Sushi Party!

My room mates and I love to have sushi night once in a while, and it always turns into an occasion. It is such an involved, hands-on process that it is impossible not to be a fun and entertaining evening.

Any time we at a restaurant and have an opportunity to order sushi, we do, but it gets very expensive very quickly. Not to mention that it is quite hard to find sushi that is completely vegan! Even if it doesn't have fish, it usually has cream cheese or a mayo sauce or something like that. The best solution to these issues is to make it at home.

Sushi making is both an art and a science that I am still working on perfecting. I'll try my best to share what tips and tricks I've been able to figure out thus far. The website www.makemysushi.com has helped me to come a long way.

You'll need to start with the rice, and this is the most important part. In the international section at the grocery store, you should be able to find sushi grade rice. Get either this or a medium to short grain white rice--don't be tempted to use the long grain that you've probably got on hand. Follow the cooking directions on the bag, and be careful not to let it brown on the bottom. In a pot on the stove, dissolve 1/2 rice wine vinegar, 1/2 white sugar, and 1/4 salt. Pour over hot, cooked rice and gently work with a plastic or wooden spatula to help it cool to room temperature.

Sticky, seasoned sushi rice.

Another important part is the sushi wrapper, a type of toasted seaweed called nori. I don't know much about brands, but get something that looked nice. I picked up terrible looking package (which I am pretty sure was about a decade old and it didn't have an expiration date for me to check) that was all in Japanese from a small Asian grocer, and it tasted terrible. I got a nice, new looking package with English instructions and bright colors and it tasted just fine. Trust your gut.

Finally, you'll need some fillings. I always have cucumber, green onion, and avocado. Make sure the avocado is fairly soft. I often also use carrot, bell peppers, lettuce, spinach, bean sprouts, and a Japanese radish called a daikon. I bet mushrooms and zucchini would also be great, and I've heard good things about plum sauce. This is the time to experiment and have fun. There is a sushi bar in Fredericksburg, VA that even serves up sushi with fruit filling. Go crazy! Also, this is a great opportunity to break out that dusty old mandolin with all those nifty attachments!

Vegan fillings!

Cucumber strips.

Fine slice attachment for the mandolin. I use the normal slice setting for cucumbers.

Julienned carrots.

A Japanese daikon radish. You can find it at Asian markets and large grocery stores.
I grated this one. They don't have a lot of flavor but they are good fillers.

Carla gnawed the rest of the avocado off of the pit.

Now that you've gotten everything prepped and ready, get out your sushi mat. It is essential to wrap it neatly in plastic wrap--I learned the hard way that there is no way to properly clean a dirty mat. Begin by laying a piece of nori on the bamboo mat, shiny side down, with the edge of the seaweed touching the edge of the mat closest to you.

 

I had a hard time rolling the first time because my seaweed wasn't scooted down to the edge of the mat closest to me. I also didn't wrap my mat in plastic and I should have turned the nori so that the lines matched up with the mat. Oopse!

 



Next, add the rice. You can use your fingers or a wooden/plastic spoon. Put a small heap of rice in the center of the nori and then begin spreading it outward. The layer should be very thin--you'll be sorry when it is time to roll if you are too liberal with the rice here. The layer should be thin enough the you can see the nori through the rice. Make sure it spreads all the way out to every edge except the one farthest from you--that edge should have about an inch left bare.

You can see that some of my rice got a little toasty at the bottom. Not good! Oh well--it still tasted alright and I learned for the next time to watch it closer. You can also see that my rice didn't go all the way out to the edges, which meant I had to discard the ends later.

Now it is time to fill it up! Start layering fillings on the edge closest to you. Don't go too wild here, or else you won't be able to roll it. Make sure these go all the way out to the ends too.

The is about the fullest the sushi should get. This turned into a big roll.

Here comes the hardest part: rolling the sushi. Slip your thumbs underneath the edge of the mat closest to you. Use your other fingers to tuck the vegetables in place while you roll the mat over top of the fillings. When the outside edge of the nori reaches the rice layer, slide the mat forward so it isn't trapped in the sushi and press firmly. Continue to roll forward until the entire sheet is rolled. Press the sushi log with your hands firmly to seal it and shape it. Unroll the mat and behold the beauty! This takes a few tries to get right, so don't be disappointed if it is a mess the first few times. Take a very sharp knife and slice it (half an inch to an inch thick, depending on how wide the roll is), wetting the blade with water between every cut.

Gorgeous! Makes me hungry just blogging about it...

My favorite part of sushi is the toppings. I usually do sesame seeds and sliced green onions, but I also enjoy spicy mayo. Just mix up vegan mayo, chili paste (like sriracha), chili powder, and/or roasted chili oil until it tastes right. You can also try ponzu sauce, teriyaki sauce, or make your own garlic-ginger-soy sauce. This is one area that I will definitely be playing with in the future.

I hope that this post has inspired you to get inventive and have fun creating delicious vegan sushi of your own. Let me know what you come up with!

Tips, Tricks, and Shortcuts

Here are some things that I've learned so far along the way:

1) Keep a bag of mixed chopped veggies in the fridge. Carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, onion, peas--just about anything will work. This will save time when you're in a hurry and the mix can be used for so many things, such as a quick curry or stir-fry.



Vegetable Curry

Vegetable Stir-Fry

2) Make extra rice to keep in the fridge. That way when you cook your pre-cut veggies you can serve them over pre-made rice for a cheap, quick, and easy meal! Just make sure the rice is covered tight so that it doesn't start to dry out.

3) Buy pre-chopped garlic. Almost every savory vegan recipe I have even made calls for chopped garlic. Instead of going through the hassle of doing that every time, buy a jar of garlic and just ladle in a tablespoon for each clove called for. Save the whole garlic and chopping it by hand for your better recipes that really deserve it.

