vegan brown rice sushi

For a wedding present from my dear friend Angie, we received a sushi making set up straight from Japan! A rolling mat, chop sticks, and a sushi plate at bowl. And now I've finally used it!

I guess I've always been a little bit intimidated about making my own sushi. But I've just realized its relatively easy, super fun, and if you go vegan, cheap cheap cheap!

The first and most important part is making the sushi rice. I opted for brown because there is just no reason not to. I cooked it as normal in my little rice cooker, but towards the end added a tablespoon of rice vinegar and a little extra water. Make sure it looks nice and slimy, like it has extra liquid in it, because when it cools, that is what makes it gooey and sticky.

While the rice cools, prepare the filling. I used cucumber, avocado, beet, and pea shoots. You could do carrots, red peppers, green beans, bean sprouts, tofu, or pretty much anything you can eat raw and cut into thin strips.

Next, lay out your mat. I have never used a rolling mat before so I looked up some techniques and tips: notesonthemenu.wordpress.com. This post is very similar to mine, though my rice recipe and filling ingredients are different, its how I learned to roll! 

Lay the nori on the mat, the shiny side should be down and the rougher side up. Scoop about a quarter of your rice onto the nori and spread it out with your fingers. I kept a bowl of water near by to dip my fingers in, it makes it way easier to handle the rice.  The rice should cover the 2/3 of the sheet that is closest to you, leaving a smaller border on the other edges.  

And place your fillings...

And start to roll! Keep your thumbs on the outside of the mat, and your fingers tucking everything in, you can use quite a bit of pressure to get it tight. When you've rolled to the edge wet the seam with your fingers and seal it with the mat for a few seconds. It takes a bit of practice but its really not that hard! I was surprised at how nice my first ones came out! 

Now comes the cutting. The sharper the knife the better, obviously, but another thing to remember is to wipe and re-wet your knife between EVERY slice. It will seriously make a huge difference because the rice wants to stick all over the knife. 

A few things to remember: Be creative! You can put about a thousand different things in a sushi roll, not all at once, but the ingredients and combinations are endless! And take your time! The slower I went with my rolling and my cutting, the better it was!

the rice

• 1 cup brown rice 
• 2 cups water
• 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 3 Tbsp water

the filling

• 1 beet sliced into thin strips
• 1/2 cucumber sliced into thin strips
• 1/2 avocado sliced into thin strips
• small bunch pea shoots (pea sprouts, pea greens, whatever) about 2 oz.