Vegetarian Sushi Made Easy (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

When most Westerners hear the word "sushi", they think of nigiri-zushi, or "finger sushi", the super-fresh strips of raw filleted fish on top of a smal mound of vinegared rice.

But finger sushi is just one of many kinds of sushi found in Japan, and Vegetarian Sushi Made Easy introduces over 40 recipes for delicious, safe, easy-to-prepare sushi made with vegetables instead of raw fish. the authors have grouped the recipes into finger shushi with vegetable toppings, sushi rolls, sushi balls, stuffed sushi pockets, tossed sushi, and sushi cakes. Many of these are made with sushi rice in several colors - white, pink, yellow, and even green - so they are not only delicious to eat but decorative additions to the dining table.

The recipes use a wide variety of vegetables readily available in regular and Asian grocery stores, and the indstructions are clear and simple, with ample diagrams illustrating preparation steps. Not only is vegetarian sushi very healthy - low in fat and high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals - but it is fun and easy to make. Several of the recipes in this book lend themselves to becoming party activities, as your dinner guests prepare their sushi at the table. Vegetarian sushi also stays fresh and safe to eat for a long time, making it an excellent lunch and picnic treat.

Vegetarian Sushi Made Easy is the perfect introduction for all cooks, both amateur and experience, to the wide world of healthy, delicious sushi.

About the Author

Hiroko Fukuhara has a degree in Pharmaceutical Science and teaches Food and Nutrition Science at Kyushu Women's Junior College. Yasuko Takahata has a degree in Food Science. She operates her own cooking school and health food restaurant. Authors of both Healthy Japanese Cooking and Natural Remedies from the Japanese Kitchen, they have been active in the dietary reform movement for two decades, lecturing widely throughout Japan.

Product Details

• Paperback: 127 pages
• Publisher: Weatherhill; 1st edition (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0834804662
• ISBN-13: 978-0834804661
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #666,879 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Visually stunning...but tasteless!, January 29, 2001

By	Susan Porjes "Food writer" (Honolulu, HI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is visually stunning, with some of the most inventive sushi I've ever encountered: nigiri colorfully topped with slices of carrot and lotus root tied together with a green stem; sushi rolls cut to reveal a pattern of plum blossoms, hearts, roses, or a checkerboard; a cute sushi ball topped with a shiitake mushroom cap that resembles an Oriental hat; others wound with shreds of vegetables to look like multicolor silk balls. There's sushi presented in a pumpkin cup, several varieties of stuffed tofu sushi, a sushi-and-vegetable "pizza," sushi salads, and even fruit sushi. Each recipe is illustrated with a mouth-watering full-page color photo, and the extremely clear directions feature rolling or assembly diagrams. I pounced on this book not only for its visual artistry and as Japanese Food Host at BellaOnline, but to make special vegetarian treats for my vegan son and his friends.

Yet, there's a central problem with this book. All the recipes I tested are virtually tasteless!

I'm sorry, but plain sushi rice topped with a slice of carrot boiled in saltwater does not make it in my culinary estimation. Nor do the beautiful sushi rolls that consist solely of rice wrapped in nori-however eye-appealing they are-or the assortment of boiled, saltless beans served over brown rice! And grapefruit cup sushi made of okra, carrot, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, and grapefruit sections tossed with rice and stuffed into a grapefruit half? Yuck!

Even the basic rice recipes are peculiar: the one for white sushi rice calls for seasoning the rice with apple cider vinegar and honey instead of a standard sushi-su made from rice vinegar and sugar. A brown rice version uses salty plum vinegar and mirin. I've been trying to figure out if this book is meant to embrace Zen macrobiotic diet principles. But no, then honey wouldn't be called for. Also, for reasons unknown, the authors do not even mention wasabi in the book. Likewise, soy sauce is never suggested as a dipping sauce to accompany the sushi recipes. (Indeed, there's little soy sauce used throughout the book, and then almost exclusively to cook shiitake mushrooms or tofu pockets). And, despite several attempts, my sushi rice seasoned with plum vinegar did not turn out a bright pink as is shown in the book-or even pale pink. The authors might be using a different brand of plum vinegar than what's available in my area, but nowhere was that brand specified.

Of course, one can always add beet juice or food coloring to rice to achieve that lovely pink shade, or incorporate Japanese pickles to liven up the flavors of fillings, or add a smear of wasabi, or serve the sushi with a wasabi and soy sauce dip. But these ideas are not brought out in the book.

If you intend to use this book as inspiration and let your imagination soar, then this may be a great resource for you. However, if you are the kind of cook who needs to follow recipes exactly, or are seeking to re-create a Japanese restaurant taste experience, you are apt to be sorely disappointed with the results of the recipes in this book. Caveat emptor!

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars food for the eye ... an inspiration, June 9, 2001

By	M. J. Smith (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

If one skims this book, one is impressed by the creativity and the beauty of the various sushi recipes. The recipes depend upon technique in rolling to create flowers, yin-yang symbols, cones, barber cones ... There are some of these designs based upon dyed rice, ineatible leaves, or exotic serving pieces - all techniques opposed to my cooking style. These recipes also depend upon ingredients not common in an American kitchen e.g. black beans, soy beans, red soy beans, fresh green soy beans all required for a single recipe. The problem becomes one of obtaining the necessary ingredients in small quantities or how to use the remainder if bought in normally available quantities.

However, if you approach this cookbook not in terms of actual recipes but for inspiration, this is an excellent book - it allows one to move far beyond avacado rolls, cucumber rolls, Seattle rolls, California rolls i.e. the mainstays of sushi beyond the raw fish sushi. It has wonderful photos of presentation possibilities - food as pleasing to the eye as to the palate. It provides ideas for using Asian vegetables in small quantities; you learn if you like the taste and texture before betting a meal on it. It's only flaw - you're left on your own for dipping sauces and other condiments - a flaw that allows one to search for pickling recipes or even chutney/salsa recipes to add some flavorful "zing" to the meal.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Vegetarian Sushi Made Easy, February 2, 2000

By	Alison (Chicago IL) - See all my reviews

I have been waiting for a book like this for years! I find Japanese food intriguing but was unsure as a vegetarian where to start looking for meatless alternatives for sushi. Although some of it is involved and some of the ingrediants are difficult to come by if you are not within relative distance to an asian market,so I would recommend this as an excellent book for special occasions and holidays.