Food & Drink by Shari McIntyre (formerly Darling) For more information on wine and food, go to www.sharidarling.com At age 26, I tasted sushi and sashimi for the first time and have loved Japanese cuisine ever since. I crave Japanese fare, so much so that I choose all-you-can-eat restaurants to indulge in…until my belly is round! However, reaching age 60 this year, I refrain from eating sushi and sashimi regularly. I cannot burn off the carbohydrates from the white rice that stores as fat inmy body. Soy sauce is also ridiculously high in sodium. Consuming too much salt can lead to high blood pressure and an increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Now it’s easy to make sushi rolls at home with or without white rice! My sushi roll recipe includes almost no carbohydrates and offers a good source of protein and fibre. I also use coconut aminos in place of soy sauce. Coconut aminos have less than half of the sodium. My little gems are filled with creaminess, crunchiness, saltiness, fattiness and umami (roundness and depth of flavour). I devour these rolls regularly because they are so healthy and low in carbohydrates. Sushi rolls can be enjoyed at lunch or brunch, as hors d’oeuvre or for dinner. I can devour three rolls in one sitting, no problem! They need not include raw seafood − use fake crab, cooked shelled shrimp, smoked salmon, canned tuna or canned salmon. Or prepare a vegetarian version. To make rolls more substantial, add lots of raw veggies such as lettuce, cucumber, avocado and carrots. Boston lettuce has large leaves, is soft and pliable and tastes great in sushi rolls. This lettuce is higher than romaine in folate, iron and potassium. For making rolls, romaine lettuce is too hard and makes it difficult to roll the nori paper − the paper breaks. Butter lettuce is pliable, too, and is an excellent source of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, calcium and iron. I don’t need a white rice substitute. However, you might like one. For the interior, you can use brown rice, wild rice, quinoa or cauliflower rice. Or, youmight like a combination of these. For a higher-protein version, substitute white rice with raw cashews or raw sunflower seeds. I know that it sounds weird. But raw nuts and seeds have a mild nutty flavour which is not overpowering. Soak the raw nuts or seeds in water for 24 hours and rinse. Much like rice, the raw nuts and seeds are al dente and chewy. Use them in a roll with small chunks of cooked chicken, lettuce, avocado and cucumber. Crush the nuts so that they are comparable in size to rice kernels. Instead of dipping the rolls in soy sauce, make a Thai spicy peanut sauce using coconut aminos. To make the sauce, combine ½ cup unsweetened peanut butter, 2 tablespoons coconut aminos, 1 tablespoon white vinegar, 1 tablespoon stevia, 2 teaspoons chili sauce, 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, 3 minced cloves of garlic, 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger and 2-4 tablespoons warm water. Mix together in a bowl. Delicious! For crunch in your roll, add cucumber, carrots, broken raw cauliflower florets, snow peas or even broken broccoli florets. Be creative. For creaminess, add cream cheese, fresh avocado slices, sriracha mayonnaise, ricotta, fresh mozzarella…the choice is yours. For bursts of flavour, add fresh lime or lemon juice, wasabi, grated fresh ginger or sesame oil. Now for the roll. Sushi rolls are made with nori paper. Nori is the name for dried, edible seaweed made into sheets. It is created from a species of red algae called Porphyra, including Porphyra yezonensis and Porphyra tenera. Nori is high in umami (depth of flavour) and is salty. However, it is also low in carbohydrates and packed full of vitamins. Nori contains vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K, as well as niacin, folic acid and taurine. Due to its level of vitamin C, the bioavailability of nori’s iron content is increased. Once the package is open, nori begins to dry out, making it difficult to use a few days later, even if stored in a freezer bag. If you have nori paper left over and want to make rolls a few days later, you can revive it. Preheat a toaster oven or oven to 200 degrees F. On a dry, ungreased cookie sheet, arrange the nori sheets in a single layer. Place the cookie sheet in the oven for two minutes. Check every minute to see if it has become more pliant for rolling. Because it comes from the sea, nori works well with seafood such as salmon, tuna, smoked salmon and shrimp. It also complements vegetarian rolls. If you don’t like nori, you can use such other wrappers as rice paper, soy paper, Boston lettuce leaves or smoked salmon. Instead of putting the smoked salmon on the inside, use it as the wrapper and fill the roll with cream cheese and veggies. Or, use the lettuce to wrap your ingredients. You’ll need a bamboo mat to roll the sushi and nori paper for the rolls. The mat costs about $5. The mat and the nori paper are both available at Asian grocery stores and often at most supermarkets. Amazon.ca also sells the mats inexpensively. If you are including rice in your sushi rolls (and, therefore, not going grain-free), go for it and pair this dish with Nigori. Fermented from rice, this Japanese unfiltered wine is the sweetest of all sake. It is meant to be consumed chilled and possesses a fruity nose andmild flavour. But be careful…Nigori is high in alcohol, at 12-17%. Due to its sweetness, Nigori works nicely with mild sriracha mayo drizzled over your rolls. Sushi Rolls 52 | www.snowbirds.org
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