Japan, of course, has sushi rolls. Korea has gimbap. Taiwan, having been occupied by Japan for half a century, would be remiss to not have their own version of sushi rolls. A common Taiwanese street food, Taiwanese style sushi rolls are unique in their blend of textures and simple, light flavors. Such a delicious dish actually only uses a few simple and common ingredients and though it may take a little more practice to perfect, it is very simple to start making and enjoying.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Assembly Time: 5 minutes
Servings: 2
Rice Ingredients:
- 1 cup (rice cup) of rice (ideally sushi rice, otherwise short grained rice - if you have neither, no worries - it'll still mostly stick if you cook it with a little more water so that it's softer/more mushy)
- 1 cup (rice cup) of water (again, just a smidge more if you're not using sushi or short grained rice)
- 4 tablespoons of vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
Wrap & Filling Ingredients:
- 2 sheets of sushi nori
- 1 baby cucumber
- 1 small carrot
- 1 vegan ham
- 1/2 cup of vegan egg
- 4 tablespoons of vinegar
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
- Vegan mayonnaise
- Vegan Pork Floss (Seaweed or Kelp)
Dipping Ingredients (Optional):
- Soy sauce
- Wasabi
Tools:
- Bamboo rolling mat (wrapped in plastic wrap or bag)
- Rice cooker
Prepping & Cooking Instructions:
- Wash rice (Place your rice in a large bowl and fill with water until all grains are covered by about half an inch to an inch of water. Using your hand, swirl the rice around until the water becomes cloudy. Drain the water and make sure all of the rice grains stay in the bowl. Repeat until the water is clear (about three to four rinses).
- Put clean rice in rice cooker pot and pour in water. Shake the pot around to make sure the rice is even in the pot. Most rice cookers also need the pot completely dry on the outside so as to not burn the pot so you may want to wipe down the outside of the pot as well to make sure it is completely dry.
- Start the rice cooker.
- While the rice cooks, prep the filling.
- Wash the vegetables.
- Peel and cut the carrot into long slices and then the slices into long, thick strips.
- Cut the baby cucumber into long slices and then the slices into long, thick strips.
- Cut the vegan ham into slices and the into thick strips.
- Pour the vinegar and sugar for the filling in a small pan or pot and bring to a low simmer over medium to low heat. Put the carrot strips in the simmering vinegar/sugar mixture. Cook until the rice is done or just before the vinegar completely evaporates.
- In a separate pan, lightly pan fry the vegan ham strips with some oil over medium heat. Flip the strips around to make sure you get all the sides. Pan fry just enough to be lightly toasted on the outside - if it is overcooked the vegan ham will become hard.
- Oil and heat up a flat pan on medium-low heat. Pour vegan egg into the pan and let it pan fry until thoroughly cooked to make a vegan egg crepe. Do not use high heat as that can quickly burn the egg. When mostly cooked, flip the egg to the other side to finish cooking.
- Remove the egg crepe from the pan and roll up. Cut into strips.
- As the rice is finishing up, mix the vinegar and sugar for the rice together in a small pot or pan. Heat up and stir over low heat without letting the vinegar boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove it from the heat.
- Once the rice is done and has slightly cooled, pour the vinegar and sugar mix into the rice as you gently fold the rice with a spatula. Continue gently folding the rice until the vinegar is completely mixed in.
Assembly Instructions:
- Mix some salt into a bowl of warm water.
- Lay out the bamboo rolling mat so that the sticks are parallel to your body and you can roll it up away from your body.
- Lay a sushi nori sheet on the center of the mat - try to leave some space on the mat around the edges, particularly the edge closest to you (this shouldn't be a problem but if you somehow have particularly large nori sheets or a particularly small rolling mat then try to maintain a little big of space on the mat on the edge closest to you).
- Moisten your hands with the salt water.
- Scoop small scoops of rice and lay it onto the nori sheet, starting from the edge closest to you and moving up away from you towards the other end of the nori sheet. Spread and flatten out the rice into a thin layer as you go - try to get as close to the edges and corners as possible. Continue until about 2/3 to 3/4 of the sheet is covered by a thin layer of rice.
- Spread a thin layer of vegan mayonnaise over the rice.
- Scoop some Vegan Pork Floss (Seaweed or Kelp) onto the rice - you can either spread it out or just place it in a horizontal line (parallel to your body) on the rice.
- Lay out the carrots, cucumbers, egg strips, and vegan ham horizontally across the rice. Make sure each ingredient reaches across the entire sheet. You can stack them on top of each other or lined up next to each other. Make sure to leave a little bit of space along the edge closest to you.
- Lift up the edge closest to you with the rolling mat and roll it over to just enough to fully wrap around the filling. Press down firmly and evenly across the roll. Hold down the end of the mat furthest from your body with one hand and use your other hand to pull on the mat wrapped around the roll to tighten. Once you feel good about this first roll, unroll the mat and shift the nori towards you.
- Slightly dampen the nori on the end farthest from you that has no rice on it. This will help the nori stick once it's in a roll. You can also place some rice grains along that edge to help it stick better.
- Again, lift the edge of the mat closest to you and roll up the rest of the sushi roll. Press down firmly and evenly across the roll and again, hold down the other end of the mat while pulling on the mat rolled around the roll towards you to tighten the roll.
- Cut the roll into about 3/4 inch slices and serve.