Smoked Salmon Sushi Roll with Brown Rice
By: Jessica Boscarini
Published: Friday, February 17, 2012 - 1:41pm

Ingredients




1 cup short-grain brown rice
2 cups water
3 Tbs. brown rice wine vinegar
½ tsp. Stevia
4 sheets Nori (dry seaweed)
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
2 Persian cucumbers, washed and sliced in strips
8 oz. smoked salmon, cut into long strips
4 tsp. wasabi paste (or 2 tsp. dried Wasabi Powder)
1 lemon, sliced (serve alongside the roll for flavor enhancement)

Preparation

1 Boil 2 cups of water with ¼ tsp. salt. Once water is boiling, add rice and stir. Let the water return to a boil, and stir again. Reduce heat to simmer and cover pot. Cook rice for approximately 55 minutes, or until it looks “cratered”.  [Rice must be slightly dry as vinegar will be added later.] 2 Remove rice from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. 3 Mix together the rice vinegar and Stevia. Once the rice is done resting, pour the vinegar mixture over the hot rice. Spread rice on a plate, and allow to cool completely. 4 Cut the 4 sheets of seaweed in half, length-wise. 5 Place 1 one of the halves on a bamboo mat wrapped in plastic wrap, and press a thin layer of cool rice on the seaweed. Leave a small border (approx. ¼ inch) along the top and bottom edge of the seaweed uncovered. This is for easier sealing later. 6 Flip the seaweed over. This is so the rice will be on the outside of the roll once complete. [It’s really just an aesthetic thing, and is a little bit harder to roll, so if you aren’t interested in doing this step, skip it – your call.] 7 Dot some wasabi on the [now] bottom side of the seaweed. (If you prefer to use Wasabi powder, sprinkle it along the center of the seaweed.) 8 Arrange cucumber, avocado and smoked salmon on the seaweed. Position them about a ½ inch away from the bottom edge of the seaweed (closest to you). 9 Slightly wet the top edge of the seaweed. Roll the seaweed once around the fillings, from the bottom toward the top, and squeeze tightly with the help of the bamboo mat. Now roll the mat the rest of the way, closing the roll.  Squeeze roll again. Cut* the roll into 8 equal pieces and arrange on a serving tray. Repeat for other rolls. 10 To Serve: These rolls are quite flavorful and really don’t need any kind of sauce. Just a few squeezes of lemon juice over the sushi pieces and you are ready to enjoy. 11 Tip: Cutting the sushi roll after it is rolled can often be the most challenging part of doing these yourself. In order to make it easier, use a very sharp knife and dip the blade in cool water between every couple cuts. This will help to reduce the friction the blade has against the rice.

About

My husband is a huge fan of Smoked Salmon. Give him a bagel with cream cheese and Smoked Salmon and you’ve got yourself a happy man. Yes, I know this is not the healthiest of meals, especially when you buy it from your local bagel shop, but if constructed with the right ingredients (ie, Wild Smoked Salmon, a whole-wheat bagel, and organic, light cream cheese) it’s really not that bad.
In order to help curb his craving, I bought a big pack of Smoked Wild Salmon from Costco. Well, there are apparently only so many bagels and lox a man can eat, so I have been stuck with the task of trying to use up the rest of this Salmon before it goes bad.
Feeling adventurous, I decided to make Smoked Salmon Sushi Rolls. And let me tell you, neither my husband nor I was disappointed!  Made with brown rice, cucumber, avocado, and Wild Smoked Salmon, our Wednesday night dinner turned into quite the feast. (I made spinach salads for us both as well, since I think it is important to get a good amount of vegetables in your daily meals.)
Try this recipe the next time you are trying to impress. Yes, it is a little time consuming, but oh-so-worth-it.