Spicy cauliflower, savory spinach, and fresh avocado sushi rolls. Vegetable sushi rolls are so easy to make, and they're fun. Invite some friends over and turn dinner into a party.
Don’t you just love a fresh vegetable sushi roll? I know I do, and that’s why I decided that I needed to learn how to make my own. So I did, and it’s so easy that I just had to share it with you all.
My favorites are avocado rolls, spinach rolls, and sweet potato rolls, but I didn’t have sweet potatoes, so I decided to try making cauliflower rolls, which are now my new favorite. Too bad my local sushi restaurant doesn’t make them. But I guess that doesn’t matter anymore, because I can make them myself. 😉
I know, I know, you want me to stop rambling about my favorite vegetable sushi rolls and get to the good stuff, like how to make vegetable sushi rolls at home. Okay, you got it, let’s roll. Ba-Dum-CH!
To make the three kinds of vegetable sushi rolls that I made you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Sushi rice
- Nori
- Rice vinegar
- Sesame oil
- Chili oil
- Spinach
- Avocado
- Cauliflower
- Sesame seeds
- Sea salt
- Sugar
- water
First, you need to make the sushi rice. DON’T make regular rice, yuz gots to make da sushi rice! If you don’t, the rice will not stick, and it will roll right out of the nori, just like an REO Speedwagon song.
I was there! Really, I was. I know every single lyric to every single song that Kevin Cronin ever sang.
When the rice is finished cooking and steaming, transfer it to a glass bowl. Now, combine 3 tablespoons of rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 2 teaspoons of salt in a small sauce pan and heat and stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Add it to the rice and gently stir with a wooden spoon (a metal spoon will ruin the rice) until it’s completely combined into the rice. Cover the bowl with a towel to keep the rice moist; cool to room temperature.
While the rice is cooling, it’s time to make the fillings. I made the spinach first, but you can make the cauliflower first if you want to. Just leave the avocado until the very end. I’m not going to go into detail here about making the fillings since it’s in the recipe below. Let’s just skip to the fun part – making these gorgeous things.
Mix a ½ of a cup of water with 2 teaspoons of rice vinegar in a bowl and set it next to the mat. Use this to keep your hands wet so the rice doesn’t stick to you when you’re spreading it on the nori. Oh yeah, I know you know this, but please, make sure you wash your hands really well before making these. I just had to mention that, that's the mom in me.
Line the sushi mat with plastic wrap. Make sure you tuck any excess plastic under the edge of the mat. Place a sheet of nori on the mat, and put ¾ of a cup of rice on the nori. Wet your hands with the vinegar water and press the rice evenly, and out to the edges of the nori. Leave two inches of the edge furthest from you empty.
Next, line up the filling near the edge that’s closest to you. Don’t make it too wide, a nice thin, long line of filling will do. Now, roll the mat over the filling until the edge of the nori closest to you has rolled over the filling and is touching the flat part of the nori. Think of a wave covering a surfer. It’s like that. Once the first roll is done, move the mat forward (don’t roll it under the nori) and gently press and squeeze the mat forward while you roll the nori to the end. And there you go! You made a sushi roll!!!
Now that you’ve made a nice shushi roll, take a sharp knife and wipe it with a damp towel and start cutting two inch pieces. Dip in soy sauce and enjoy.
How easy was that? And fun too, right? This would be a great activity for the kids, or a fun dinner party idea. Let your guests make their own rolls!
I have to tell you, my homemade sushi rivals the rolls I’ve had in restaurants. Perhaps it’s because I made them, I know exactly what’s in them, and I could tweak the spices in my fillings to suit my taste? Whatever the reason, I think I’m going to be a sushi roll snob from here on out. That’s not a bad thing, is it?
Now you know how to make vegetable sushi rolls at home. If you make your own sushi rolls, come back and let me know how it went. I’d love to hear about it!
Step by step photos are featured below the recipe.
Vegetable Sushi Rolls
Ingredients
- Sushi Rice
- 1 cup of sushi rice – rinsed well
- 1 and 1/2 cups of water
- 3 tablespoons of rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon of vegan sugar
- 2 teaspoons of sea salt
- Spinach filling
- 2 cups of spinach
- 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
- 1/8 teaspoon of sea salt
- 1 tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds
- Cauliflower filling
- 1 cup of sliced cauliflower florets
- 1 teaspoon of chili oil
- 1/8 teaspoon of sea salt
- Avocado filling
- 1/2 of an avocado sliced lengthwise
- 3 sheets of nori
- 1/2 cup of water with 2 teaspoons of rice vinegar mixed in a bowl
Instructions
- Rice
- In a medium sauce pan combine the rice and 1 and 1/2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to simmer and cover the pan. Cook for 15 minutes or until you don’t see steam coming from the lid. Check to see if the water is gone, if it is then remove from the heat and keep covered. Steam for 10 minutes.
- In a small saucepan combine the 3 tablespoons of rice vinegar, the sugar, and the salt and cook on medium heat until the sugar and salt are dissolved.
- Put the rice in a glass bowl and with a wooden spoon (metal will ruin the rice), gently stir the vinegar mixture into the rice until combined. Cover with a towel to avoid drying out the rice and bring to room temperature.
- Spinach filling
- In a medium skillet, heat the sesame oil on medium high. Add the spinach and cook until the leaves are wilted. Add the salt and stir well. Remove from heat and put in a bowl to cool.
- Rinse the skillet and heat until the water evaporates. Add the sesame seeds and toast on medium heat until they release their oil and begin to brown. Watch carefully so they don’t burn.
- Cauliflower filling
- Rinse the skillet that you cooked the spinach in and heat the chili oil on medium high heat. Add the cauliflower and salt and cook for 8 minutes, or until it just begins to soften. Remove from heat and cool in a bowl.
- Avocado filling
- Slice the avocado lengthwise just before you’re ready to make this roll.
- To make the rolls
- Wash your hands well.
- Place the water and rice vinegar bowl close to the mat.
- Put a piece of plastic wrap on the sushi mat and tuck any excess plastic under the mat. Place a sheet of nori on the mat. Put 3/4 of a cup of rice on the nori, wet your hands with the vinegar water and spread the rice evenly over the nori, leaving 2 inches of the edge furthest from you empty. Spread to the edges of the rest of the nori.
- Place the spinach filling in a thin line close to the edge of the nori that’s closest to you. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the spinach. Hold the edges of the mat that are closest to you and roll over the filling until it touches the nori sheet. The top edge of the nori should now be touching the flat part of the sheet. Pull the matt forward while gently squeezing the roll and continue rolling toward the furthest edge of the nori. Do not roll the mat underneath. Once you’ve finished rolling the nori sheet, wipe a sharp knife with a damp towel and cut into 2 inch pieces.
- Do the same thing with the cauliflower filling and the avocado filling.
Spread the rice on the nori, leaving a 2 inch border at the edge furthest away from you.
Then put a thin, long line of filling near the edge closest to you.
Roll the mat over the filling until it's touching the rice and nori. Don't roll it under.
Pull the mat forward and gently squeeze and roll the nori.
Continue rolling until you reach the end of the nori. "Keep on rollin, keep on rollin....."
Wipe a sharp knife with a damp cloth to avoid sticking and cut into 2 inch slices.
Now make the next one.
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