SUSHI SALAD BOWL

I love fresh, bright and quick to prepare meals, hence this Sushi Salad Bowl is a favourite of mine. Having tried my hand at making sushi before, this is a much quicker and less painstaking process which tastes like the inside of my ideal sushi roll. You can play with the ingredients and add lemon, daikon, salmon, toasted seaweed, coriander etc or remove any ingredients below that you do not like/have on hand. I kept my sushi salad bowl very simple (it was Sunday night after all). 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup brown rice 
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 
• 1 tablespoon rice bran oil / sesame oil 
• 2 green shallots, finely chopped, plus extra to serve 
• Optional - 15cm stick fresh lemongrass, finely chopped
• 3cm piece fresh ginger, finely grated
• 300g free range chicken breast, cut into 3cm even pieces 
• 150g green beans, cut into 2cm pieces 
• 150g red cabbage or wombok or a mixture of bowl, shredded 
• 1 medium carrot, finely grated
• 1 Lebanese cucumber or 1/2 continental cucumber, diced 
• 1 ripe avocado, sliced 
• 4 teaspoons white /black or a mixture of both (1 teaspoon for each serving) 

Dressing

• the juice of 1 medium lime 
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce 

COOKING 

1. Place rice and 2 1/2 cups water in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cover for around 12-15 minutes or until all water is absorbed and the rice is cooked. Remove from heat and add the rice wine vinegar, then fluff the rice with a fork to stir it in. 

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add the shallots, lemongrass (if using) and ginger and stir for 2 minutes, taking care not to burn the ingredients. Then add the chicken pieces and cook, stirring often for approximately 4-5minutes or until the chicken is cooked. 

3. Remove the chicken with the shallots, lemongrass and ginger from the pan and now add the beans and cabbage. Stir for around 3 minutes or until beans are slightly tender. 

4. Pour the dressing ingredients in a small bowl or mug along with 2 tablespoons water and stir well. 

5. Distribute the rice, carrot, cucumber, avocado, chicken and beans & cabbage into four bowls. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon sesame seeds over each bowl and drizzle dressing over the top and serve. 

Serves / 4 
Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 
Total Cooking time / maximum 25 minutes 

x Emily 

QUINOA SUSHI 3 WAYS

I've always wanted to try my hand at making quinoa sushi and yesterday was the day. I have made rice sushi numerous times and whilst I love the end result, it has always seemed like an immense undertaking. The prep and rolling of this quinoa sushi felt very different however; easy, fuss-free and fun! 

I have included 3 different ways to make the sushi; theres a vegetarian option, a tuna filling and a beef roll (this was specially for my fiancee, who will eat anything if it has red meat in it). My personal favourite? The vegetarian. These fillings are just a guide and I encourage you to roll whatever ingredients you think will work in your sushi. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed well in cold water twice
• 2 1/2 cups water 
• 3 tablespoons brown rice vinegar, plus extra, to brush onto the seaweed sheets 
• 1 large carrot, grated 
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 cucumber, sliced into long, thin pieces
• 1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
• White or black (or a mixture of both) sesame seeds 
• 8 seaweed sheets 
• gluten-free soy sauce or tamari 

Tuna Sushi

• 2 x 95g tuna in brine, drained
• 1/2 teaspoon ground chilli
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• grated carrot
• spring onion
• avocado or cucumber slices 
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Vegetarian Sushi

• grated carrot
• spring onion
• avocado slices
• cucumber slices
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Beef Sushi

• 250g beef mince
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• grated carrot or cucumber slices 
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds 

Cooking 

1. Place the quinoa and the water in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil over high heat. Once boiled, reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, for 12 -15 minutes or until the quinoa is tender and all the water is absorbed. Remove from the heat and place on a large plate to cool. 

2. Meanwhile, cook the beef by swirling the sesame oil in a small to medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the mince and cook, stirring frequently to break up the lumps, until the beef is browned and cooked. Remove from heat and place on a plate to cool. 

3. Make the tuna sushi by combining the tuna, chilli and sesame oil in a small bowl and stirring well to combine. 

4. If you have any extra time whilst the quinoa is cooked and then cooling down, use it to grate the carrot, slice the cucumber and avocado and finely chop the spring onion. 

5. Once the quinoa has cooled, stir the brown rice vinegar into the cooked quinoa. 

6. To make the sushi - lay out 1 seaweed sheet on a flat surface. Spoon quinoa evenly onto the bottom 1/3 of the sheet closest to you, leaving a few centimetres of seaweed bare at the very bottom. Make sure to flatten the quinoa with the back of the spoon. Then add the toppings from above directly on top of the quinoa. You should be able to make 3 of two types of sushi rolls and 2 of the other type of roll. Once the toppings have been added, brush the top 1/3 of the sheet with rice wine vinegar and the bottom few centimetres of seaweed that you left bare. Then tightly roll the sushi, starting with the bottom end, all the way to the top end. Place in the fridge when finished rolling. 

7. When you are ready to eat the sushi, remove from the fridge and trim the ends of the sushi with a sharp knife brushed with rice wine vinegar. Then cut the sushi rolls in half and half again to make 4 sushi rounds per roll. 

Serves / 4 / 2 sushi rolls each or 8 sushi rounds

Total Preparation & Cooking time / around 45-60 minutes 

x Emily 

HOMEMADE SUSHI

I have wanted to write a blog post on homemade sushi for several months. Whilst I was living in Washington D.C in 2009, my cousin Juanita shared her sushi recipe with me and I became hooked. Even though I worked long and crazy hours as a concierge in a hotel, I never made sushi any less than twice a week. Since returning to Brisbane in late 2009, I ceased my sushi making experiences, perhaps because it is so readily available here and not so much in D.C (although you could find an abundance of Burger Kings & Chipotles on every street corner). I decided to make sushi again last night, with surprising success, as I have been out of the game for so long. Whilst the recipe does look incredibly long and tiresome, its actually not! Filling and rolling the sushi is heaps of fun and I guarantee you that making lasagna or a shepherd’s pie would take longer. Sushi also seems to come with a sharing aspect to it, which I love.


INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups sushi rice (available at all major supermarkets)
• 4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar 
• 10 + large nori sheets 
• Green wasabi 
• Rice wine vinegar
• Optional- the fillings- you can use 1 avocado (peeled & cut into thin strips), chicken (around 500g), cucumber and/or carrots, peeled & cut into thin strips, sesame seeds. 
• Optional- Tamari sauce (Gluten-free alternative to soy sauce)

COOKING 


1. Using a heavy bottomed pan, add 2 cups rice and 3 1/3 cups water and bring to the boil. Once boiled, lower the heat to a simmer and let cook for around 15-20 minutes or until rice is tender and water is absorbed, keeping the lid of the saucepan on. 


2. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables (see above). If using chicken, cut into thin strips and place in a frying pan with 1 teaspoon sesame oil. Cook, stirring constantly, until chicken is light brown and no pink flesh remains. 


3. Once rice is cooked, let cool for around 10 minutes. During this time finish preparing the vegetables & chicken, as well as adding a little water to the pinch of green wasabi. You will use the wasabi to dab onto the rice before you add the fillings. Mix well in a small bowl so that the wasabi becomes a cloudy green colour. Prepare a small bowl with just rice wine vinegar in it; this is to wet your fingers to seal the nori edges when you roll the sushi rolls, as well as to clean your knife when you cut the sushi rolls into small pieces. 


4. Return to the cooked rice and fluff it with a fork, taking care to fluff the top, bottom and sides of the pan. Place the rice in a medium to large glass or porcelain dish (no metal) and add the 4-5 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar, which is used to make the rice taste sweet as well as make it glisten. (The rice does not need to be overly sweet, so 4-5 tablespoons will be plenty (I use 4). (I will often divide the cooked rice into 2 bowls and add 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar to each). 


5. If you do not have a proper bamboo sushi mat, a large square of a cereal box wrapped in glad wrap will do just fine to roll your sushi. Place a nori sheet down and place rice on about 2/3 of the seaweed. Spread this rice evenly over the seaweed but take care not to place rice on the edges of the nori as you will lose this during the cutting process at the end. 


6. Now for the fun part! Add your fillings! Carrot, cucumber and chicken go well today as do chicken & avocado. Sesame seeds are great to place on top of the fillings and a scant amount of wasabi dabbed onto the rice before adding the fillings increases the flavour. If you want vegetarian rolls, you can add fried egg or just use vegetables. When the fillings have been added, wet your fingers in the rice wine vinegar solution or use a brush to wet the top and bottom of the seaweed edges. Begin to roll away from you, taking care to crimp the ingredients together as you roll.  After you have rolled each sushi roll, place on a large plate in the fridge to cool whilst you roll the rest. 


7. When all the sushi has been rolled, remove the chilled sushi from the fridge. Taking 1-3 long rolls together at a time, wet a paper towel with the leftover vinegar and run this towel over the blade of a large knife. Start cutting the sushi rolls into even coins or little rolls, removing the edges. Rewipe the blade with vinegar every few cuts. 


8. Serve the sushi for lunch or dinner. This recipe makes a fair amount of sushi, enough to feed around 8 people! 


Serves / 8

x E

SUSHI SALAD BOWL

Day 8- my creativity decided to fail me and I consulted a cook book for the Sushi Salad Bowl recipe you see below. The AWW Complete Book of Modern Asian proved very useful, and I used the foundation of a sushi salad recipe for this dish. All the Japanese ingredients listed can be purchased at any major supermarket. Having tried my hand at making sushi before, this was a much quicker and less painstaking process which tasted like the inside of a sushi roll. You can play with the ingredients and add lemon, daikon, salmon, chicken, toasted seaweed etc. I kept my sushi salad bowl very simple (it was Sunday night after all). 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 green shallots, finely chopped
• 15cm stick fresh lemongrass, finely chopped
• 3cm piece fresh ginger, finely grated
• a small dash of sesame oil  
• 1 small carrot, finely grated
• 1 lebanese cucumber, diced 
• 1/2 a ripe avocado, diced 
• 150g green beans, cut into 2cm pieces 
• 2 cups sushi rice (koshihikari rice- available at any major supermarket)
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds 
• just under a 1/4 of a cup rice wine vinegar 

Dressing

• a small dash of sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons mirin 
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce 

COOKING 

1. Place rice and water in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil over medium-high heat. Reduce to a simmer and cover for around 10-12 minutes or until the rice is absorbed. Remove the rice from the remove and stand, covered for 10 minutes. Remove the cover after this time, and gradually pour in the rice wine vinegar as you fluff the rice with a fork at the same time. 

2. Meanwhile, heat sesame oil in a small to medium frying pan over medium heat. Add shallots, lemongrass and ginger and stir for 2 minutes. Add cut beans and stir for around 2-3 minutes or until beans are slightly tender. 

3. Dry-fry (this means use no oil) the sesame seeds in a small frying pan until golden in colour. 

4. Place the dressing ingredients in a screw-top jar and shake well to combine. 

5. Place the sushi rice in a large serving bowl. Top with carrot, cucumber and diced avocado. Add cooked shallots, lemongrass, ginger and beans. Drizzle dressing over the top and serve. 

NB- for a less healthy option, add some Kewpie mayonnaise over the salad. 

x E