Thursday, January 6, 2011

Brown Rice Sushi with Flax and Black Sesame Seeds

I love vegan makizushi, but I don't love feeding my kids white rice. White rice means less B vitamins, iron, potassium, magnesium and all sorts of good stuff lost in the processing. I used to make our sushi with half white, half brown rice, gradually increasing the brown-to-white proportions, and now I can pass off all-brown rice sushi with few complaints from the little sushi snatchers.

Know what else I don't love? Going out for sushi, ordering my vegan sushi, and seeing it made on the same counter that had raw fish on it a minute ago. Gross.


I add flax seeds to my sushi rice for Omegas and other goodies. Check out the nutritional info on whole flax seeds here.

Here's how I do it:

Brown Rice Sushi with Flax and Black Sesame Seeds

Ingredients:

2 c. uncooked brown rice
As much water as you need to thoroughly cook the rice (I use 4-5 cups, but it depends on your rice. Remember brown rice typically needs more water than white.)

1/2 c. rice vinegar
4 T. cane juice crystals (I use Zulka)
1 T. canola or vegetable oil (olive oil is too strongly flavored for my taste in sushi)
1 t. black sesame seeds
1 t. flax seeds

Nori sheets

Sushi fillings of your choice, cut into matchsticks (I used spinach, carrots, and beets)
Other filling suggestions: avocado, cucumber, fried tofu, baby corn, pickled ginger, bean sprouts, asparagus, green onion, mushroom, red or yellow bell pepper... (I'm allergic to both asparagus and mushrooms, so you'll never see them in any of my recipes. A vegan? Allergic to asparagus and mushrooms? I know, right?)


Directions:

Cook the rice as directed.

Tip: Before turning on the heat, I use gloved hands to gently rub the rice between my palms to release some of the natural starch from the bran into the cooking water. This helps the rice stick together, in my real or imagined experience.

While cooked rice is still hot, combine vinegar, cane juice crystals and oil in a blender, mixing until cane juice crystals are dissolved, and pour over rice. Add seeds and mix thoroughly.

Let the rice cool to body temperature before you begin rolling your sushi.

I use the International Sushi Maker Plus to craft my sushi because I am lazy and have no sushi-rolling skills. It's easy to use and inexpensive.


If you don't have a sushi makin' machine, check out this link or this one for a tutorial on how to roll with a bamboo mat.

Whether using a mat or a machine, follow the directions for filling and rolling your sushi, then slice into ten sections per roll.



Serve with pickled ginger and wasabi, if desired. You can make this as a main dish, or serve it as a side to an Asian-inspired dish like this one or this one.



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1 comment:

  1. Sushi rice is usually washed to remove the starch the sticky is from the shari zu (the rice wine vinegar concoction)
    .... the one in the receipe is interesting I may try it.

    ReplyDelete