Vegan Plant-Based Sushi Night… For the third night this week!

My husband Josh requested we have sushi night again tonight. This would be our third this week, it’s just that good!!

I love sushi but I’ve always been a little squeamish about the raw fish… “am I going to injest a tapeworm with my saki or not this evening” has always had its place in the back of my mind. Vegetarian sushi at most sushi bars is just plain boring. There’s typically a cucumber roll that consists of seaweed, cucumber and rice. Not quite the palette pleaser you tend to seek when you go out for sushi. No one ordering a cucumber roll is shouting “saki bombs!” from the other end of the bar, it’s too boring of a roll for that kind of fun.

I usually buy the Extra Firm High Protein Organic Tofu from Trader Joe’s for sushi rolls but I decided to try something different tonight. My typical fish’ish filler is the TJ’s tofu cut into long strips and stir fried in toasted sesame oil, sweet chile sauce and a little low sodium soy sauce. It makes pretty tasty tofu morsels to add to the rolls, along with an assortment of tasty veggies.

My favorite sushi rice recipe comes from Food.com – “Minado’s Perfect Sushi Rice” (http://www.food.com/recipe/minados-perfect-sushi-rice-119373). It’s the best technique and flavor I’ve found, much better and easier than the directions on the rice bag itself.

While I’m waiting for the rice to cook I usually cut up my veggies:

* Bean Sprouts (my favorite!)

* Asparagus (I blanch them first – drop into boiling water for 30 seconds then quickly move them to a bowl of ice water to cool)

* Red and Yellow Bell Peppers

* Cucumbers

* Carrots (Be careful not to cut yourself trying to get these into sushi sized strips! I need to work on my knife skills…)

* Red or Green Chard

* Cilantro (my other favorite addition!)

* Green Onions / Scallions (I cut off the white parts and slice the green parts down the middle, longways)

* Avocado (Yum!)

Now I wrap my sushi rolling mat in plastic wrap, lay out my Nori (Seaweed sheets) and I’m ready to roll!

As you can see, this does not have the spicy chile tofu I was talking about… it’s something new and VERY YUMMY!

Spicy Tempeh Filling! We love tempeh (pronounced tem-puh, I think… that’s how we say it anyways!) and we eat it often. It’s cheap and very healthy! I buy 10 at a time when I go to Trader Joe’s – it’s organic and you can make so many things out of it! My hubby LOVES tempeh!

So I searched the internet for a tempeh sushi recipe. I found one on Post Punk Kitchen, one of my favorite vegan food sites! Here’s the recipe: http://www.theppk.com/2008/10/spicy-tempeh-roll/

So, mostly following the recipe but not 100%, I cut the tempeh into cubes, steamed it, drained it, mashed it in a bowl and added Veganaise (vegan mayo, found at Henry’s in refrigerated section) and a little toasted sesame oil. This became what you see in the photo, almost like a fake’ish crabmeat type filling.

My hubby Josh loves the Tofutti Cream Cheese (Yes, fake cream cheese) so he added a little to his to mimic the rolls he loves at the sushi bar. I tend to prefer more veggies in mine.

I also make a spicy sauce to go on top of the sushi – I love hot stuff! I mix 1/2 cup of vegan mayo (Veganaise), 2 Tbsp of Sriracha Sauce (think red Chinese hot sauce with green squirt top) and about 1/4 tsp of toasted sesame oil. Mix it all together and drizzle it on top of your rolls for a little extra fire. It’s just like the sauce they use at the sushi bars!

Um… YUM!!! Thank you Post Punk Kitchen!!! And Josh for doing the dishes….