Sushi Bowls

Day 85

Sushi bowls are just sushi, but are not rolled into uptight little spirals. They're a more relaxed, easy-going, Type B version of sushi. A drawback would be that you would not be able to have a "sampler" or "variety plate" of a bunch of different kinds of sushi, unless you make 2 or more smaller sushi bowls.

Sushi Bowls

Sushi Ingredients

• Sushi rice
• Rice vinegar
• Sugar
• Green onions
• Carrot
• Mushrooms
• Avocado
• Mango
• English cucumber
• Nori (seaweed) wraps
• Toasted sesame seeds
• Soy sauce 
• Wasabi powder + water (or wasabi paste)
• Salt (for mushrooms)
• Mrs. Dash (for mushrooms)

Some ingredients

Rice

The rice is definitely the most high maintenance part of the sushi bowl process. It requires washing, drying, cooking, then cooling, but it takes more (waiting) time than effort.

Here are the steps:

1. Measure the amount of rice you will need into a medium to large bowl. We used 2 cups.
2. Add an amount of water to the bowl, enough to cover the rice.
3. Swish it around and gently massage the rice. You're essentially washing the rice. The water will turn milky. Drain this water off.
4. Add more water.
5. Repeat Step 2 to Step 4 four or five more times until the water no longer turns milky.
6. Leave rice in the colander or sieve to dry for 30 - 60 minutes. We waited 60.
7. Cook the rice according to package instructions. 
8. Cool completely. As it's cooling, make the perfect sushi rice.

Rice drying

Rice about to cook

Cooked rice cooling

Now you understand why I say the rice is the most high maintenance. Not that the washing takes so much time. It's a 5 to 10 minute process. Then there is an hour wait while it dries. This time is used for washing, peeling and chopping the other ingredients.

Vegetables & Stuff

Clean the mushrooms and wash the green onions. Peel the avocado, carrot, mango and cucumber. Dice and chop everything to the size you like. 

Diced mango, still on skin

Sauté the mushrooms. Add salt, cook until moisture is completely cooked out, add tsp butter, and add 1/2 tsp garlic Mrs. Dash. These will be the only vegetables that will be cooked. Everything else is added to the sushi bowl raw. How cool is that??!

Mushrooms sautéing

The photo below shows all the sushi bowl ingredients on a plate. 

From top left and going clockwise: 

Diced nori wraps in the little dish, Mason jar full of toasted sesame seeds, wasabi paste mixed in a small dish, grated carrot, green onion, chopped and sliced on the diagonal, sautéed mushrooms, sliced avocado, chopped mango and strips of cucumber.

Sushi bowl ingredients (except the rice)

Assembly

Spoon some rice into each bowl. Pile on the rest of the ingredients in whichever order and amounts you prefer. You can make your plate look super pretty! Add wasabi paste (wasabi powder + water or tube of paste) and Kikkoman soy sauce to taste. We use only Kikkoman for sushi and Kikkoman for sushi only. Both. That's because we both agree that Kikkoman is the best soy sauce for sushi that we've tried, but it's no good on anything else because it reminds Laura of sushi and makes her wish she was having it.

Prepared sushi rice

Sushi bowl

Reviews/Comments

Sushi bowls are as good as sushi. I loved it so much! I rate this one a 10. I am definitely taking some for lunch (minus the avocado due to a office allergy). 

Laura: Thought it was wonderful. So much easier than wrapping sushi. Give it a 10.