Sushi Night

 

I think sushi is one of those things I could eat every night for the rest of my life and be okay with. 

You know, when someone says something like "If you had to live on 5 foods for the rest of your life, what five foods would those be?" I always think sushi would be one of them. It has a wonderful balance of veggies, carbs, salt and is just so satisfying. Plus there are almost infinite combinations if you are willing to get creative ;)

And creative is exactly what I was this sushi-night go around...which is why I was able to make enough rolls to feed a small village. Literally.

This was just ONE of the plates I made. I was rolling out sushi rolls for close to an hour.

But it was TOTALLY worth it. I had leftovers for both Colin and I for like a week.

I also tried a new sushi roll ingredient that I've never used before: Sweet Potato! And it is now by far my favorite filling. Paired with crunch carrot or cucumber it tastes absolutely wonderful and the texture is perfect.

The other fillings that made an appearance were:

• Carrot
• Cucumber
• Avocado
• Spicy Tempeh Mix

Usually I also get tofutti cream cheese, but the asian foods store I was shopping at didn't have it. But that's the great thing about sushi - you can use or not use whatever ingredients you like!

Here is a rough breakdown of the ingredients you will need what I did to prepare this mass amount of food.

Sushi Ingredients

• 1 cup medium or short grained rice (I ran out, so feel free to use more if you need it)
• 1 Tbsp seasoned rice vinegar (do not omit!)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 8 sheets nori (they usually come in 10 packs - use however many you want)
• 2 carrots
• 1 large cucumber 
• 1-2 medium sized avocados
• 1-2 sweet potatoes
• 1 package tempeh
• 2 Tbsp Vegenaise
• 1 Tbsp sriracha or other hot sauce
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 scallions or 1/2 red onion or 1 stalk celery (FINELY diced)

Other things you will need:

• Sharp serrated knife
• Sushi rolling mat
• Bamboo steamer (or other steaming device)
• Wasabi/ginger/other garnishes

Prepare the rice according to the directions on the package (again, I tend to go light on the rice so prepare more if you need it). Fold in the rice vinegar and sugar using a sushi spoon or regular, large spoon. Set aside.

Using a vegetable peeler, peel the carrot and the cucumber into long, thin strips and set aside.

Poke the sweet potato with a fork 4 or 5 times and place in the microwave for 5-6 minutes or until soft and steamy. Then, cut the sweet potato and avocado into strips.

Place the tempeh in the bamboo steamer and steam lightly for 4-5 minutes in a large pot.

Using a fork, mash together the tempeh, vegenaise, sriracha, soy sauce and scallions until fully combined and there are no large chunks of tempeh left.

Here is where I would normally try to explain to you how to roll a sushi roll using your mat, but to make your life easier I am going to link to this video which will SHOW you instead of simply describe to you how to roll sushi if you've never done it before. It's not very hard but it does take a little getting used to. This guy uses a little cardboard rolling mat, but I like that it was short and gives you the gist of what you need to do (it's only like a minute long).

Then, slice your sushi into pieces using your serrated knife and arrange as you see fit!

Live long and prosper fellow sushi lovers!

And let me know: if you could only eat 5 foods for the rest of your life, what would they be??