Friday night sushi

So, I'm just now getting out of bed after last night. I know, it's shameful. Part of me wants to climb back in, but I'm anxious to get something done with my day. Yesterday was great. The weather was beautiful so I walked to the co-op for some Veganaise, came back and whipped up some sushi, went to Overture Hall for an opera (The Pearl Fishers by Bizet) that a friend was in, and finally changed into pants/flat shoes to hit some hipster bars with some friends of Jeff's.

Anyway, enough about my day and my excuses for sleeping late, bring on the food!


From lower left to upper right we have:
1. toasted and crushed pine nuts, red pepper slices, avocado
2. spicy vegan mayo (togarashi and a drop of hot pepper oil added), avocado, cucumber, sesame seeds
3. spicy vegan mayo, red pepper, cucumber, tempeh strips sauteed w/ a little sesame oil
4. roasted and salted whole peanuts and avocado

Can you tell that I love avocado?


Rolling sushi is really easy. While my rice was cooking I sliced my ingredients into thin strips, and laid them out on a tray. The nuts, some water, and some rice wine vinegar I set out in little dishes. I got out my seaweed and laid out a clean, dry cutting board, rolling mat, a sharp knife, a brush, and my plates. When the rice was done I dumped it into a shallow glass pan, splashed some mirin on it and with a slicing motion spread the mirin through the rice with a wooden paddle.

When the rice cooled I laid out a sheet of nori on the mat, dampened it with the brush/water, and covered about half the sheet with a thin layer of rice. (Use your hand to place and spread the rice. Dip your fingers in rice wine vinegar to help prevent the rice from sticking to your fingers.) I placed my ingredients inside and tightly rolled it up. I like to wait to dampen the last third or so of the sheet of nori until I'm ready to roll it up, that way the nori doesn't begin to shrink and roll and become difficult to work with before I'm ready. I place the roll aside until I'm completely done, then slice the rolls. I wipe the knife with a little vinegar between cuts to clean it off.

I usually prefer to make inside out rolls (you cover your rolling mat with cling film, lay the rice down first, and use about half a sheet of nori) but they take a hair more time and I wanted to get to the opera on time. As it was, with the traffic, we were running to make it there in time.