I had purchased loads of veggies, as I always do, so I figured there would be loads of variety. Plus, I had the tempeh in my fridge...waiting to be used in my first tempeh experiment. Cody was a HUGE help throughout the process; he decided to call it "food engineering".
Spicy Tempeh Nori Rolls
Total time: 40 minutes
For the rice:
1 cup sushi rice
2 tbsp rice vinegar (do not use regular white vinegar!)
1 tbsp sugar
Spicy tempeh filling:
1/2 (4-oz) package tempeh
2 tbsp prepared vegan mayonnaise
1/2-1 tsp hot chile-sesame oil
4 sheets nori seaweed
1 scallion, white part discarded, sliced lengthwise into narrow strips
1 ripe avocado, peeled, seeded, and sliced into 1/4-inch wide strips
1 tbsp toasted or black sesame seeds if used inside the foll, or 1/4 cup if used as a coating for inside-out rolls.
(Note: I was able to find a sesame seed spice made up of sesame seeds and sea salt that was loads cheaper and had three times the amount. I'm pretty sure it was in the asian section of the supermarket.)
(Double note: I added matchstick cucumbers and carrots. Plus, Cody wanted tuna in his and found a can of crab meat so switched to crab.)
1. In a heavy-bottomed, 2-quart pot or saucepan with a cover, combine the rice plus 1 1/4 cups cold water. (I used my rice cooker, so you can do that, too.) Turn the heat to high, bring the water to a boil, and stir the rice just once. Lower the heat to low, cover the pot, and steam the rice for 20 to 22 minutes, until it is tender and the excess liquid has been absorbed. Or, prepare the rice according to the package instructions. Cook until the rice is tender but slightly firm, and remove from the heat.
2. Empty the hot rice into a large glass or plastic bowl. Sprinkle with the rice vinegar and sugar, folding in the rice gently with a large spoon or rice paddle to mix thoroughly. The rice should be moist and have a very mild vinegar flavor. Cover with plastic wrap and let cool for 10 to 15 minutes. When the rice is slightly warmer than room temperature (but not completely cold), it's ready to work with.
3. While the rice is cooling, prepare the filling by steaming the tempeh. Allow the tempeh to cool for 10 minutes, chop into small cubes, and place in a medium-size bowl. Add the mayonnaise and chile-sesame oil and mash until chunky; taste and add more chile-sesame oil if desired.
4. Fill a shallow cup with about 1/3 cup of water and a tablespoon of rice vinegar, and keep near your sushi workstation (unless you have an amazing husband who will stand on guard at the faucet!). Follow these steps to the perfect nori roll:
--Place the nori sheet on the bamboo mat (my mother will vouch...I couldn't find one, so I found a bamboo PLACE mat at Walmart. Worked just fine!). With wet hands, take a snowball-shaped handful of rice, about a cup's worth. Gently pat onto the bottom two-thirds or so of your nori sheet. The layer of rice should be less than 1/3-inch thick.
--Place a small amount of the fillings across the center of your rice. Lay or spread them horizontally to each side of the nori to create a straight line of filling-the less filling, the easier the sushi will be to roll. Aim for about 1 1/2 tbsp of Spicy Tempeh, three strips of avocado, and some scallion strips. You'll figure it out.
--Using the mat, gently roll up that sushi starting from the rice-topped end; try to keep your grip relatively tight, for a firm roll. When you've reached the seaweed-only end, pat gently with a little bit of vinegar water to seal the roll.
--Slice your roll into 1-inch pieces with a sharp, serrated knife. That's it! Make a hundred of 'em.
Inside Out Rolls
Maybe you've been rolling your own for a while, or you just need to look like a master sushi chef right now! Then inside-out rolled nori rolls will get you the attention you so deserve, and with way less stress than you might expect.
Simply prepare your nori roll as directed, spreading the seasoned rice onto about two-thirds of the toasted nori sheet. Place a sheet of plastic wrap on top, gently slide your hand underneath the bamboo mat and rest your other hand on top of the plastic wrap. Then in one quick motion...flip everything upside down. Remove the bamboo mat from underneath and place on your countertop. Place the nori and rice-plastic wrap side down-on the mat. Place fillings as usual on the edge without the rice underneath it. Then, carefully roll everything up, using the bamboo mat to firmly push everything together and being careful to peel away the plastic wrap as you go.
For best results, roll your spiffy inside-out rolls in fun things like toasted sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, toasted nori flakes, or Japanese ground up red pepper.
After preparing and slicing all the rolls, I placed them on our wooden cutting board. It looked oh-so-Japanese! I had some wasabi powder in my cabinet, so I mixed it according to the container and made plenty of wasabi. Cody didn't like his crab roll so much, but he loved the tempeh roll! I had a lot of fun making these and can't wait to make them again! It was surprisingly easy...and they looked so impressive that I just kept smiling!
For the first time out, this went really well. I just pretended I was in Japan, where you don't really want to look at anything you eat; just toss it down the hatch and hope for the best! Not to say that this looks gross, because it didn't. But who knows what's going to happen when you put the words "vegan" and "sushi" together. In a rather odd chain of events, the non-vegan sushi ended up being WAY worse. I was like, "Oh! Old crab in a can! That sounds like a great ingredient to put in my sushi!" NOT. It was not good, to say the least. The main ingredient in the vegan sushi was awesome because it tasted like Tan-Tan Noodles. I do loves me some spicy noodles. I do have to say that what impressed me the most was the inside-out rolls. It was culinary engineering at its finest. Try this one out...but don't use shitty crab by-product thinking that you're going to beat the system.
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