NOT ANOTHER SUSHI-HYBRID FOOD TREND: THE SUSHI BURRITO

Over the years, the food trend world has brought us many unexpected concepts. We’ve seen everything from cauliflower pizza crusts, to avocado roses, to cockroach milk, and more. But there’s one food that the food trend world has clung onto mercilessly. This food reemerges year after year, always back with a vengeance and merged into yet another hybrid recipe. And you know what? What we bring you today is no exception.

Introducing the sushi burrito. You’ve seen the sushi donut, the sushi burger, the sushi bake, and the sushi pizza—but now you know that you can also get your sushi goodness in burrito form.

And while there’s cause to celebrate how your days of agonizing between sushi or a burrito for lunch are over (because now you know that you can have both), the sushi burrito is great for more than just this peace of mind. You can make these guys at a leisurely pace in less than half an hour. they make a super healthy lunch, and they’re incredibly transportable—possibly even more so than regular sushi.

So what’re you waiting for? Time to hop onto this sushi hybrid before the next one takes over!

Vegan Rainbow Chili Sushi Burritos

• 1 block firm tofu
• 2 cups sushi rice, dried
• 1½ cups romaine lettuce, shredded
• ½ cup Carrots, shredded
• ¼ cup Purple Cabbage, shredded
• ½ Yellow Bell Pepper, thinly sliced
• ½ Avocado, sliced
• Sweet Chili Sauce, as desired
• 4 sheets of Nori
• 2 tbsp Rice Vinegar
• 1 tbsp Coconut Sugar
• Soy sauce for dipping

1. Before cooking the rice, rinse the rice grains until water runs clear to remove any excess starches. Then cook according to package instructions.
2. While rice is cooking, wash and prepare your veggies. Set aside.
3. Cut the tofu, and cook in vegetable oil over medium heat until golden brown on both sides (about 5 minutes). Then coat in sweet chili sauce. Set aside.
4. Transfer cooked rice to a bowl to help it cool more quickly. Add in 2 tbsp of rice vinegar, and 1 tbsp of coconut sugar. Mix.
5. On a clean, flat surface, place 2 sheets of nori horizontally with the shiny side facing down. Overlap the edges of the nori over each other about approximately one inch, and add a few drop of water of the seam to seal the two sheets together. This will leave you with a longer sheet to work with, and allow you to actually pack everything you want into your burrito.
6. Prepare a small bowl of cold water for your hands, and use it to dip your hands into while working with the rice. This will help prevent the rice from sticking to your hands.
7. Dip your hands into the water, then into the rice and grab a handful to put onto the nori. Use your hands or a spatula to spread the rice into a an even layer, leaving about 3 inches at one of the edges. This edge needs to be without rice so that it can be used to seal the burrito together.
8. Imagining your parchment of sushi as a horizontal ‘road’, arrange your half of your  veggies (save the other half for the second burrito) in a vertical line at the ¼ mark of the nori. From there, add half of your tofu directly to the left of the veggies, then half of the avocado directly to the left of the veggies. While you’re arranging, make sure that at least half of the rice is uncovered (this will ensure that your burrito is able to hold everything).
9. Grab the edge of the nori with all of the veggies on that side, and gently lift. Fold over the veggies and then tuck and keep rolling until you’ve reached the end of the nori that doesn’t have any rice.
10. Dip your hand into the water bowl and gently coat the nori roll that’s going to touch the nori without rice. This will create a seal and ensure it won’t open.
11. To help keep all ingredients from falling out, you can wrap your burrito in foil.
12. Repeat process for second burrito. Serve with side of soy sauce for dipping.  

The best thing about this recipe is that you can totally mix up your ingredients depending on what you have! Get creative, and try recreating your favourite rolls at home.