I could not dream of making these today as my house has been turned upside down, but I shot them for you a while ago (in preparation for this chaos) and I thought it would be a good recipe to share today.
It’s easy to make, filling and way more nutritious than traditional maki rolls made with sushi rice.
They are also way less fussy as brown rice isn’t as delicate a beast as sushi rice and does not require a lifetime of rinsing and fanning 😉 .
We are on day 4 of packing and it looks like we are nowhere near the finish line. I start panicking and lose my effectiveness while Duncan keeps on cracking jokes and talking to the cats like they are humans, ha ha. We are a great match, aren’t we?
Right, back to packing, we will report back on Friday 😉 .
- 380 g / 2 cups brown rice
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 tbsp maple syrup or sugar
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 4-5 nori sheets
FILLING
- approx. 30 g / 1 oz baby spinach leaves
- 1 carrot, peeled and julienned
- 1 Lebanese cucumber, cored and julienned
- 1 beetroot, peeled and julienned
- 1 ripe avocado, cut into same size wedges
CONDIMENTS
- pickled ginger, store bought or homemade
- wasabi
- tamari (for GF version) or soy sauce
- Rinse your rice as you would normally (as opposed to sushi rice, brown rice doesn’t need a very thorough rinsing).
- Place rinsed rice in a medium pot with a glass lid and cover with 3 cups of water. Cover with a lid and bring to the boil. Once the water comes to the boil, decrease the heat down to low and let the rice cook until it has absorbed all of the water. Once all the water has been absorbed, switch the heat off but do not lift the lid and let the covered pot sit on a warm hob for another 5 minutes to finish off cooking in its own steam.
- While the rice is cooking prepare seasoning by mixing rice vinegar, maple syrup (or sugar) and salt in a small bowl. Adjust the level of sweetness and saltiness to your taste.
- Transfer cooked rice onto a large tray (a large Pyrex works well) and season with the mixture you prepared earlier by gently folding the seasoning into the rice with a spatula (being careful not to squash the grains). Allow the rice to cool down completely.
ASSEMBLY
- Wrap your sushi mat (bamboo mat or folded kitchen towel) in a large piece of cling film and have a small bowl of water handy. Put the mat down and put a nori sheet on top of the mat, shiny side down. Grab some brown rice and spread it evenly on the nori sheet leaving a 1 cm margin at the very top, for sealing. As well as spreading the rice evenly, keep on pressing it into the mat with the back of a spoon.
- Place fresh spinach, carrot, cucumber, beetroot matchsticks and avocado pieces in a long line along the bottom edge of the nori sheet and leave a bit of space below so that you can fold the nori sheet over the filling.
- Using the mat, slowly start rolling the roll, squeezing it tightly with both hands as you roll. Go back every now and then to make sure everything is tightly bonded.
- Once you get to the end, dip your finger in water and brush the water on the margin to seal the roll. Finish rolling and set the roll aside. Repeat the last 4 steps with the remaining nori sheets.
- Once you’ve rolled all the sushi rolls, cut them into 1 cm slices with a sharp knife. Serve with pickled ginger, wasabi and a side of tamari (or soy sauce).