Sushi [Ann]

[Note: I am very displeased about the font and size of this post. It's uneven and I try to change it to be consistent but blogspot just won't let me. I am so bad at these things. haha. Enjoy, anyway.]

Sushi is pretty much my favorite food to make! It’s ridiculously easy as well. People may scoff at the idea of “vegan sushi” and exclaim “What’s sushi without fish? Isn’t that an oxymoron?” or something of the sort. On the contrary, from what I gather, vegan sushi is still perfectly “legit”. =P I was talking to a foreign exchange student from Japan, and we got to talking about sushi. He suggested that I make some for him sometime, and I was like “Oh by the way, it’s vegan sushi, so there’s no fish in it.” And he was like “So what? Sushi is sushi. Doesn’t need to have fish.” You just need rice, nori and some kind of filling. The filling doesn’t necessarily have to be fish.

Regardless of the question of its “legitimacy”, vegan sushi is delicious and loads of fun! I make this for my friends all the time, especially those who are allergic to fish or are grossed out by the thought of raw fish. Call it what you like; this is my kind of sushi. ;)

The ingredients and assembly are simple; as you know, rice and nori are required. Here are some of my favorite fillings:

• Avocados
• Cucumbers
• Carrots
• Banana peppers(!!)
• Asparagus
• Shitake mushrooms
  • Dried/fresh, steam them and season with soysauce/tamari, cut into slices =)
• Green/red bell peppers
• The former give the sushi a refreshing taste, and the latter gives a sweet flavour.
• Mangos
• Get the light yellow kind that is not quite ripe yet. Think sour.
• Fake “Meat Fluff”
• (My family gets this from Vietnam; it’s from my friend’s trusted company. It is available for purchase online here.)
• Note: if you decide to use this, I recommend cutting your sushi with scissors (it totally works), because the “meat fluff” is a little tough to cut with a knife. It tastes great. ;)
• If you aren’t using meat fluff, you could also put some kind of seasoned tofu in your sushi (don’t just use unseasoned white tofu!)
• Another suggestion: Fake crab.
• Be sure to check the ingredients, because on many occasions, I have found “crab extract” listed in the ingredients of so-called “Fake Crab”. I think fake crab seasoned with lemon juice and salt & black pepper would make an excellent addition to the sushi.
• Roasted sesame seeds
• just sprinkle some on before you roll the sushi
• Spicy Tempeh
• Recipe found here.

I just cut everything into strips and make my own sushi combinations. :)

Condiments: spicy mayo, ponzu, soysauce, gari (pickled ginger), and wasabi.

You can buy most everything at the store, except spicy mayo, which I have a wonderful recipe for.

Ingredients:

• Vegan Mayo
• I use Vegenaise, Follow Your Heart’s brand. It’s the best. ^__^
• Sriracha Hot Sauce
• Garlic powder

Just spoon out a few dollops of vegan mayo, and add the hot sauce and garlic powder according to your tastes. I don't have exact measurements for this because all you really need are your tastebuds.