Veggie Sushi Rolls 3 Ways

I have been addicted to watching High Carb Hannah's YouTube channel. I found her channel after reading Dr. McDougall's Starch Solution (which is a great book) and appreciated all the high carb low fat recipes she shares on her channel. One video that really caught my eye showed how easy it is to roll your own veggie sushi. I was intrigued and decided I wanted to try it, as we either buy the take-out sushi from the grocery store or go out to restaurants for this treat. My husband and I went to a nearby specialty market for Asian foods and stocked up on rice, nori, sesame seeds, pickled ginger, wasabi, and a small bamboo mat for rolling the sushi. We also picked up a jar of pickled baby lotus root just because it was so beautiful. The shiitake filling recipe came from Connoisseurs Veg's Website, which I just slightly adapted. There are tons of creative vegan sushi recipes out there and Hannah was right...rolling your own is easy once you get the hang of it.

Veggie Sushi Rolls

Ingredients:

2 cups (dry) short grain brown or white rice
2 1/2 cups water

5 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt

6 dried shitake mushrooms
1 cup of water
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp chili garlic sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp agave nectar

3 sheets nori
1/2 cucumber, peeled and sliced into thin strips
1/2 carrot, peeled and sliced into thin strips
1/2 avocado, sliced into thin strips
1/2 mango, peeled and sliced
pickled baby lotus root, optional

Pickled ginger
Toasted sesame seeds
Wasabi
Soy sauce

Directions:

Prepare the rice according to package directions. I cook mine in an Aroma rice cooker and it takes about 20 minutes. First, I rinse and drain the rice 2 or 3 times before adding the 2 1/2 cups water to cook it with. Rinsing the rice removes debris and some of the starch, which makes for more separated grains after it cooks. Then I set the rice cooker to the white rice setting and let it do it's thing.

While the rice is cooking, prepare the mushrooms by cooking them in the cup of water over a low boil for 15 minutes. Then remove the mushrooms from the cooking water (reserve the liquid) slice them and quickly fry them in a non-stick pan with the sesame oil for a couple of minutes. Then season the mushrooms with the chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, the remaining liquid from cooking the mushrooms, and the agave. Continue to stir fry until the liquid absorbs into the mushrooms.

Once the rice is done, fluff it and put it in a large glass, ceramic or wooden bowl.  Sprinkle the vinegar one tablespoon at a time over the rice while mixing the rice gently in a folding motion. Add the sugar and salt and mix to incorporate those as well.

**I highly recommend watching some videos on YouTube to learn about making sushi rice and how to roll the sushi. There are tons of tutorial videos out there to help you get started. Alternately, you can just add the ingredients directly into the rice (after cutting them into bite-sized pieces) with the nori chopped into little pieces and make a sushi salad!

Once the rice is ready, prep your veggies, by thinly slicing the carrot, cucumber, mango, and avocado. The three rolls are seasoned shiitake mushrooms, avocado-mango-lotus root, and cucumber-carrot-avocado rolls.

Seasoned Shiitake Mushroom Rolls
Lay a piece of nori on a bamboo sushi rolling mat on top of a cutting board and spread one third of the rice on the seaweed, then add the mushrooms one third of the way down and roll it up, squeezing it tightly as you go.

Carrot, Cucumber, Avocado Rolls
Then, take another piece of nori and add another third of the rice and spread it around. Then add some carrots, cucumber, and avocado slices one third of the way down and then roll it up, squeezing and shaping it as you go.

Avocado, Mango, and Baby Lotus Root Rolls
Take the third sheet of nori and spread the rest of the rice on it. Add the mango, avocado and baby lotus root (if using) and roll it up again.

Cut the rolls into 6 pieces each, sprinkle with sesame seeds and enjoy with the condiments of your choice.