Vegan sushi (vegetable norimaki)

Ingredients

• 2 cups sushi rice
• 2½ cups water
• 4 tablespoons rice vinegar, plus 3 more for wetting your hands
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 5 sheets nori seaweed
• 1 cucumber
• 2 carrots
• 1 avocado

Missing an ingredient?

• What to use instead of rice
• What to use instead of sugar
• What to use instead of carrots

Instructions

1. Put the rice in a heavy-bottomed nonstick pot and rinse it 3 times: cover it with water, swish it with your hand and drain.
2. Cover it with the 2½ cups of water, put the lid on and set over high heat. When it boils, turn it to the lowest setting until there's no water left. Uncover, stir and let it rest for 15 minutes.
3. Mix the 4 tablespoons of rice vinegar with the sugar and salt and add it gradually to the rice, stirring with a wooden spoon and fanning it to cool it. Let it cool completely: this is your sushi rice.
4. Cut the cucumber, carrots and avocado into thin strips (roasted pepper, zucchini, spinach, corn or sesame seeds also work). Mix 1 cup of water with the 3 tablespoons of vinegar to wet your hands, so the rice doesn't stick.
5. Lay a sheet of nori on a bamboo mat or plastic wrap, rough side up (don't wet it). With damp hands, spread a not-too-thick layer of rice, without pressing it down, over three quarters of the nori, right to the edges.
6. Put a little filling roughly in the center, without overdoing it. Roll from the rice side, holding the filling with your fingers and rolling with your palms, pressing the roll evenly. To seal the end of the nori, press a few grains of rice onto it.
7. Let the roll rest for a few minutes. Cut it into finger-thick pieces with a knife dipped in vinegar water, wiping it with a damp cloth between cuts.
8. With the same rice you can make other shapes: nigiri (blocks of rice with the topping on top, held with a strip of nori), gunkan (blocks wrapped in nori with chopped filling on top), kappa maki (thin, square cucumber rolls) or temaki (nori cones).

Nutrition facts

Approximate, per serving (about 187 g). Calculated with data from USDA FoodData Central.