4) Don't wash or peel things you don't need to. I don't peel carrots and I don't wash bagged lettuce. Unless you can see bugs or dirt, what is sprinkling a bit of water on it going to do? Absolutely nothing. If you are buying non-organic fruit you may want to rinse off any residual pesticides or other nastiness, however.

5) Don't bother to refrigerate packed lunches. In almost every recipe that I have made to take to school with me for lunch, there is nothing in them that would spoil from being left out at room temperature for a while. So instead of fussing with a insulated bag and a cold pack, I just toss a tupperware container and a fork into my backpack. This also means that you don't have to find a microwave to reheat cold food.

Btw guys, today marks the one month mark for my vegan challenge. I've lost 10 lbs so far and am still dropping fast! Why on Earth didn't I ever do this before now...?

Black Mushroom Cantonese Stir-Fry

I had completely different ideas about what this dish would be like--it actually turned out to be like a vegetable chow mein. It reminded me of the blue can of La Choy chow mein my mom used to buy when we were kids.

Black Mushroom Cantonese Stir-Fry

Start off by sauteing for 5 minutes a container of sliced shikate mushrooms, half a yellow onion, 3 hot small dried red chili peppers, 3 cloves of garlic, a small can of bamboo shoots, and a handful of sugar snap peas. I couldn't find these peppers at Kroger and I didn't have time to run to the Asian market, so I got some different dried peppers. They were useless and imparted no flavor. Next time I'll add a some red pepper flakes instead, which will be less hassle anyways.

Sauteing veggies.

Next mix up 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and about a cup of water (I will probably use vegetable stock next time for extra flavor). Dump over the stir-fried vegetables and start adding soy sauce, probably around half a cup. While I usually use low-sodium only, this is one occasion where regular would be appropriate. Either that or season with salt. Don't forget pepper as well.

Once the sauce is added...

Serve over rice with scallions and sesame seeds, if desired, and season with extra soy sauce as is necessary. The key to this one is really the soy sauce, so don't be afraid to be liberal with it.

Enjoy!

Rustic Tomato Soup

This is dinner for day two of the 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart. The menu called for Rustic Tomato Soup, mixed salad greens with Red Pepper Vinaigrette, and a piece of sourdough toast.



Rustic Tomato Soup, mixed salad greens with Red Pepper Vinaigrette, and toast.

Surprisingly, the store had to sourdough so I had a slice of 12 grain bread. This was a loaf that I had had, and when I looked at the ingredients I saw milk on the list. Technically this is non-vegan bread, but I just couldn't in good conscience throw away a perfectly good full loaf of bread. Besides, in the study where Dr. Campbell fed rats a diet of 20% casein (milk protein) and 5% casein, those who ate only 5% in their diet saw their cancerous tumors begin to receed. I don't think a tablespoon of milk is going to kill me.

Tonight's dinner was fabulous, and much less of a hassel than day one. The tomato soup consisted of onion, garlic, diced Roma tomato, water, fresh thyme, freshly ground cumin, salt, and pepper simmered together until the tomatoes broke down. At that point I added half a cup of rice and let it simmer on low for 25 minutes. Super easy, right? The only problem I had was that there wasn't any liquid left when the rice was finished cooking, so I had to stir some water back in. I had to be quite heavy on the salt as well. I would definitely make this again, maybe with a little more tomato and a little less rice.

Rustic Tomato Soup

The vinaigrette was also very simple. I tried out the food processor again, and thankfully it only leaked a tiny bit. I think we may need a new one... Anyways, I put one roasted red pepper, one clove of garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, and two tablespoons of red wine vinegar in the food processor and let it go until it was as fine as I thought it would get. The dressing was still a little pulpy--I think it would have been better as a puree. I'm not a huge fan of red bell peppers, so I don't think I would make this too often, but it was pretty good.

Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette

I went ahead and made the full batch (two servings) of soup because I knew I would eat the leftovers at some point. This turned out to be so filling that I couldn't even finish my salad either. Another winner!

Gallo Pinto

This is breakfast for day two of the 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart. The main part of my meal is called Gallo Pinto ("Painted Rooster"), also known as Costa Rican Rice and Beans!

Costa Rican Rice and Beans, Pineapple, and Pumpernickel Toast with Apple Butter

You might notice that the meal plan today called for mango in the pineapple salad and orange jam on the toast. I couldn't find any orange flavored jam at the store, so I got this organic vegan applebutter (just apples and apple juice), which tasted wonderful. I have never had pumpernickel bread either, and it was quite good. While I was making breakfast I was thinking that if I hurried I might be able to make it to class, so I skipped the mango. Well, I didn't make it to class, and decided just to eat the pineapple by itself anyways. Argh.

The gallo pinto is completely out of my comfort zone. I have never eaten a plate of rice in beans in my whole life, and that includes dining in Latin restaurants. I guess it just seems like a cheap dish to eat when you need sustenance, and not something yummy to cook and eat because it sounds good. Also, the recipe said to put hot sauce on it, which was equally out of my comfort zone. I don't do hot sauce.

Onions, red bell pepper, garlic, salt, water, and rice simmering together. Just stir in black beans when the rice is done.

Well, it looked pretty good. It smelled really good while it was cooking. My skepticism was slowly slipping away...

Gallo Pinto

It turns out that it was actually quite tasty! After a few bites I felt like I was missing something, and then I remembered the hot sauce. This was against my better judgement as well, but I went ahead and put a few drops on to start. Suffice to say, I ended up using a lot more hot sauce. It was really, really good. Who knew!

Texas Pete is the only hot sauce that I know and like. Any others I should be trying?

As weird as this was to me, I can actually see this as a staple--for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.