Homemade Vegan Sushi Platter

We regularly show you how to make dishes from international restaurants at home, such as pinsa, palak paneer or even a bolognese. But there is one thing for which we also go more often to the restaurant instead of making it at home: sushi. But sushi is not as complicated as you might think. And sure, for the small hunger and eight small Maki rolls with cucumber, we would also not necessarily put on the sushi rice. Therefore, we prefer to go all in today with a biiiig vegan sushi plate, which is perfect for a small party at your home. The individual components, such as sushi rice and fillings, can be perfectly divided among a larger group, and then at the table, everyone can relax and pick out the sushi shape he or she likes best – and off the rolling goes! But let's start from the beginning and work our way step by step to the sushi plate.

1. What equipment do you need for sushi at home?

There are a few essential things that you can't do without, but also some things that can make your life easier but are not absolutely necessary. Those would be:

☑ sushi mat
☑ cling film (to wrap the sushi mat)
☑ a big bowl to wash the rice
☑ a pot or rice cooker
☑ rice molds (optional, for example, for nigiri)
☑ chopsticks
☑ cutting board
☑ sharp knife

For the latter, we suggest you really use the sharpest knife in your drawer because it's not just about cutting the ingredients but also cutting the sushi rolls in the end. And trust us, there's little more disappointing in this recipe than when you crush your sushi rolls instead of cutting them, and all that rolling seems to be for naught.
If none of your knives are really sharp, then it's probably time to sharpen again – yes, we guess how you look right now. For a long time, we also thought that sharpening knives at home would be super complicated and time-consuming, but for a few months now, we've had a roller sharpener (https://www.horl.com/us/en/rollschleifer/horl2#eiche) from Horl (https://www.horl.com/us/en/horl2/professional-sharpness-made-at-home/) in the office. And by now, almost all of us have taken it home to sharpen a round of knives there, too – in fact, it's not only very easy and quick but even fun.

The grinding set consists of a grinding block that is angled on two sides. There, you can decide whether you want to grind your knives at 15 ° or 20 °. 20 ° is suitable for all ordinary knives. 15 °, on the other hand, is perfect for particularly fine blades. The two sides are magnetic, so your knives are attracted to them, and you don't have to worry about holding the knives incorrectly and not being able to sharp them optimally. After that, you're ready to go and grab the sharpener, which has two sides: The diamond grinding disc and the ceramic honing disc. With both sides, you'll grind each side of your knife for several minutes (20 movements per side is recommended). And that's really all it is. So, you move the sharpener back and forth, and your knives get sharper each time. At the very end, all you have to do is clean the knife with a clean dish towel and wipe it down on it to remove all the abrasive particles. If you want it to be even sharper, you can use additional fine-grained corundum whetstone discs (https://www.horl.com/us/en/zubehoer/schleifsteine/premiumschaerfe-set). However, the application is the same. The grinding discs can be easily removed and replaced by turning them in and out on the sharpener.

Knife sharpened? Then you can continue.

2.What ingredients do you need for homemade sushi?

In principle, you can orient yourself to four building blocks: the sushi rice, nori leaves, fillings of your choice and the "garnishes" to the sushi.

The Sushi Rice
Sushi stands and falls with well-cooked rice. It is especially important to use short-grain sushi rice and not basmati rice, jasmine rice or similar. To ensure that the rice sticks together really well, you need to wash it thoroughly beforehand – regardless of whether you cook it on a rice stove or in a pot. So put it in a bowl with plenty of cold water and go through the rice with your hands. You'll notice right away that the water turns milky – that's the starch clinging to the rice grains that we want to get rid of. Pour off the water and cover the rice with clean water again. After that, wash the rice again and again until the water actually stays clear. Only then you should prepare your rice either in the pot or in the rice stove and add stirred sushi vinegar at the end to season the rice. The preparation is described below in the recipe. However, I didn't come up with the recipes myself, but they are from Japanese chef Shoko Kono (http://www.japanische-kochkurse.de/%C3%BCber-mich/), with whom I once had the pleasure of working – I've always made my sushi rice according to her recipe since then. She also gives cooking classes in Berlin, which I can only recommend to you.

