Unique Sushi Idea: Temari Sushi 

Vegan, Gluten Free, Fun and Beautiful Sushi

Temari sushi is often made in Japan when there are celebratory occasions. They are absolutely beautiful and one of the easiest variations of sushi you can make at home!

The original Temari, translated meaning “hand balls”, are hand embroidered toy balls commonly played with by girls a while ago in Japan. Currently, they are more of an ornament since they are so delicate and rare.

The beauty of this dish is not only the presentation but that you can cater it to individual tastes and work with anything and everything in your fridge.

Fresh, cooked, grilled vegetables, salads, tofu make great toppings. The more colourful they are, the better the presentation!

Have fun creating your sushi art with cookie cutouts, interesting textures, and delicious contrasting colourful veggies! You might even want to put some Inari Sushi on here as well.

Makes 2-3 servings (approximately 15 Temari sushi pieces)

Cook time: Follow rice cooking directions

Prep time: 30 minutes

Ingredients for the Sushi Rice

• 1 c Short grain Brown Rice (white is fine too) (Cooked according to directions on package)
  *Tip- if you’d like to add nutrients, depth, and flavour to your sushi rice, try cooking it with a piece of dried sea kelp.
• 1 1/2 tbsp Rice Vinegar (apple cider vinegar is ok too)
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Sugar of choice

Directions for making Sushi Rice

1. Cook rice according to instructions
2. In a small bowl add vinegar, salt and sugar. Mix well until sugar and salt dissolve in the vinegar
3. Once rice is cooked, put the hot rice into a shallow bowl and pour the vinegar mixture over the rice
4. Use a “shamoji” or wooden spatula to cut strokes into the rice while the other hand fans the rice in order to cool it as quickly as you can (this prevents the rice from becoming mushy)

Toppings

*You may use anything that’s available to you, cater to your taste buds!

• The toppings used in this picture are: avocado, black sesame seeds, nori (seaweed), smoked tofu, white sesame seeds, carrots, cucumbers, shiso leaf, ume boshi (pickled plum), radish, kaiware
• You may choose to keep certain vegetables raw or cook them

Assembly

1. Slice your toppings thin and place on plastic wrap
2. Make a bite sized ball of sushi rice and place on top of your topping
3. Wrap the plastic and press into a ball with your hands
4. Repeat
5. Unwrap and plate

*Make sure to place ingredients that are soft or delicate on top of the sushi after you unwrap the plastic and after plated (eg. Umeboshi, kaiware etc.)

*Plate with a side of wasabi and tamari shoyu!

If you are entertaining guests with this dish, be sure not to forget dessert! We have plenty of recipe choices to choose from!