Hot Salmon Roll

My daughter is a sushi lover and I've been owing her a sushi feast since our favorite Japanese restaurant in NYC closed its doors last December. The chef had decided to move back to Japan.... :-(

So taking that I got so inspired in the kitchen these days, I decided to adventure my self in sushi making! Due to my believe in whole food nutrition,  I came up with a recipe slightly different from the traditional sushi recipes. I used brown rice instead of white rice, unseasoned brown rice vinegar instead of the sugary white rice vinegar and coconut nectar instead of white sugar to sweeten the rice.

But why these changes? Well, I guess that you guys should be tired of me talking about the harms of white sugar when eaten regularly: diabetes, hypoglycemia, osteoporosis, obesity, cancer, acidity, and impaired mental and physical health!

So let's jump into the goodness of Japanese culinary arts!!!



Ingredients:

1 cup short grain brown rice, soaked for 6-8 hours
2 cups (if using pressure cooker use 1 3/4 cups water)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup brown rice vinegar
1/4 cup coconut nectar syrup
1lb. or 250gr. cooked salmon, cut into thick
1teaspoon Manna Shoyu (truly fermented soy bean sauce, no sugar, preservatives or alcohol)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
1 teaspoon shoyu
1 Tablespoon Mirin
1 ripe avocado
5 nori sheets

1- Drain the rice to get rid of the soaking water. Place rice, fresh water and sea salt into a pan, bring to a boil and immediately cover and turn to lowest heat setting. Let it simmer for 40-45 minutes.When done, let rice stand for 10 minutes. 

2- While rice is cooking, cut the salmon into thick slices (about a the length and thickness of a finger). Season the salmon with lemon and shoyu. Coat a frying pan with sesame oil, add salmon and cook for about 3 min on each side. (if you prefer the salmon partially raw, add the salmon to the pan while very hot and maintin the high heat when cooking all the salmon edges. Keep the salmon aside.

3- In another pan, add carrots, mirin and shoyu. Cover the pan and let in steam over medium/low heat until carrots are tender and not too soft. Keep it aside.

4- While rice is standing, stir together vinegar and coconut syrup together 

Transfer rice to a wide bowl and sprinkle with vinegar mixture, tossing gently with a large spoon to combine. Cool rice, tossing occasionally, about 15 minutes.

5- Place sushi mat on a work surface with slats running crosswise (if you have the practice, you can roll the sushi without the mat). Arrange 1 sheet nori, shiny side down, on mat. Place a small bowl with water and very little oil near you to damp your fingers.Using damp fingers, gently press rice onto nori, leaving a 1 3/4-inch border (4cm) on side farthest from you.

6- Arrange 2 or 3 pieces of salmon in an even strip horizontally across rice, (You may need to cut pieces to fit from side to side.) Arrange 2 carrots slices just above salmon in same manner. Peel avocado half and cut lengthwise into thin slices, then arrange 2 slices just above carrot in same manner. 

7- Beginning with the edge nearest you, lift mat up with your thumbs, holding filling in place with your fingers, and fold mat over filling, rolling forward. Then squeeze gently but firmly along length of roll. Open mat and roll log forward to seal with nori border. Transfer log to a cutting board. Make second log in same manner. It should yield about 4 logs. When you have them all done, cut them all in half.

                           

                                                     




















8- In a large container, mix the flour, egg, water and salt. Coat the rolls with dough.

In a frying pan, add enough oil to cover the logs when deep-frying them. Turn on the heat and let the oil become very hot but not smoking. 

Place a baking sheet lined with paper towels near the frying station.

Add the 2 or 3 logs at a time, depending on the size of the pan your are using. and fry until golden brown, (3 min).

Serve with shoyu, ginger and wasabi. ENJOY!