Mochi Sushi Part II (Maki)

This post was originally published as a guest post on Just Bento.

This is part II of the Mochi Sushi Series.  You can find Part I here:

Part II: Maki Rolls
Maki rolls are just a bit trickier than the nigiri mochi sushi.  It helps if you have some experience making normal sushi rolls.

These maki rolls are made with soy wrappers by the company Yamamotoyama.  You can either buy a variety pack with various colors (5 sheets), or buy bulk packs (10 sheets of a single color).  All soy wrappers are naturally colored, spinach for green and paprika for orange one (and I think beets for pink, but I did not buy the pink one).  The small amounts of coloring agents do not affect the flavor.  I bought my soy wrappers online at Asianfoodgrocer.com, which actually has a pretty good price for the bulk packs (unfortunately they do not carry the variety pack, but you can get that on Amazon).

Make mochi according to the microwave recipe described in Mochi Sushi Part I.  Now, instead of taking out small chunks like we did for the nigiri, try to lift the entire sheet with a spatula and gently lay it down on a soy wrapper.  I divided the sheet I had made into two pieces so I could lay it across the soy wrapper.

Fill with your filling of choice.  In this case, I used some leftover mung bean soup I had made.  You can also use fruit (see pictures below using mango), red bean paste, black sesame paste, or crushed peanuts.  Roll as you would normal sushi.  With the soy wrappers, you need to use a bit of water to seal the roll.

Slice with a wet knife and serve! I used the end pieces to make the stand up maki pieces with the blackberry on top.

These taste the best when they are freshly made. I tried refrigerating them, but they become a bit harder and lose that nice, chewy texture. The soy wrappers have a very mild hint of soy flavor. I would recommend using a strongly flavored filling to mask any hint of the soy aroma if it bothers you. The wrappers do lose this aroma over time.  I noticed that I did not smell the soy flavor after keeping the maki in the refrigerator overnight.

Enjoy!

Mochi Sushi Part II (Maki)

This post was originally published as a guest post on Just Bento.

This is part II of the Mochi Sushi Series.  You can find Part I here:

Part II: Maki Rolls
Maki rolls are just a bit trickier than the nigiri mochi sushi.  It helps if you have some experience making normal sushi rolls.

These maki rolls are made with soy wrappers by the company Yamamotoyama.  You can either buy a variety pack with various colors (5 sheets), or buy bulk packs (10 sheets of a single color).  All soy wrappers are naturally colored, spinach for green and paprika for orange one (and I think beets for pink, but I did not buy the pink one).  The small amounts of coloring agents do not affect the flavor.  I bought my soy wrappers online at Asianfoodgrocer.com, which actually has a pretty good price for the bulk packs (unfortunately they do not carry the variety pack, but you can get that on Amazon).

Make mochi according to the microwave recipe described in Mochi Sushi Part I.  Now, instead of taking out small chunks like we did for the nigiri, try to lift the entire sheet with a spatula and gently lay it down on a soy wrapper.  I divided the sheet I had made into two pieces so I could lay it across the soy wrapper.

Fill with your filling of choice.  In this case, I used some leftover mung bean soup I had made.  You can also use fruit (see pictures below using mango), red bean paste, black sesame paste, or crushed peanuts.  Roll as you would normal sushi.  With the soy wrappers, you need to use a bit of water to seal the roll.

Slice with a wet knife and serve! I used the end pieces to make the stand up maki pieces with the blackberry on top.

These taste the best when they are freshly made. I tried refrigerating them, but they become a bit harder and lose that nice, chewy texture. The soy wrappers have a very mild hint of soy flavor. I would recommend using a strongly flavored filling to mask any hint of the soy aroma if it bothers you. The wrappers do lose this aroma over time.  I noticed that I did not smell the soy flavor after keeping the maki in the refrigerator overnight.

Enjoy!

Keroppi Chocolate

I made these chocolates as part of a larger Japanese character based meal titled "Kyaraben on Steroids" featured in Foodbuzz's 24-24-24 in August 2009. Click here to see the entire meal.

To emulate his colors, I made "green" chocolate by melting white chocolate over a double boiler and then adding food coloring to it. Unfortunately, white chocolate does not melt as easily in the microwave, and I actually burned my white chocolate when I tried. Soooo . . I had to use my improvised " double boiler" (aka a metal bowl inside a pot of boiling water).

I made these Keroppi chocolates from a mold, which I bought years ago. So, I'm not sure if they are available anymore. Using the mold, here's what I did next.

Place the white chocolate chips as his eyes:

Add the green chocolate and then refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Keroppi Chocolate

I made these chocolates as part of a larger Japanese character based meal titled "Kyaraben on Steroids" featured in Foodbuzz's 24-24-24 in August 2009. Click here to see the entire meal.

To emulate his colors, I made "green" chocolate by melting white chocolate over a double boiler and then adding food coloring to it. Unfortunately, white chocolate does not melt as easily in the microwave, and I actually burned my white chocolate when I tried. Soooo . . I had to use my improvised " double boiler" (aka a metal bowl inside a pot of boiling water).

I made these Keroppi chocolates from a mold, which I bought years ago. So, I'm not sure if they are available anymore. Using the mold, here's what I did next.

Place the white chocolate chips as his eyes:

Add the green chocolate and then refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Sushi Candy

I was inspired by various foodblogs to make some sushi candy last night.

I made rice crispy treats according to the recipe on the Rice Krispies Cereal box. While the marshmallow rice mixture was still hot, I took half of the mixture and individually shaped the nigiri rice pieces. I then took the other half, flattened it onto a cutting board, and used a small cleaned out tomato paste can to cut out discs.

I bought Odense brand marzipan at Shaw's Supermarket ($7 a tube).

I mixed various portions with food coloring and then shaped the ebi, sake, maguro, and tamago pieces. I used a knife to "paint" on a chocolate ribbon for the tamago (egg) sushi.

I also made a green strip out of marzipan as the nori for the maki pieces. The wasabi is also marzipan.

I found marzipan to be pretty easy to use and pretty tasty with the rice crispies. I had seen versions of this dish online that used Swedish fish and fruit roll ups. The idea of eating rice crispies with fruit roll ups or gummies did not appeal to me, so I decided to try this instead.

Yum!

Sushi Candy

I was inspired by various foodblogs to make some sushi candy last night.

I made rice crispy treats according to the recipe on the Rice Krispies Cereal box. While the marshmallow rice mixture was still hot, I took half of the mixture and individually shaped the nigiri rice pieces. I then took the other half, flattened it onto a cutting board, and used a small cleaned out tomato paste can to cut out discs.

I bought Odense brand marzipan at Shaw's Supermarket ($7 a tube).

I mixed various portions with food coloring and then shaped the ebi, sake, maguro, and tamago pieces. I used a knife to "paint" on a chocolate ribbon for the tamago (egg) sushi.

I also made a green strip out of marzipan as the nori for the maki pieces. The wasabi is also marzipan.

I found marzipan to be pretty easy to use and pretty tasty with the rice crispies. I had seen versions of this dish online that used Swedish fish and fruit roll ups. The idea of eating rice crispies with fruit roll ups or gummies did not appeal to me, so I decided to try this instead.

Yum!