Vegan Sushi

I love sushi. I can’t remember when I first got into it but it’s been an important part of my life since. My boyfriend and I use to get sushi from our favorite restaurant in Raleigh twice a week. It was a part of my budget. We even visited Tokyo where we enjoyed sight seeing, visiting Mt Fuji and eating sushi. Sushi was the last non-vegan meal I ate.

Fast forward a few weeks into my vegan journey. I had a hankering for sushi. I was determined to make a vegan version. I’ve never made sushi before and rolling sushi seemed super intimidating. I took to Amazon and purchased a “Sushi Bazooka” for $6. I’m not one to purchase gimmicky things like this but it was 6 bucks so why not. YouTube made it seem super easy to use and Amazon reviews were good and people were showering each other with homemade sushi.

Excited for my adventure, I then took to Food Lion where I purchased my ingredients. I had in mind to make 4 different rolls (quite the undertaking)
A teriyaki mushroom roll, a sweet potato roll, a beet roll and a spicy tofu roll. I also purchased avocado, spinach, pickled ginger, wasabi, sushi rice, nori (seaweed sheets), rice vinegar and extra soy sauce because you cannot run out of soy sauce.

** I did not use cucumber because I am allergic but would be a great low prep add in!**

I’m not going to lie. 1. These ingredients were not cheap. 2. This was stressful and time consuming. 3. And I made a big mess. It was meant to be a surprise special dinner to christen our new home. I left work around 4 and we still did not eat until quarter to 8.

But my gosh was it worth it. I ate to my hearts content and was the happiest little vegan ever.

Here’s how I did it.

Spicy tofu roll:
I mixed mashed half a block of extra firm tofu with a fork. I then mixed in 2 tablespoons of Just Mayo sriracha, garlic powder, onion powder and salt and pepper to taste.

Sweet potato roll:
Peal and julienne (cut into match sticks!) one medium sweet potato. Roast in oven with soy sauce for 15 minutes at 375 or until soft.

Teriyaki Mushroom Roll
Wash and rough chop half a cup of mushrooms. Sauté with a vegan teriyaki sauce or soy sauce.

Beet Roll:
I used half of a can of beets to cut down on mess. Like it would’ve made that much of a difference. Rinse beets cut into match sticks.

I cut the avocado and spinach into strips as well.

I then refrigerated all of these ingredients while I made the rice.

I rinsed the sushi rice (2 cups) under cold water for a bit then cooked it according to package directions (2 cup water  1 cup rice generally). After it was done I added a little sugar (2 tablespoons ) and rice vinegar (2 tablespoons) mixed well and let it cool to the touch.

I then using my “Sushi Bazooka” made a channel of rice laid my different ingredients in mixing and matched as I saw fit. Used the plunger and out came a sushi roll. I let it cool in the fridge before rolling it in nori using a bit of water to seal the ends. I cut individual rolls in half then in half again and so on until I got 8-10 pieces making sure to wipe the knife in between cuts to keep it clean and ready.

via Amazon

I served with pickled ginger, wasabi and a bottle of champagne.

Prep: Varies on number of rolls/types of vegetables

Cook Time: N/A

Total Time: Varies on stamina in the kitchen

This is not really a recipe but more of inspiration of all that you can do to make a delicious vegan sushi spread.

Please let me know if you try this recipe out and what you think!