The Nori Sheets
You've seen nori leaves before when you've eaten sushi, of course, but have you ever wondered what they actually are? They are seaweed leaves that are dried and roasted. They are soft enough to roll but still have a slight bite to them, making them tear-resistant and not directly soggy. It's the perfect consistency for sushi rolls. You can find them in Asian markets, but also more and more often in supermarkets.

Sushi Fillings
No fish = no sushi? No way! There are plenty of vegetable alternatives, which can be found in traditional sushi anyway. In addition, you can also try new fillings according to your taste. And for those who like the taste of fish, there are now vegan options that are great for vegan sushi – check out our great product test (https://www.zuckerjagdwurst.com/en/posts/vegan-shopping-guides/shopping-guide-plant-based-fish-from-german-supermarkets).

Here are just a few of our ideas for sushi filling:
☐ cucumber
☐ avocado
☐ carrot
☐ bell pepper
☐ mushrooms
☐ tofu
☐ spring onion
☐ pickled radish
☐ sweet and sour corn cobs from the jar
☐ cooked sweet potato
☐ cress
☐ vegan cream cheese
☐ vegan tuna
☐ vegan salmon
☐ vegan caviar

The right „garnishes“ for sushi
With soy sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger, you have the perfect accompaniments for your sushi platter, but did you know there are a few „sushi rules“ for them? Stirring wasabi into the soy sauce? A no-go. It's better to put it directly on the roll. Put the sushi ginger on the rolls? That is not really the point because pickled ginger is supposed to be eaten between the different rolls to neutralize the taste buds for once. Eat the sushi rolls with your hands? It is actually approved, even if chopsticks are preferred.

3. Different types and shapes of sushi

Probably most of us, when we hear the word sushi, have the classic small rolls with nori sheet in mind. But of course, there are muuuch more ways to prepare sushi. We read up on this sushi platter, watched a lot of tutorials and then tried around a bit. Today, we're going to show you six ideas that are super great for homemade sushi. In this fantastic YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzLPUoetSHw), you can have Taka Sakaeda, a restaurant chef in New York, show and explain all of this and more in detail. Here are the sushi shapes we made for our platter. Of course, you can find the preparation below in the recipe.

Maki: Maki is probably the best-known form of sushi, in which sushi rice and one or more fillings are rolled up in nori sheets and then cut into small pieces that end up in the mouth in one bite. Depending on the amount of filling, one can then distinguish in more detail, for example, Hosomaki (only one filling) or Futomaki (several fillings). More familiar, however, are ...

Inside-Out Rolls or Uramaki: Uramaki does not necessarily belong to the traditional but to the most popular sushi forms. In principle, the order is simply reversed: the sushi rice is on the outside, and the nori sheet is on the inside with the filling. You can often get them in restaurants with non-vegan cream cheese, but at home, you can FINALLY make the Inside Out Rolls of your dreams.

Crunchy Rolls or Age Sushi: Also anything but classic, but incredibly delicious: Both Inside Out Rolls and Maki Rolls can be coated with panko and then deep-fried so that they become crispy on the outside.

Nigiri: Nigiri is one of the most traditional forms of sushi, and you don't even need nori sheets for it. Instead, the sushi rice is formed by hand and then topped with an ingredient of your choice. For more stability, you can still wrap everything with a thin strip of nori sheet. Sounds super relaxed in itself, but shaping needs to be learned. YouTube tutorials OR a little cheat can help here as well – there are also sushi formers available for purchase that will shape the rice perfectly for you.

Temaki: Temaki is hand-rolled sushi that resembles a small bag at the end. Here, rice and several fillings can be rolled into the nori sheet. If you have trouble with the more delicate sushi rolls, you can start very well with Temaki because it is really easy for everyone.

Gunkan Sushi: The name is not necessarily familiar, but for homemade sushi, it is a really nice variation which resembles a small boat at the end. The rice is wrapped with a wide strip of nori sheet but has room on top for topping with chopped ingredients or even vegan caviar.

Do you have more tips and ideas for our sushi party? Then be sure to put them in the comments below!