Vegetable Maki Rolls
- 1 cup sushi rice
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 small carrot
- 1/2 cucumber
- 1 avocado
- 1 teaspoon wasabi powder
- 2 teaspoons water
- 2 sheets nori
- To prepare the rice: Place the rice and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Cover and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
- Place the sugar and rice vinegar in a small bowl and stir until the sugar dissolves.
- Sprinkle the vinegar mixture over the rice and toss well to coat the rice thoroughly.
- To prepare the maki rolls: Peel the carrot and cucumber.
- Scrape the seeds from the cucumber and cut the carrot and cucumber into long strips about 1/4 to 3/8 inch wide.
- Cut the avocado in half and sink the knife blade a bit into the pit and wriggle the knife slightly to pop the pit out.
- Beginning at the larger end of the avocado, slide a spoon between the skin and flesh and gently remove the flesh from each half.
- Cut each half lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices.
- Place the wasabi powder and water in a small bowl and stir until smooth.
- Lay a sheet of nori on the bamboo sushi mat or plastic wrap and orient it so that you will be able to roll it away from you.
- Place half of the rice on the nori.
- Wet your hands to keep the rice from sticking to them and spread the rice over the nori, leaving a 2-inch border at the top spreading all the way to the bottom and extending about 1/4 inch beyond the nori on both sides.
- Sprinkle half of the wasabi mixture over the rice.
- Lay 1 row of carrot, 1 row of cucumber, and 2 rows of avocado across the center of the rice.
- Using the sushi mat or plastic wrap, carefully roll up the maki roll, starting from the bottom.
- Run your hands over the roll as you go to create a smooth, firm roll.
- Wet the top border of the nori with water and firmly press the edge to seal the roll.
- Repeat the process with the remaining ingredients.
- (If you are preparing these ahead of time, wrap them in plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for up to 2 hours.)
- Trim the ragged ends from the maki roll with a serrated knife and cut each maki roll into 7 or 8 pieces.
- Wasabi, the spicy green paste used in sushi, is made from the root of an Asian plant and is often called Japanese horseradish.
- It can be purchased in paste or powdered form.
- When used in powder form, as we did here, it can be made into a paste by adding water or soy sauce.
- Nori is the paper-thin sheets of dried seaweed used to wrap sushi.
- Nori is available in many grocery stores and all Asian markets.
rice, water, sugar, rice vinegar, carrot, cucumber, avocado, wasabi powder, water, nori
Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/vegetable-maki-rolls-380031 (may not work)