Tuna Avocado Sushi

Menu: Tuna Avocado Sushi; Edamame Pods; Coconut-Fried Plantains

Lessons learned:

1. Plantains are hard to peel.
2. Uncooked plantains taste TERRIBLE.
3. Coconut-fried plantains would probably be pretty tasty if they were ripe.

I adore sushi.  It's delicious, filling, healthy, and easy to make.  Not even very expensive.  Hooray, sushi!  I've tried a few different homemade variations, but my favorite is still tuna and avocado.  John prefers salmon and mango, but I usually don't get salmon because I know the Atlantic variety isn't harvested sustainably.  I'm not sure about the tuna, but until I find out I still buy it.  Posting this photo makes me want to eat dinner again:

I kind of like the inside-out sushi better -- with the rice on the outside -- but I haven't mastered that roll, so I'm just keeping it easy on myself.

Or not.  It gets a lot more complicated when you do things like stir-fry the remaining fish for your kids and decide to make coconut-fried plantains!  What is wrong with me??  This is my easy dinner.  Or it was.

I saw the idea to fry plantains in coconut in HTCEV and had to try it.  I really thought the kids would like them, and there are a couple of dinners I have where they'd make a fun addition.  But I don't know anything about plantains, except they look like bananas.  Turns out that when they're green, they're not as sweet.  Just like a banana.  Only much, much worse.  Blech.

But after I coated them in coconut and fried them in safflower oil, they were decent.

They would have been better if they were ripe, though.  In fact, unripened fruit was sort of a theme tonight.  Our avocado was NOT ready for consumption.  I still put it in the sushi, and fortunately the other components picked up the slack.  But back to the plantains -- my real problem with them is that I am never going to feel up to coating and frying all. those. little. circles.  However, I don't think they would lose much, if anything, if I fried long skinny strips instead of the circles.  They might be slightly less appealing to the kids, but honestly the little circles weren't exactly irresistible to them tonight anyway.

We did manage a four-person table tonight.  The kids ate most of their food while I was still rolling, but they still came back to sit/play with John and me while we ate.  Ben even tried some sushi!  So, full table accomplished.

Sushi doesn't really need a recipe, but here's one anyway.

Tuna Avocado Sushi for Two

1 1/2 cups sushi rice

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 nori sheets

1/3 pound fresh sushi-grade tuna

1/2 ripe avocado

Vegan mayo

Chili paste

Pickled ginger

Wasabi paste

Soy sauce

Cook the rice using your preferred method.  In the meantime, dissolve the sugar and salt in the rice vinegar; when the rice is done, pour the mixture over it and mix it in well.

Slice the tuna into long strips, about 1/2 inch wide.  Do the same for the avocado.  Lay out the nori sheets, smooth side down, and spread a thin layer of the rice mixture over each one.  Try to cover the whole thing.  On the edge closest to you, lay down a single layer of tuna, and a single layer of avocado just above it.  Using a rolling mat or just your hands, roll the sheet tightly from the nearest edge to the farthest one.  Using a very sharp cleaver or similar knife, cut the roll crosswise into eight equal pieces (I do this by cutting the roll in half, then into quarters, then into eighths).  Arrange cut-sides-up on a pretty plate.  Mix chili paste to taste into about 1/3 cup of vegan mayo, then top each sushi piece with your desired amount.  Serve with the ginger, wasabi, and soy sauce for dipping.