauce to dip.

Makes 6 sushi rolls, feeds about 4.

How to Make Sushi Rice

Here is a recipe staple, making decent sushi rice. Having the rice just right is the most important part of sushi, overcook it and it will be mushy and tasteless, under cook it and it will be hard and inedible. However, you shouldn't let that intimidate you! Give it a try and you'll be making sushi like a pro. This method is adapted from Sushi by Ryuichi Yoshii.

Sushi Rice
2 1/2 cups short grain sushi rice
3 3/4 cups water
1/4 cup sake (optional)

Vinegar Dressing
1/4 cup sushi vinegar (rice wine vinegar, should be right next to the sushi rice and nori at your supermarket)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp fine sugar

1) Put the rice in a large bowl (at least twice the volume of the rice) and fill the bowl with cold water. Stir with your hands and then carefully drain out the water. Repeat this process twice more.
2) Drain into a colander and allow to drain for 30 minutes.
3) Place rice and the 3 3/4 cups water in a large non stick pan with a good lid (a wok is ideal for this). Bring the water to the boil over a medium heat. Once it comes to a boil, increase the heat and boil for 3 minutes.
4) Lower the heat and cook for about 20 minutes. Many recipes will tell you not to take the lid off at all during this time to ensure even cooking. I have found from experience that taking the lid of and giving it a stir every once in a while reduces the likelihood of it sticking to the bottom and doesn't affect the evenness of the cooking, so I would recommend it. After about 20 minutes there should be no water remaining.
5) While the rice is cooking, prepare the vinegar dressing. Place the vinegar and salt in a small pan over a low heat. Whisk constantly until salt dissolves. Add the sugar and whisk to dissolve, don't let it boil. Once dissolved, remove the pan from the heat.
6) If using the sake, add it to the rice just before you remove it from the heat. Remove from the heat and cover again with the lid. Let stand for 10-15 minutes to finish cooking.

Preparing the Rice
1) Spread the hot rice out in a large, flat non metallic bowl. A wooden one is traditional, but I don't have one of those, so I always use my large ceramic lasagne dish.
2) Spread out the rice using a squared wooden spoor or plastic spatula. Stir the rice to separate the grains, use a slicing motion and try not to mash the grains.
3) Drizzle the vinegar dressing over the top and continue mixing and lifting the rice to evenly distribute the dressing. Fan with with a handheld fan while you stir (or enlist an extra pair of hands to help you with this).  Continue to mix and fan until the rice reaches about skin temperature. Cover with a lid to keep warm and then you're ready to roll!

Makes enough rice for 6 large sushi rolls or 12 small ones, serves 5-6 people.

*TIPS*
~ Sushi rice needs to be made just before you use it, it won't keep.
~ Don't allow the rice to cool too much, as it will harden and dry out.
~ The sushi needs to be eaten soon after you make it, definitely the same day as you make it!

Now you've got your rice, what to put in it?

Common vegan friendly ingredients include: avocado, cucumber, carrot, asparagus, shallots, shitake mushrooms, tofu, tempura vegetables and eggplant.

Want something a bit different?

Wasabi-Fried Eggplant & Avocado Nori Rolls
Sweet Potato, Asparagus and Tahini Nori Rolls

Keep your eyes out for more unique and delicious sushi recipes coming soon!