Sometimes you want to just hit the town and treat yourself… and sometimes that means spending the big bucks. For those of you who want to wine and dine like real queens but want to keep that moolah in your pocket, consider us your saviours. We had a budget friendly Sushi Lunch featuring an absolutely prefect Lychee Martini. Not to mention food just tastes better when its homemade! With the weather getting warmer we’re really feeling fresher and lighter meals so obviously Sushi was a perfect fit!
The bright colours in these rolls and the sides of pickled pink ginger and wasabi will have you wanting to make sushi night a regular thing! Without a doubt sushi will awaken your taste buds from comfort food season into that of Spring flavours!
Our sushi adventure had us making two different rolls, one being vegetarian and one with a little crunchy kick using shrimp tempura in it. After all, variety is the spice of life!
The really rad thing about making sushi is the fact that it looks pretty impressive but it’s actually hella easy to make! Also there are no wrong ingredients, essentially throw in your fav thinly sliced produce, with varying textures and roll that bad boy up!
- Sushi set – you can get a really awesome one here.
For the sushi rice:
- Sushi Rice
- Rice Vinegar
- Sugar
- Salt
For the sushi itself:
- Nori (Sheets of Sushi Seaweed)
- Avocado, sliced
- Tempura bits
- Shrimp Tempura (check out the recipe we followed here)
- Cucumber, thinly julienned
- Black Sesame Seeds (optional)
- Soy Sauce
- Pickled Ginger
- Wasabi Paste
- Sushi Mat
- Plastic Wrap
- Mayonnaise (optional)
- Sriracha (optional)
- Prepare the sushi rice according to the back of the bag – but it will likely involve adding in rice vinegar, sugar and salt. While rice is cooking prepare the roll fillings.
- Lay plastic wrap on the sushi mat and add the ingredient you want on the outside of the roll first (either Nori or Rice). For the rice, spoon in a thin layer, covering the entire length and width of the sushi mat.
- If you chose Nori on the outside then lay a thin layer of rice on top of the Nori sheet. If you chose rice on the outside then lay a sheet of Nori on top of the rice.
- Now its time to fill your roll! Line up your ingredients across the bottom of sheet of rice closest to you.
- Pull the mat and roll the Nori and rice over the filling. Push the filling into the roll with your fingers and roll the mat over to shape and tighten the roll.
- If you’d like to top the rice roll with black sesame seeds, scatter some on a chopping board and gently roll the rice roll in it.
- Use a very sharp chef knife with the edge dipped in water to slice each roll into approximately 6 pieces. Wipe the edge of the knife with a clean kitchen cloth and dip it in water after every slice.
- Serve immediately with sides of soy sauce, pickled ginger, wasabi. You can also add a sriracha mayo drizzle if you’re feeling saucy. Just mix equal parts Sriracha and mayonnaise and either use a squeeze bottle to drizzle, or keep it simple and just use a spoon.
Sushi wouldn’t be the same without some sake! We aren’t huge sake drinkers so we decided to make a cocktail with it instead of drinking it solo. Enter the Lychee Martini. This perfect balanced martini was an easy take down, especially after a heavy sushi base. Check out the recipe here.
These sweet tunes will make you feel like you’re in a sushi restaurant.