Ok, I know vegan sushi must not be anything close to a new invention anymore but, this is not your standard veggie or avocado rolls! I pulled out all the stops and put together a complete sushi meal, starring three different kinds of sushi - Maki rolls, Nigiri sushi, and battleship sushi.
And I even made variations within the three types of sushi. For the nigiri, there is tomato "tuna" carrot "salmon", avocado sashimi, and miso shiitake mushroom; the maki rolls are made of umami and sticky tofu, avocado, carrot, purple cabbage and avocado; and finally, the battleships are filled with steamed sweet peas, and the other one, fresh cubed mango.
Most of the sushi in this recipe can be prepared on the day of, however, for the tomato tuna and carrot salmon you'd want to start a day ahead of time as it's best to marinate them overnight. I'm writing down all the detailed steps below for each sushi variation separately.
TOMATO TUNA NIGIRI
1 ripe tomato
Cooked sushi rice
3/4 hot water
3 tablespoon soy/tamari sauce
2 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoon caper brine
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon miso paste
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika powder
1 nori sheet, cut into small stips
- Cut an X on top of the tomato, bring a small pot of water to boil, cook the tomato for about 1 minute until the skin is starting to come off, take out the tomato and run under cold water;
- Peel off the skin, cut into quarters, and scoop out the seeds and liquid;
- Mix all the marinade ingredients, soak tomato pieces in the marinade, keep in an airtight container or a ziplock bag in your fridge overnight.
- The next day when you're ready to cook, take a scoop of cooked sushi rice, damp your hands so the rice doesn't stick, shape the rice into an oblong base, put one tomato piece on top.
CARROT SALMON NIGIRI
1 large carrot
Cooked sushi rice
Same marinade ingredients as above
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, wash and trim the greens off the carrot, do not peel, bake for 60 minutes, turn halfway through;
- Meanwhile, whisk together the marinade ingredients;
- Let the carrot cool down, use a sharp knife to slice the carrot lengthwise into sashimi style pieces;
- Soak all carrot pieces in the marinade and keep in the fridge overnight;
- The next day, take a scoop of cooked sushi rice, make an oblong base, put a piece of carrot salmon on top, and if you want, you can draw on the white lines with a bit of miso or hummus to better resemble the texture of salmon.
RAINBOW MAKI ROLL
1 block extra firm tofu
1/6 head of purple cabbage
1 avocado
1 cucumber
1/2 carrot
4 nori sheet
2 tablespoon tamari/soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoon coconut amino
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Olive oil for cooking
- Drain and press the tofu, cut into 1/2 inch wide strips;
- In a non-stick pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil, pan fry the tofu strips over medium heat, 2-3 minutes for each side until all sides are golden crispy;
- Meanwhile, mix together the tamari sauce, vinegar, coconut amino and garlic powder, when the tofu strips are done frying, pour the sauce mixture into the pan, stir to coat all sides, turn off the heat when the sauce starts to thicken;
- Slice carrot, cucumber, purple cabbage and avocado into thin strips;
- Use a sushi mat, lay down one nori sheet, wet your hands and press a thin layer of rice on the nori, place all fillings neatly on top of the rice;
- Start rolling from the bottom, apply pressure to fasten as you roll;
- Finally, slice the roll into 8 rolls.
