There’s hand rolls and poke bowls, but have you tried sushi cupcakes? This playful idea is a fun way to feed a crowd — and don’t worry, there’s absolutely no frosting involved.
The all-veggie recipe comes from a new vegan cookbook by the co-founders of BOSH!, a UK-based brand that makes video tutorials to show how easy – and adaptable – vegan cooking can be. These colorful sushi cupcakes can be made ahead and adapted a million different ways. They’re curiosity-piquing, crowd-pleasing, and best of all, completely plant-based…
This is a fun take on sushi—the fantastic technique allows you to exercise your creativity and create food that is tasty, healthy and truly Instagram-worthy. We add hoisin sauce in the middle of our cupcakes, but you can use whatever you like. Wasabi and ginger are great traditional fillings.
Sushi Cupcakes
Makes 12
Ingredients:
For the cupcakes:
2 cups sushi rice
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp superfine sugar
½ tsp salt
12 nori sheets
2 Tbsp hoisin sauce
pickled ginger, for serving
black sesame seeds, for sprinkling
soy sauce, for serving
wasabi, to serve (optional)
For the vegetable toppings:
1 red bell pepper
1 carrot
¼ cucumber
1 small avocado
10 fresh chives
5 radishes
For the dipping sauce:
Sriracha
egg-free mayonnaise
Directions:
Cook the sushi rice following the instructions on the package, ensuring that it is dry and sticky when cooked.
Put the saucepan over medium heat. Pour in the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Let cool to room temperature, then pour over the cooked rice, gently stirring until all the liquid is absorbed. Spread the rice over the greased sheet pan and let cool to room temperature, when it should be dry but sticky.
Stack the nori sheets and lay saucer on top. Cut around it to make nori rounds. Find center of the nori stack and cut a neat, straight slit from the center to the outer edges. Take one round and fashion a cone that is roughly 3-inches wide at the top. Wet finger and lightly brush along the slit to stick it in place. Put cone in one of the muffin cups. Repeat to fill all the muffin cups.
Wet hands and roll a golf ball-sized ball of rice. Poke a hole in the center and pour in ½ teaspoon hoisin sauce. Pack more rice over the hole to seal in sauce. Smooth outside and place in one of the nori muffin cases. Repeat to fill all the cases.
Get all toppings ready. Cut bell pepper in half, cut out stems and seeds, and thinly slice. Peel carrot and cut into matchsticks, thin round, or ribbons. Cut cucumber the same way. Halve and carefully pit avocado by tapping pit firmly with heel of a knife so it lodges in the pit, then twist and remove, then finely slice. Chop chives. Trim and thinly slice radishes.
Make a quick dipping sauce by stirring Sriracha into the egg-free mayonnaise to taste. Finely chop the pickled ginger.
Decorate your sushi cupcakes with prepared vegetables and sprinkle with black sesame seeds. Serve with soy sauce, wasabi (if using), pickled ginger and the dipping sauce on the side.
If you think these sushi cupcakes are clever, check out this recipe for plant-based watermelon sashimi…
