Healthy Lunch Recipes:
Easy Homemade Sushi Pockets
I'm always on the lookout for new and interesting healthy lunch recipes, so I was delighted to discover these delicious Sushi Pockets!
Like all of the best healthy lunch recipes, these are easy to make.
My children love them! These are best eaten immediately when the sushi seaweed is still crunchy. Sushi seaweed - also called sushi nori - is found in the Oriental foods section of my supermarket. You might also find it in a whole foods grocery store, or of course in an Asian grocery. If you don't mind soft seaweed, you can make the pockets ahead of time and pack them in your lunch box. I don't mind them this way, but my children will only eat them when the nori is crunchy. This recipe makes 12 sushi pockets.
Check that you have these staples at home
- in the cupboard
- sushi rice
- rice vinegar
- sugar
- salt
- sushi seaweed
- in the fridge or freezer
Get out your equipment - Essential
- a small bowl
- a medium-sized bowl
- measuring cups and spoons
- a knife
- Nice to have but not necessary
- a rice cooker (if not, use a saucepan)
- kitchen shears for cutting the seaweed (scissors work just fine, too)
The recipe
3 cups/750 mL freshly cooked sushi rice 1/4 cup/60 mL rice vinegar 1 Tbsp/15 mL sugar 1/2 tsp/2 mL salt 6 sheets nori seaweed 2 Tbsp/30 mL sesame seeds Cook the rice as directed on the package.
(Note: you will need 3 cups/750 mL of cooked rice. You will start with less uncooked rice. Read the package for the exact amounts of rice and water to use.) While the rice is cooking, mix the vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl. Cut the nori sheets in half. When the rice is cooked, transfer it to a medium-sized bowl.
Add the vinegar sauce.
Toss to mix.
Add the sesame seeds. Toss again. Allow the rice to cool enough so that it can be handled. Lay a piece of nori on your working surface.
Scoop out about 1/4 cup/60 mL rice and place it on one half of the nori rectangle.
Use a knife to spread the rice evenly to the edges of the nori half.
Fold the nori sheet to cover the rice.
With your fingers, pinch the edges of the nori square. The sticky rice will seal the square closed.
Repeat with the remaining nori sheets.
Substitutions
- Use untoasted sesame seeds - or leave them out altogether.
- Use another type of vinegar.
- You could use another variety of rice - but I recommend sushi rice. Since it is very sticky, it sticks the pockets together well.
Ideas for making this recipe your own - Hmmmm …. I wonder if you could add minced vegetables to the rice mix? If you try this, let me know how it works!
Tips - If your rice has cooled before you start to make the pockets, the square won't seal. If this happens, wet your fingers with warm water and pinch the edges of the square to seal it.
Menu suggestion
Serve this dish with
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