Three years ago my world was rocked in a way I never expected. My younger sister Melanie passed away from flu related complications. She had not been feeling well on Friday evening after returning home from a business trip. Saturday night she posted to her Facebook page “Rest does a body good”. By Sunday evening she was in the hospital on a ventilator and by Thursday evening she was gone. I know you are thinking she must have had underlying conditions or been in really bad health. Nope, she was one of the healthiest people I knew. She was in better physical shape than at any other point in her life, working out, eating a plant based diet and trying to get the rest of us to jump on the plant based band wagon. Her energy and enthusiasm for living a healthy lifestyle was over the top and she was happy. One of the things that Melanie loved (and perhaps the only stray from a completely plant based meal) was sushi. She had a group of close knit friends that gathered weekly if possible, to go out for Sushi - no Sake. This weekly event is something that I noticed her many friends posting about on her memorial page. It was something that they all missed.

Over the past few weeks my thoughts have turned to my sister more than once. I can still feel that stomach punch and the numbness that followed when I was told that she was gone. Rather than wallow in sadness I decided to do something positive in her memory. We both loved cooking and although I never completely embraced the vegan diet she loved, I definitely incorporate vegan meals into my weekly menus: Meatless Mondays and more. So while keeping with the idea of a plant based meal and Melanie’s love of sushi, I decided to host an interactive zoom cooking class/demo in her memory. Vegan Sushi & Sashimi - Sushi No Saki. Usually I charge a fee for my zoom classes, but this class was offered free of charge to anyone that wanted to log in. All I asked was for interested participants to shoot me an email so I could send them the shopping list and suggested equipment list.

The Class was last night. Most of the participants were family but there were some friends and a few people I didn’t know. On the menu were my versions of vegan tuna, vegan smoked salmon, vegan smoked eel and a low carb rainbow veggie roll. The class rolled along smoothly and at least from my perspective I think Melanie would have been proud of the results. The vegan smoked salmon didn’t quite work out, but the vegan tuna and the vegan eel were awesome. I was able to make a number of maki rolls, a few hand rolls and I had the remaining vegan sushi in a delicious salad for lunch today. The vegan tuna and vegan eel are very deceptive. The texture of the ‘tuna’ also mocks the real deal very well. Below are the basic recipes; how you assemble the sushi / sashimi is your choice. Enjoy!

Vegan Sushi Three Ways

The Out of Town Cook

Vegan Tuna

Ingredients:

6 Roma Tomatoes

2 tablespoons low sodium Tamari Sauce

2 teaspoons Rice Vinegar

2 teaspoons Pure Maple Syrup

½ teaspoon Ginger Powder

¾ teaspoons Garlic Powder

1 tablespoons crushed Nori sheet (pulverize by hand or in a dry food processor to make a powder)

Ice Water Bath

Directions:

Cut 3-4 shallow slices on each tomato from the stem to the bottom scoring the skin lightly. Place into a deep pot of boiling water. Boil for about 3-5 minutes or until the skin begins to crack and peel away from the cut edges. Place tomatoes into the prepared ice bath until cool. While the tomatoes are cooling prepare the marinade by whisking together the remaining ingredients until fully combined. Once the tomatoes are cool enough to handle remove the skin. Cut the tomatoes into four equal pieces and scoop out the seeds. Cut the remaining tomato into one inch pieces. Place the tomato slices into a large non-reactive shallow container that can be sealed. Pour the marinade over the tomato slices, cover, and shake to fully coat. Let sit for at least 15 minutes before using. Leaving the tomato slices to marinate in the refrigerator overnight results in a greater depth of flavor.

Vegan Smoked Eel

Ingredients:

2 Japanese Eggplants peeled and cut into ¼ inch thin slices length wise from stem to base

¼ cup Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

¼ cup Granulated Sugar

¼ cup Mirin

2 tablespoon Water

1 tablespoon Cornstarch

½ teaspoon Toasted Sesame Oil

1 teaspoon Tamari Sauce

Directions:

Prepare a sheet pan by lining it with parchment paper, set aside. Peel and cut the eggplant and lay out in a single layer on the parchment lined sheet pan. Preheat oven to 350F. In a saucepan combine the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and stir until the liquid starts to thicken. Remove from the heat. Using a pastry brush coat the eggplant with the ‘eel’ sauce. Place in the oven. Cook for about 6 minutes and brush with another layer of the sauce. After 10 minutes flip the eggplant strips over and repeat. Brushing with sauce. Do not let the eggplant burn. Remove from the oven and cut he strips on an angle creating a diamond shape. Prepare sushi rolls or nigiri as normal.

Vegan Smoked Salmon

Ingredients:

2 Orange/ Red Bell Peppers

4 cups Water

2 tablespoons Dried Wakame

1 tablespoons Liquid Smoke

2 tablespoons Lemon Juice

1 tablespoons Minced Garlic

2 tablespoons Tamari Sauce

Directions:

Char the skin of the peppers under the broiler or over an open flame. The outside of the pepper should be really burnt looking. Place the peppers in a paper bag and seal the bag. Let sit until cool enough to handle. The skin should easily peel off. Cut the peppers into one inch strips removing and discarding the seeds. While the peppers are cooling prepare the marinade. Place the water and the remaining ingredients into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to allow the liquid to simmer. Place the peeled pepper slices into the marinade and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the liquid and allow the pepper to cool. Prepare sushi rolls or nigiri as normal.

Vegan Sushi No Sake

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