Day 46 - Spicy Tempeh Nori Rolls, Creamy Asian Pear and Tempeh Salad with Wasabi Dressing, Pear and Tempeh Roll, Elephant Roll, "Yamroom" Roll, Spinach Sesame Roll, and Rosewater Pound Cake

Sushi Fest 2013!

David and Trey and Alysha are here for my Sushipalooza. I figured since I was getting out the bamboo mat, I might as well just make every roll in the book at once!

First, though, let’s discuss this salad, since it deserves some special attention.

Creamy Asian Pear and Tempeh Salad with Wasabi Dressing

Stellar and simple. This is a fabulous recipe! I made a batch of the Silken Mayo Dressing for it. The first time I made the mayo, I used agave nectar, and it was overly sweet. This time, I used maple syrup, and the mayo was ON POINT! I mean, perfect doppelganger! I love when the vegan alternative is not only equally tasty but also way healthier.

Putting this salad together couldn’t be easier. A little dicing, a little steaming, stir and toss, voilà! The flavors/ingredients are amazing together – sweet, earthy, spicy, creamy, crunchy, oniony, green-y, toothy. What a great salad! And what a great idea to stick it in a sushi roll!

Note: I had to use extra wasabi powder. This is something you have to taste test.

SFO: 8

(I still think tempeh could be a stopper for some folks.)

Spicy Tempeh Nori Rolls

The boilerplate sushi recipe is terrific. Since David and Trey are still doing that “Get Snatched” thing, i.e. counting every calorie, I used brown sushi rice. I was making a guess about how much extra water to use, and I didn’t guess well. I went for a 1:2 ratio, rice to water. (The white rice ratio is 1:1.25, so I figured it would take more time and water.) If I were doing it again, I’d probably shoot more in the 1:1.66 range, as my rice was overly wet, sticky, and starchy. Definitely usable, but not ideal.

Since that night, I’ve made more sushi using white rice, and the recipe instructions are perfect. My rice needed a little more time than 10-15 minutes to cool down, though. About 20m was perfect.

Here are my thoughts about rolling sushi:

• It’s so easy! Why aren’t we all doing this all the time?
• Having wet hands is important. Otherwise, the rice will stick to your hands in a big bad way.
• I cut the rolls with a chef’s knife (i.e. not serrated), and it worked perfectly.

David likes "original recipe"

This filling is delicious!! It’s like spicy tuna without the tuna. FYI, I had to use more than the suggested ½-1 teaspoon chile sesame oil to get that spicy flavor in there, and I’m a spice wimp.

There’s a direction missing from the recipe, which lists sesame seeds in the ingredients but never tells you when to add them. I sprinkled them over the rice just before rolling.

All in all, this sushi makes a big impression, and it requires surprisingly little effort. What a great appetizer for parties or really any occasion!

SFO: 10

(People who are adventurous enough to want sushi are adventurous enough to deal with tempeh. Besides which, it’s so embedded in the roll, you’d be hard pressed to identify it, even if you were familiar with the flavor.)

Now for the variations!

Pear and Tempeh Roll

How cute is Trey?

Surprisingly, the amazing Tempeh and Asian Pear salad doesn’t shine as much as a sushi ingredient as it does on its own. That said, it tastes great. Not only did I serve this roll to David, Trey, and Alysha, I also made some for my book club a few nights later with the leftover salad. They were convinced that they were tasting fish in there, but I think what they were tasting is the “sea” in the seaweed. In any event, they loved it!

SFO: 10

Alysha is serving up yamroom realness

“Yamroom” Roll

This flavor combo really plays up a sweet/salty combination, which I love. I used fresh shiitakes, which I simmered in the water and soy liquid for a good half hour, until they were super tender. This roll is very easy to make and has a nice colorful appearance!

SFO: 10

Spinach Sesame Roll

This was the least popular of all the rolls I served, maybe because they were the “healthiest.” Steamed spinach is mixed with sesame seeds and oil and rice vinegar for light flavoring. I understand that all the sushi fillings have little or no salt because these rolls are about to get dunked in soy sauce, but this one tasted particularly unseasoned.

SFO: 10

Elephant Roll

Peanuts and avocado!? Who woulda thunk? This was the other most popular roll of the night. So easy to assemble, probably the easiest in that nothing other than the rice needs to be cooked. Just slice up some avocado and dump some peanuts in there! Or maybe it was the salt on the peanuts that everyone liked so much.

SFO: 10

The sushi event was a huge hit and a great reminder of the magic and ease of home sushi creation. I’ve made sushi twice since then, and I’m excited to think about what else I can stuff in future rolls!

Rosewater Pound Cake 

I have to confess, I'm a little scared of rosewater. I mean, it's water of roses, not meant for consumption. Not even meant for smellation. Roses should smell like roses, but should anything else smell like roses? I say no.

Lucky for me, I have a certain friend named Alysha who's obsessed with all things rose, so she's going to be the lucky recipient of all the rose-acious recipes in this book.

I'm happy to report that the proportions of this recipe are perfect, at least in the flavor department. This cake has a very delicate floral essence, not overwhelming at all. I actually liked it!

However, you will note in the picture that there was a doughy layer of uncookedness at the bottom of this cake, which stayed in the oven for over 75 minutes, 10 minutes more than the high end of the recommended baking time. The toothpick came out dry, but it didn't reach down to the bottom, clearly. I find the doughy layer disturbing, but it makes Alysha happy, so fine.

SFO: 10