Veggie Sushi

Sushi has put the Japanese cuisine on the world culinary map. Sushi is a perfect choice for the lunch box or for a simple dinner because it is a fresh, healthy and pretty -looking food. Sushi is not made just from the fresh seafood from the ocean surrounding Japan nor is there only one type. For the modern life that we have now, sushi can be a contemporary choice of meal and comes in a wide variety of styles and shapes. From what I know is that each Japanese family has their its own recipe for sushi. I do not pretend to have enough knowledge about sushi, but I can stay with simple ingredients that work well together in taste and texture and are easy to find. I believe the choices of the ingredients to create sushi at home are endless. However, I like to prepare an easy sushi recipe for myself when I know that all my fresh vegetables can be added together to create a fantastic meal.

Ingredients:

Ingredients for the rice:
1 ½ cups of short grain rice
One 4” x 4”piece of kombu (seaweed)
1 ½ cups water
Ingredients for the vinegar mixture:
1/3 cup vinegar
2 tbs sugar
1 tsp salt

Directions:

Put rice in a sieve and submerge it in a large bowl of water (with your fingers, keep stirring the rice to wash it). Discard the water and continue to wash the rice until there is no more milky water.

 Place rice in a rice cooker and add the kombu and water. Close the lid and turn into cook.

 

Combine the vinegar mixture in a bowl and stir to dissolve. Transfer the cooked rice into a non-metallic bowl (a wooden bowl is perfect) with a shallow flat bottom. Sprinkle a little of the vinegar mixture to the rice and gently mix well with a wooden spoon (if you can, use both of your hands using one hand with a fan to fan the rice). Continue to sprinkle the vinegar mixture until all the rice is coated with vinegar and looks glossy. Let the rice cool at room temperature and cover with a damp cloth until needed. Here you have perfect sushi rice.

Ingredients for vegetables:
6 nori sushi sheets
1/2 avocado
1/2 carrot
1/2 cup jicama
1/2 cup daikon
1/2 cucumber
2 tbs roasted sesame seeds
Herbs (your choice)
Soy dipping sauce and pickled ginger
Ingredients to make soy dipping sauce:
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tbs mirin
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs bonito flakes
2 tbs rice vinegar
Combine all the dipping sauce ingredients in a saucepan and bring to boil. Turn off the heat. It is ready to serve when it cools off. Adjust the seasoning to your own taste (adding more soy sauce and less lemon juice or vinegar.

Directions for rolling sushi:
Prepare all the vegetables to cut into matchstick-size pieces.
Bring a pot of water to boil and blanch daikon and carrot for 2 minutes. Drain.

Divide the cooked rice into 6 equal portions. Place a sheet of nori (shiny-side down) on a bamboo mat with the longest end toward you.

Wet your hands, and spread one portion of the rice in an even layer onto the nori, leaving 3/4 inch of nori visible at the end farthest away from you.

 Sprinkle the sesame seeds and add a few pieces of vegetables close to you.

To roll the sushi, fold the mat over, starting at the end where the ingredients are and tucking in the end of the nori to start the roll.

 Keep rolling, lifting up the mat as you go and use gentle pressure until you have finished the roll.

 It will take  a lot of practicing to make it look nice. You are the judge, so do not worry.

To serve:
Remove the roll from the mat and cut it into 4 or 5 even -sized pieces with a sharp knife. Arrange them on a plate and serve with ponzu dipping sauce and pickled ginger.