My grandsons both love the California Roll! Generally it is made with surimi, or imitation crab made from ground up white fish. I love California rolls too so I had to find a WFPB substitute!
I thought of shredded trumpet mushrooms or hearts of palm was not satisfied with the texture. but struck gold with fresh, raw, parsnips! Parsnips have a sweetness to them and a nice firm texture that can stand in for crab. I like it much better that surimi!
It is a great filling for California rolls. It makes a good salad all it’s own when stuffed into an avocado half or mango slices.
I topped my sushi with paper thin slices of fresh lime. Some of the best sushi I ever had was in Mexico and had fresh lime slices on it. Game changer! I’ve never had finger limes but I bet it would be even better.
Skip the rolling and make chirashi (scattered sushi). Also spelled as Chirashzushi, scattered sushi is exactly that! Scatter your sushi ingredients on top of your sushi rice (or cauliflower rice). Scatter strips of nori on top to finish it off!
It is just as good, takes less time and lets you use all of your ingredients!
Sushi with parsnip salad
Equipment
- Bamboo sushi roller
Ingredients
- 1 Raw parsnip About 1 cup after grating
- 1/3 Cup Vegan Mayo I use Grapeseed Veganaise
- 2 Tbsp Sriracha
- 1 Tbsp Gomasio This is a Kelp, Dulse and sesame seed mix
- 1/4 Tsp Salt
- 8 Asparagus
- 1 Baby cucumber
- 1 8" Piece of Daikon radish
- 4 Green onions
- 4-6 Sheets Nori
- 2 Avocado
- 2 Limes
- 8 Tbsp Tamari Option - See notes
- 10 Drops Sesame oil - Optional
- 4 Tbsp Pickled Ginger Optional - See notes
- Wasabi Optional - See notes
Instructions
- Peel and grate the parsnip on a medium grate. Add mayo, sriracha, gomasio and salt. Stir to incorporate. Taste to determine if you would like more sriracha or salt.
- FInd a cucumber as long as your nori is wide. If the are organic there is no need to peel them. Slice lengthwise into 1/4" long strips (Juliene cuts).
- Cuts end off the asparagus and make them the same length as the nori is wide.
- Peel and trim your daikon radish. Slice lengthwise into 1/4" strips and make them the same length as the nori is wide.
- Cut off the onion tips and trim green onions to be the same length as the nori is wide.
- Place nori (rough side down) on a bamboo sushi mat. Place a strip of daikon radish to start. Add parsnip salad to make a 1" wide channel of salad next to the radish. Add the onion and asparagus on the other side of the crab. Put your cucumber slices on top of the daikon radish.
- Use your sushi matt to start rolling your sushi. Tuck and tighten gently as you roll. When you have 2" left of your nori, dip your finger tips in water and slightly dampen the nori the complete width. Finish rolling to seal and place seam side down on your cutting board.
- Peel your avocado and slice very thin. Place on your sushi, overlaying each slice to completely cover the roll. If you have problems getting the avocado to stick, you can just add slices to each cut piece of sushi as I did in the photo. Top with thin lime slices.
- Use a sharp knife to cut the sushi into 8 pieces. If you cut into the vegetables to start and end the cuts, it wil be a cleaner cut.
- Move sushi to the plate and serve with ginger and wasabi.
- Divide the Tamari among 4 dipping dishes and add 3 to 4 drops of sessame oil to each. Use as a dipping sauce for your sushi.
Notes
This is a Snap Pea Sheep recipe
I use organic pickled ginger from a jar. Generally the pink ginger has food dye in it to make it attractive. You could soak your ginger in beet juice for 10 minutes or so if you prefer the pink hue.
I use wasabi powder from Eden foods and mix about 1/2 Tbsp with a little water to make a wasabi paste. I've tried several brands and while there may be better ones out there, they are hard to come by or have lots of artificial ingredients.
REAL wasabi is quite expensive and quite the experience I understand! We cannot seem to find it in America.
You can use rice on the outside of these. Spread the rice on 3/4 of the ROUGH side of your nori and flip it over before you roll. You can opt to sprinkle with sesame seeds before flipping.
The avocado sticks better to the rough side of the nori.
A good substitute for rice is pulsed, raw cauliflower but it would have to be used on the inside of the roll as it is not sticky. Pulse in a little red cabbage or red radish to make it fun and add some texture. 
