Tempura Mushroom Sushi Roll
We all know those moments when we walk into a restaurant, look at the menu, and think to ourselves, "Well, gee. Great. A bowl of lettuce and a sliced tomato for only $8.95!"
The sarcasm triggers start firing in your brain, and it's only a deeply-rooted sense of civility that prevents you from saying so to your oblivious waiter or waitress.
I face this dilemma all the time with sushi--especially, I've discovered, vegetarian-friendly sushi. I'm not a fan of any other kind of sushi, frankly, and I'm never too thrilled about dishing out a stack of greens for something that's so easy (and fun!) to make at home.
For more photos, a geeky anecdote about mushrooms and Mario Kart, and more related musings, visit my blog. Happy reading, and happy eatings!
Tempura Mushroom Sushi Rolls
Ingredients:
For sushi rice:
For tempura mushroom:
For sushi filling (you can substitute any ingredients depending on what you have on hand):
To arrange sushi:
On a sheet of nori, gently spread a layer of sushi rice so that entire sheet is covered.
Line up your ingredients along one side of the covered nori in columns.
Starting from the end with ingredients, tightly fold the nori over all of the ingredients-it should form a tube shape. Roll the rest of the roll tightly as you would a sleeping bag, occasionally stopping to press down firmly on the roll so it will retain its shape.
If you have a sushi mat, great! If not, don’t fret-you can still do this no problem.
Make sure you’re nice and firm with your sushi, but don’t push so hard that the toppings come popping out!
Your sushi should have no problem sticking if you have enough sushi rice. Cut with a very sharp knife and serve as desired! I cute mine in half and served them masubi-style.
The sarcasm triggers start firing in your brain, and it's only a deeply-rooted sense of civility that prevents you from saying so to your oblivious waiter or waitress.
I face this dilemma all the time with sushi--especially, I've discovered, vegetarian-friendly sushi. I'm not a fan of any other kind of sushi, frankly, and I'm never too thrilled about dishing out a stack of greens for something that's so easy (and fun!) to make at home.
For more photos, a geeky anecdote about mushrooms and Mario Kart, and more related musings, visit my blog. Happy reading, and happy eatings!
Tempura Mushroom Sushi Rolls
Ingredients:
For sushi rice:
- 2 cups rice (standard measuring cup; not the cups that come with most rice bags)
- 1/3 cup white sugar; you can adjust to taste
- 1/3 cup vinegar (I used half rice vinegar, half white distilled); you can adjust to taste
- Pinch of salt
- Water
- Rinse rice by swirling in a pot under running cold water. Pour out murky water, taking care not to pour out rice in the process. Repeat once more.
- Pour rice into rice cooker and cover with enough water to rise 1.5 cm above the rice. Cook rice in a rice cooker as usual. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, combine sugar, vinegar, and salt. Pour over cooled rice and gently mix together until rice is completely coated. Your sushi rice is ready to go!
For tempura mushroom:
- 4 oz. mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 1/2 egg, beaten (other 1/2 will be used in filling)
- 1/2 cup flour
- Pinch of baking soda
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- In a bowl, combine water and beaten egg. Add flour and baking soda; mix until combined. Dredge mushroom slices in tempura batter and set aside on a plate. Cover another plate with a paper towel (this will be used to drain the oil after you finish deep-frying).
- Heat up oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat (oil should be about one inch deep). When oil is hot, carefully drop in mushroom slices and deep-fry until each side is golden. Turn off heat, remove mushrooms from pan, and set on the paper-toweled plate. When the mushrooms cool slightly, pat dry. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
For sushi filling (you can substitute any ingredients depending on what you have on hand):
- 1 1/2 eggs, beaten
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 cucumber or carrot, julienned
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- Oil for frying
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Tamago (sweet egg): Heat up oil in a pan. Pour beaten eggs into pan, then sprinkle with sugar. When the bottom has begun to set and can be easily flipped, turn egg over and cook other side until set. Remove from pan.
- Onion: Heat up oil in pan. Cook sliced onions in pan until caramelized. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
To arrange sushi:
- 6 sheets nori (dried seaweed)
On a sheet of nori, gently spread a layer of sushi rice so that entire sheet is covered.
Line up your ingredients along one side of the covered nori in columns.
Starting from the end with ingredients, tightly fold the nori over all of the ingredients-it should form a tube shape. Roll the rest of the roll tightly as you would a sleeping bag, occasionally stopping to press down firmly on the roll so it will retain its shape.
If you have a sushi mat, great! If not, don’t fret-you can still do this no problem.
Make sure you’re nice and firm with your sushi, but don’t push so hard that the toppings come popping out!
Your sushi should have no problem sticking if you have enough sushi rice. Cut with a very sharp knife and serve as desired! I cute mine in half and served them masubi-style.