We love sushi in this house…office? Newspaper? Point is, sushi is amazing and great and magical but it is also very expensive. This often makes it a very rare treat, and dare we say, even a guilty pleasure. As time goes on though, Pakistan is coming out with more sushi restaurants than before, which also means that there is now a variety of price points for this delicious food item. But even then, sushi remains somewhat on the pricier side, unfortunately. Which is why this recipe for faux sushi is brilliant, because it emulates the flavor and feel of sushi, without costing the same amount. All it takes is a can of tuna, some seaweed snacks, cucumber and rice.
Ingredients:
- One can tuna chunks (either in oil or water)
- One packet of seaweed snacks
- One cucumber
- 1/2 cup boiled rice
- Sesame oil
- Sriracha
- Mayonnaise
Method:
The fake sushi journey begins with a humble can of tuna. It doesn’t matter if it’s tuna in oil, or water, or the tears of all your enemies. We just need canned tuna. These can be found at most grocery stores for anywhere between Rs 300-500.
Next up, we’re going to dump out half the can into a bowl, and add about two tablespoons of mayonnaise. If you want a low fat option, do a teaspoon of mayo and a tablespoon or two of yogurt. Mix mix mix, and then add a generous squeeze of sriracha sauce and a drizzle of sesame oil. You can also add the smallest drizzle of soy sauce for some added complexity if you wish. Mix it all up until you get a uniform mixture.
Then, take the boiled rice and mix in the tuna/mayo/sriracha mixture into that. Time to cut some cucumbers. We want thin sticks, and for extra crunch, we want to leave the skin on. Set the julienned cucumbers aside, or better yet, pop them in the fridge to have them be extra firm and chilled.
Next we’re going to need seaweed snacks. Now, with the growing popularity of Korean dramas and culture in general, these aren’t that hard to find at places like Al-Fatah or other major grocery stores. You can even order them online, they usually come in packs of three and retail for around Rs 300-400.
What we’re going to do is take a rectangle of seaweed, scoop some of our rice-tuna mixture on there, add two slivers of cucumber, and roll it up. You can either roll it up real tight, like an actual maki roll, or you can eat it like a sushi taco of sorts.
And there you go, you’ll be surprised at how much it tastes like a standard tuna roll you get at sushi restaurants. Except, this version is far more economical: where an average tuna roll costs around Rs 1500-1800 for 8 pieces of sushi, this hack costs around Rs 700-900 and makes more than double the portion. And you get leftovers. The tuna mixture on its own over a bowl of rice, with some cucumbers on the side makes for an excellent rice bowl too, if you run out of crunchy seaweed snacks. Let us know if you’ll be trying this recipe out anytime soon!
