Vegan Sushi! (Mom tested, kid approved!)

Hey babes,

So, my youngest went through a spell where she was absolutely convinced school food was making her sick. While I was skeptical, I was also happy to make lunches for her while she sorted out her feelings about school food. Turns out, one of her favorite staples for hot days was also one of my personal favorites: vegan sushi.

Listen, I know sushi seems a little intimidating. The flavors may not be things you are used to at home. The rolling and cutting seems complicated. But I promise you, sushi is so easy to make. Sushi rice, nori, and rice wine vinegar are widely available at the big box grocers, and beyond that you can put what you like into it. I’ve made them with my basic weekly veg (such as cucumber, carrots, avocado, and bell peppers) or jazzed them up with tempeh, vegan “chik’n”, or beet “poke”. No matter how simple or incredibly fancy you want to make these, the core of the process is so, so easy. What better way to impress your guests than with a huge spread of sushi that took you twenty minutes and $5 to make?

Eating Weeds

When I was a kid, seaweed was that gross slimy stuff that gripped onto your legs when you were swimming down at the coast. But when you compare it to the fish that gave me sweet little nibbles (and also happen to be unfortunately packed with microplastics and mercury (and sentience, but who’s counting?), particularly in health benefits, those weeds start looking like roses.

Seaweeds, or more specifically nori, wakame, and kombu are packed full of the iodine you might find otherwise lacking in a whole food plant-based diet, as well as the often overlooked tyrosine, which also contributes to health thyroid function. Based on a large number of studies, the components of nori may also aid in reducing weight and blood pressure, so why not add a little into your diet in a delicious, trendy way?

The Process

So, there are two ways to do this thing, but both involve using a sushi roller. If you don’t have one, Wal-mart, Amazon, and your neighborhood Asian grocery store have plenty of affordable options (you can even find them on Shein and Wish). If you like sushi as much as I do, you’ll use it plenty.

The first thing is to chop up your sushi fillings, and let your sushi rice (mixed with the vinegar concoction mentioned) cool in the fridge for a little bit. After that, grab your sushi mat, a little bowl of water, and your nori sheets.

The first way is more simple: rice and fillings on the inside, nori wrapper on the outside. Here’s the basics: place nori wrapper on the sushi mat. Pat down the rice mixture on a third of the nori wrapper, about an inch from the bottom. Place your toppings on the center of the rice.

Use the water to wet the nori at the bottom. Using your fingers to make sure the toppings stay in place, carefully roll the sushi upward, continuing to tuck in the fillings to keep it tight. Once wrapped, roll within the bamboo roller a few times to tighten the sushi roll.

When you’re ready, use a SHARP wet knife and very light pressure to slice the roll. ‘

The second method requires a little more care and the use of plastic wrap. Place everything as you did before up to the fillings, though try to spread the rice to about half of the sheet if you want full coverage on the bottom. I also like to use this time to add things like chili flakes or sesame seeds to the rice.

Now, very carefully, slide your hands between the plastic and the bamboo and flip the nori-rice combination horizontally, so that that the direction of the rice and nori remain the same vertically. From here, add your fillings to the nori at about the center or a little lower of where the rice is affixed on the opposite side.

After that, same procedure: carefully roll into a tight roll, though take caution not to get the plastic stuck in the roll. Water helps a LOT with this sticky rice. So, give it a try and get creative! Let me know what you like to put inside your sushi!

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