Vegetable Sushi

Name: Vegetable Sushi
Prep time: 1 h 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 20 min
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: 20
Cuisine: Japanese, Asian
Ingredients: 20 asparagus spears, trimmed and blanched; 1 avocado; 1 cucumber; 10 sheets 10 nori sheets (dried seaweed), halved; 20 servings Pickled ginger, for serving; 1 plum tomato, seeded; 1 small red onion; 79 milliliters rice vinegar; 1 romaine lettuce heart; 20 servings Salt; 20 servings Sesame seeds, for sprinkling; 710 milliliters short-grain Japanese rice, rinsed; 3 Tbsps sugar; 20 servings Wasabi paste, for spreading and serving

Vegetable Sushi is a gluten free and vegan hor d'oeuvre. This recipe serves 20. This recipe covers 10% of your daily requirements of vitamins and minerals. One portion of this dish contains approximately 4g of protein, 6g of fat, and a total of 192 calories. Head to the store and pick up romaine lettuce heart, onion, pickled ginger, and a few other things to make it today. From preparation to the plate, this recipe takes approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes. This recipe is typical of Japanese cuisine.

Instructions

Make the rice.

Ingredients you will need

Rice

Combine the rice and 3 1/4 cups water in a rice cooker and cook according to the manufacturer's instructions. A rice cooker is the best way to get perfect sticky-firm rice, but if you don't have one, just use a saucepan. Fold in the vinegar.

Ingredients you will need

Vinegar

Water

Rice

Equipment you will use

Rice Cooker

Sauce Pan

Combine the vinegar, sugar and 1 teaspoon salt in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

Ingredients you will need

Vinegar

Sugar

Salt

Equipment you will use

Sauce Pan

Transfer the cooked rice to a large wooden bowl (traditionally, a wooden tub).

Ingredients you will need

Cooked Rice

Equipment you will use

Bowl

Drizzle a quarter of the vinegar mixture over a wooden spoon or spatula onto the rice. Fold the rice gently with the spoon to cool it and break up any clumps; be careful not to smash the grains. Fold in the remaining vinegar mixture and let the rice sit 5 minutes.

Ingredients you will need

Vinegar

Grains

Rice

Equipment you will use

Wooden Spoon

Spatula

Spread the rice.

Ingredients you will need

Spread

Rice

Cover a bamboo sushi mat with plastic wrap.

Ingredients you will need

Wrap

Equipment you will use

Plastic Wrap

Place a half nori sheet rough-side up on the mat. Moisten your hands and scoop a handful of rice, slightly larger than a lemon, onto the nori. Press the rice to spread it evenly up to the edges of the nori, moistening your fingers as you go.

Ingredients you will need

Nori

Spread

Lemon

Rice

Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Ingredients you will need

Sesame Seeds

Prepare the vegetables. Peel the cucumber and slice into matchsticks. (Morimoto cuts the entire cucumber into a paper-thin sheet, then quickly slices it into strips-but he's had some practice.) Thinly slice the avocado, tomato and red onion; peel the tough ends of the asparagus.

Ingredients you will need

Vegetable

Asparagus

Red Onion

Cucumber

Avocado

Tomato

Add the filling. Carefully flip over the nori so it's rice-side down on the mat with the short end facing you.

Ingredients you will need

Nori

Rice

Spread a bit of wasabi paste in a line about one-third of the way up the nori-it's spicy, so use it sparingly. Arrange a few pieces each of lettuce, cucumber, avocado, tomato and onion in a tight pile in the lower third of the sheet. It's OK if the vegetables hang over the edges of the nori.

Ingredients you will need

Wasabi Paste

Vegetable

Cucumber

Avocado

Lettuce

Spread

Tomato

Onion

Nori

Roll the sushi.

Ingredients you will need

Roll

Roll the sushi away from you with your hands, tucking in the vegetables as you go.

Ingredients you will need

Vegetable

Roll

Remove the mat from under the roll and place it on top. Press the roll into a compact rectangular log, using the mat to help you. Slice the roll.

Ingredients you will need

Roll

Cut the sushi roll into 4 to 6 pieces. Repeat with the remaining nori, rice and vegetables.

Ingredients you will need

Vegetable

Nori

Rice

Roll

Serve with pickled ginger and more wasabi. Photography by Rick Lew

Ingredients you will need

Pickled Ginger

Wasabi

Equipment

Ingredients

Servings:

asparagus spears, trimmed and blanched 1

avocado 1

cucumber 10sheets

10 nori sheets (dried seaweed), halved 20servings

Pickled ginger, for serving 1

plum tomato, seeded 1small

red onion 79milliliters

rice vinegar 1

romaine lettuce heart 20servings

Salt 20servings

Sesame seeds, for sprinkling 710milliliters

short-grain Japanese rice, rinsed 3Tbsps

sugar 20servings

Wasabi paste, for spreading and serving

Recommended wine: Chenin Blanc, Gewurztraminer, Riesling

Asian on the menu? Try pairing with Chenin Blanc, Gewurztraminer, and Riesling. The best wine for Asian food depends on the cuisine and dish - of course - but these acidic whites pair with a number of traditional meals, spicy or not. One wine you could try is Baron Herzog Chenin Blanc (OU Kosher). It has 4.1 out of 5 stars and a bottle costs about 12 dollars.