Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Vegetarian Nori Rolls

I have heard people complain how hard it is to make nori rolls/sushi at home... And always wondered what their problem was.
Perhaps they use special sushi rice and mix in all kinds of sugary/vinegary sauces in the rice.. (I really don't know!)

We make these at least once or twice a week.
They really are easy to make. A fast, nutritious and satiating food.

  • We always just use organic short grain brown rice. 1 part rice to 2 parts water. Bring it to a boil, keep covered, and then turn it down to low heat until all the water is soaked up. It's ready in less than 45 minutes!
  • We always have nori sheets at home. These are easily and cheaply available at any asian grocery store. If you are as unlucky as me to not have any in your town, ebay is the place to find them!




  • You need to assemble the nori as soon as rice is done. The rice needs to be hot.
  • Lay down a nori sheet on a cutting board, smooth - shiny side down.




  • Put lots of rice towards one end of the sheet (as much as you think you can roll up.) I would say almost half cup or even more... I didn't measure it, but you can kind-of guess from the picture.
  • Avocadoes are really awesome in nori rolls. Other eqally good options are: thin slices of cucumber, Spinach, sunflower sprouts... The possibilities are endless!





  • Now starting from the side which has more rice (upper side in the picture,) start rolling up the nori as tight as you can.





  • Let it sit seam-side down while you assemble the rest. The steam from the hot rice will glue the seam of the nori sheet up.





  • When they are all done, with a long serrated knife ( a bread knife works good for me, you have to see which one of your knife works for you,) cut them into thin slices that are about an inch (or less) thick.


Some of my favourite things to serve with sushi are:



  • soy sauce
  • Ume boshi vinegar
  • Fresh horse-radish root finely grated and soaked in apple-cider vinegar.
  • Wasabi (the japanese horeradish which can be dried powder form and can be rehydrated anytime to make a fiery green paste.)
  • And the very favorite is Homemade Gari(japanese pickled ginger)


So good!

1 comment:

conniswatercolors said...

Awsome tips! I will try your way next time I make these type rolls... the first time I tried the paper kept falling apart! Great tips and Blog!