Last night I made some VEGAN SUSHI, which isn't hard to do. Sushi means "pickled
rice" and doesn't require any animal products. I like this meal because it only
uses two pans. The tofu can be fried in a cast iron pan, and the sushi rice can
be cooked in a rice cooker with the vegetables steaming above it, or it can be
cooked in a saucepan with the vegetables right on top of it. The vegetables will
rise up to the top as the rice cooks, and then can just be pushed aside to
access the rice when assembling the sushi.
My tofu, though extra firm, fell
apart during cooking last night. This wasn't so bad, as it was hidden within the
confines of the nori wrapper during assembly. I cooked the tofu strips — or, in my
case, ragged pieces, — in olive oil and seasoned it with tamari.
I forgot to use sushi
rice, I realized later. I used white jasmine rice, which is a smaller, less
sticky grain. It still worked, but if you use sushi rice you will have an easier
time rolling up your sushi.
I used carrots, lacinata kale, scallions, and avocado
for my vegetables, the first two steaming over the rice, the second two sliced
thinly.
To make this dish you will need a package of toasted nori sheets. You
can find them in smaller portions than the size package I get, which contains
fifty sheets. I try to buy mine when they are on sale, and I get them through my
buying club. Or you could order them through Amazon. They will last a long time
in a cupboard.
I used sliced pickled ginger and pickled umeboshi plum paste to
season the sushi when I was rolling them up. I made some wasabi paste with dry
wasabi powder and water, and I added a slice of fresh ginger to some tamari,
with these two items in little dipping bowls. All of these products should be
available at larger supermarkets or health food stores, perhaps in the
macrobiotic or natural foods section.
After the rice, vegetables, and tofu were
cooked, the fun of assembling the nori rolls (what we call sushi) begins. Check out my video* to see how to do that. Don't try to put too much of any one
ingredient in, or you will end up with cumbersome rolls. My boys prefer the
smaller rolls.
I don't use a mat to roll the sushi, and it seems to work out
fine. One thing you will have to have on hand, though, is a very sharp knife, as
anything less will not slice through the nori, and everything will fall apart.
I
think I made about seven rolls of seven pieces each last night. All I ate were
some of the ends as I went along, and I was full by the time I was finished.
There were four of us eating these, and everyone seemed to think they got
enough. This is one of my family's favorite meals, and you can design the rolls
to suit the taste of your own.
*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ft-iQotQFY is the link in case this gets disabled again.
