Food For Thought: A Quick Homemade Recipe For Shrimp Sushi Rolls

Kicking off your weekend, it can be hard to stay on the right eating track when you’re trying to squeeze in catch-ups, gym time and your daily to-do lists! Each week, we’ll bring you one quick recipe with lots of health benefits. Using common ingredients you’ll find in the fridge, press (or local shop at a push!), take the hassle out of home-cooking with this fast meal. This week… we’re taking a round the world trip to making some homemade shrimp sushi rolls. Invest in a few items in the supermarket to make these delicious tasty treats. Make extra to give a lift to your lunchbox, or as nibbles for a night in front of the TV. *If you don’t have a bamboo sushi mat, buy a rollable table mat that you can keep aside for making this treat. Total Time: 35 mins Prep Time: 20 min Cook: 15 min Ingredients Sushi:

• 80ml seasoned rice vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 285g short-grained sushi rice
• 355ml of water
• 4 sheets toasted nori

Fillings:

• 1 kirby cucumber or 1/2 regular cucumber, seeded and cut into matchsticks
• 1/2 firm-ripe avocado, peeled, thinly sliced lengthwise, sprinkled with lemon juice
• 8 large cooked shrimp, peeled and cut in 1/2, lengthwise
• Soy Sauce

Method:

• Rinse the rice with cool water in a colander and drain. Put the rice and water in a medium saucepan with a tight fitting lid. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to very low and simmer, tightly covered. Cook until all the water is absorbed, then remove the rice from the heat and set aside for 10 minutes. Do not uncover the rice.
• Fluff the rice with a fork and transfer to a large bowl. Add the vinegar mixture and toss with a wooden spoon. Spread the rice out on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Fan the rice continuously until cooled. Cover the rice with a damp towel.

To make the rolls:

1. Place the sushi mat with the slats running crosswise directly in front of you on a clean work space. Lay a sheet of nori shiny-side down and lined up with the closest edge of the mat.
2. Lightly moisten fingers with water, and evenly press about 1/4 of the rice onto the nori, with 1 1/2-inches uncovered at the far edge. Line up the fillings about an inch from the closest near edge, evenly across the rice. Leave 1 inch of rice uncovered at the far edge.
3. Beginning with the near edge of the mat, tightly roll up the nori, rice, and fillings into a cylinder. Firmly tug on the rounded mat over the roll as you pull on the far edge of the mat to tighten the roll. Open the mat, dab unsealed edge of nori with a bit of water and roll the sushi forward to seal. Transfer the sushi to a plate and cover with damp paper towels. Repeat with remaining rice and fillings.
4. Cut each sushi roll, crosswise, into 8 pieces with a sharp wet knife.
5. Serve with bowl of soy sauce for dipping.Recipe adapted via Food Network