As I write this, it’s 38 degrees outside and we’ve had light flurries all morning.  Feels like soup or stew weather, right?  And this Mock Sushi is neither of those--it’s cool and refreshing.  Not to mention knock your socks off awesome!

I love sushi.  L O V E it.  Anytime, any day, any month.  I could eat it every single day and never get sick of it.   There’s something about the combination of the cool, fresh ingredients, and the spicy wasabi with the soy sauce that just says “I’m sushi, and I’m the perfect food.”  Plus, I love restaurant foods that you’re just supposed to shove in your mouth all in one bite.  It’s fun!  And you get to eat with sticks--more fun!

Not only do these make a nice little dinner, but as an appetizer?  Spectacular!  Just picture these on a buffet table, next to the heavy, cheese and cream filled morsels.  Not that those aren’t amazing in their own right, because they are!  But you want a little variety, right?  Something to lighten the palate and not cover it with a greasy film…ugh.  Plus, if you’ve got vegetarians or vegans coming to holiday parties, they like to eat, too.  It’s true, we do!  These would be perfect.  And I’ll bet you’d find yourself refilling the tray often.  They’re just so damn good.  Oh, and there’s no messy dipping to do, because these have the soy sauce and wasabi built in with a Wasabi Mayo added to the mix.

I served these for us as a meal with a side salad of romaine and avocado, dressed with Carrot Ginger Dressing.  It’s the same salad we get at our local sushi joint--the dressing is bright orange from the carrots--and totally addictive.  I’ll share the dressing recipe another time, or you can email me if you really want it now.  And you might, because it’s goooood.

I found this recipe through an ad on someone’s sidebar.  Can’t remember which site, but yeah, the ad actually worked!  Sometimes I wonder how many people actually click on ads like that…  It’s from AlaskaSeafood.org.  I didn’t use the salmon that they do, though.  We had these vegan-style.  And good God, they’re addictive!  Totally easy to make, too.

Side note:  Because I can be extremely lazy, and didn’t want to mess with making sushi rice, we ordered the rice and pickled ginger from our favorite local sushi joint.  You can ask them for wasabi, too, but we already had some on hand.  Easy, right??

Mock Sushi
Adapted from AlaskaSeafood.org
Serves 24-36, depending on the size of your cucumber
Because, yes--size does matter.

Wasabi Mayo:

1/4 cup Soy sauce
3 Tbsp. Mayonnaise (I used Veganaise <-this one's our fave!)
2 Tbsp. Rice vinegar
1 1/2 Tbsp. Wasabi paste
1 Tbsp. Sugar (used agave instead)
1 Tbsp. Shallot, minced
1 1/2 tsp. Lemon juice
1/2 tsp. Fresh ginger, grated
1/4 tsp. Cracked black pepper
1/8 tsp. Garlic, minced
3/4 cup Canola oil
To taste Kosher salt (taste first--we didn't need any salt!)

For Assembly

2 orders of sushi rice, or about 3 cups cooked sushi rice
24 slices Seedless cucumber, sliced into 1/8 inch rounds (peel if you wish, I like the crunch-so I don't)
24 slices Avocado, thinly sliced
Julienned Carrot strips, about 1" long
Pickled Ginger
2 Tbsp. Black Sesame seeds

To make the Wasabi mayo, add all of the sauce ingredients, except the canola oil, to a blender.  Blend them well, then with the motor running, add the oil in in a stream to emulsify it.  Set aside, and of you’re not using it right away, refrigerate it.  It makes more than you need (1 1/2 cups), so you can serve some on the side for dipping, if you wish--though it may be a bit messy to dip these.

To assemble:

Since I don’t have a round biscuit cutter, I had to improvise.  I used a cough syrup dosing cup like this that was just about the same size as the cuke rounds.    That’s enlarged to show detail, we didn’t have a monstrous cucumber. 
Set out your cucumber rounds.
Add a small amount, and I do mean small--about 1/8-1/4 tsp of Wasabi Mayo to each cuke slice.  Too much, and  your toppings will slide off.
Pat the prepared rice out on a non-stick surface--we used a large ziploc bag, and cut rounds out of it, then place the rice circles on the cukes.
Add an avocado slice about the same size as the rounds to each one.
Add a few carrot strips.
Next add the pickled ginger.
Top each with a bit more of the wasabi mayo, then top with black sesame seeds.

Serve immediately. 

--->And there’s no reason why you couldn’t use the salmon that’s in the original recipe, or any other fish that you’d like.  Just cut the pieces to fit. 

--->The original recipe also has nori strips placed on top as an option--you may want to try that.

--->One more thing--if you've got a local Asian Market, black sesame seeds are amazingly inexpensive there!