Several years ago a good friend who had spent time in Japan taught me to make sushi. It’s easy to become intimidated by sushi making but this method is surprisingly easy. Our vegetable sushi recipe is fresh, delicious, and healthy. Our family likes using avocado, carrots and cucumbers but there are a variety of delicious ingredients that can be used in this recipe.
We’ll show you two different ways to roll sushi. Follow our tutorial and recipe below. This recipe was featured on our Big Hero 6 Dinner & Movie night.
Vegetable Sushi
Makes 3 rolls (24 pieces)
Ingredients:
Equipment:
1 bamboo mat
Plastic wrap to cover bamboo mat
Small bowl with water for fingers
Large knife
Rice:
1 cup uncooked sushi rice
1 ½ cups water
⅜ cup rice vinegar
½ tablespoon vegetable oil
⅛ cup white sugar
½ teaspoon salt
Vegetable Sushi:
3 sheets of nori
½ seedless cucumber cut into julienne strips
1 avocado cut into julienne strips
1 large carrot, shredded or cut into small matchsticks
Dipping Sauce:
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
½ teaspoon chile sauce
1 teaspoon honey
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
Scallion (green parts only) sliced thinly
Directions:
1. Prepare the rice by rinsing the rice in a strainer or colander until the water runs clear. Combine rice with water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes. Rice should be tender and water should be absorbed. Cool until cool enough to handle.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the rice vinegar, oil, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat stirring until the sugar dissolves. Cool, then stir into the cooked rice. Cover and chill thoroughly while preparing other ingredients.
3. Place 1 sheet of nori over a bamboo sushi mat covered with plastic wrap. Scoop 1 cup of sushi rice on top of the nori. Fill a small bowl with water to dip your fingers into–this will prevent them from getting sticky when handling the rice. Using your fingers, spread the rice in an even layer over the nori, leaving a 1-inch border at the top to seal the roll.
Variation:
If you don’t care for the texture of nori or just want to try something different uramaki might be for you. This roll has rice on the outside and nori on the inside wrapped around the ingredients. To make this roll spread out 1 cup of rice on the bamboo mat in a square shape the same size as the nori. Then lay the nori on top.
4. Over the bottom quarter of the nori, layer the cucumber, carrot, and avocados. Use your fingers to hold the vegetables in place while you begin to roll the nori. Squeeze the bamboo mat around the roll as you go to ensure a tight sushi roll. Transfer the sushi roll to a cutting board and cut it in half, then cut each half into quarters for a total of 8 sushi pieces. Repeat with remaining ingredients to make 2 more rolls.
5. To make dipping sauce, mix soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, honey, chile sauce, minced ginger, minced garlic, and sliced scallion tops. Pour into small dipping bowls and serve alongside the sushi.
Sushi can be enjoyed as a healthy lunch with a cup of green tea and some fruit, or served as an appetizer with a Japanese dinner.
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