Biting into cooked amaranth tastes and feels very much like tobiko, or flying fish roe, which I used to eat a lot of at sushi restaurants several years ago. Making your own faux-roe out of this tiny, super-soft and silky pseudograin requires only a few ingredients and a little bit of time and effort to achieve. To develop its color, I boiled the amaranth in a super-concentrated beet base, and then soaked it further, which resulted in a perfect batch of deep crimson tobiko.
I then prepared the vegan tobiko in the way I used to enjoy it: gunkanmaki-style. This method requires no mat or rolling, and is very simple to assemble. The beets give the faux-roe a subtle sweetness which perfectly compliments the saltiness of soy sauce, the tartness of the vinegar in the rice and the briny, fishy taste of the roasted nori. Serve with a small bowl of pickled daikon on the side for a delicious, elegant, balanced and visually stunning sushi dish.
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AMARANTH CAVIAR FOR SUSHI
- Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients
for the faux-roe
- 3 medium-sized beets, finely diced
- 4 cups water OR one bottle of prepared beet juice, unsweetened, like Biotta
- 3/4 cup amaranth grain, rinsed
for the sushi
- 1 cup sushi rice, soaked for 30 minutes then rinsed well
- 2 cups water
- 1 TB rice vinegar
- 1 TB sugar
- 1/2 TB salt
- nori sheets
for the pickled daikon
- 1/2 cup raw daikon, finely diced
- 1 tsp black sesame seeds
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
Instructions
- If you are using prepared beet juice, skip to Step #2. If you are using fresh beets, place them with the water into a medium-sized saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium and simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Mash the beets with a potato masher, then strain. Reserve the beet pieces for pickling or roasting later.
- Bring the beet juice to a boil in a medium-sized saucepan. Add in the amaranth and whisk well. Boil, uncovered for about 20 minutes, whisking occasionally to ensure it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. (The amaranth should be slightly al dente—do not overcook.) Then, place the cooked amaranth with any leftover liquid into the refrigerator to cool and soak.
- When you are ready to prepare the gunkanmaki, place the rice and water into a rice cooker. While it cooks and steams, combine the sugar, vinegar and salt in a separate glass bowl. Set aside.
- Cut the nori sheets into 1 to 1 1/2 inch ribbons. Set aside. Toss all of the pickled daikon ingredients together and place into the refrigerator to chill.
- Place a small strainer over a bowl. Take the faux-roe out of the refrigerator and spoon some of it into the strainer so it can drain slightly.
- When your rice is ready, place it into the glass bowl and stir well.
- To assemble the gunkanmaki, keep a small bowl of water nearby. Dip your fingers into the water before handling the rice. Shape the rice into small oval shapes, about the size of your thumb. Then wrap one of the nori strips around that, securing the end with a little bit of water to seal it. Spoon some of the slightly-drained faux-roe over the top.
- Serve with soy sauce and the pickled daikon.
Wow–that's BRILLIANT! The kind of thing that makes a guy like me say, "Why didn't I think of that?"
Thanks so much! That means a lot, especially coming from you … cheers!
It looks really good… very colorful, i like it!
So original and so COOL! I love the whole idea of this!
This looks amazing! Vegan sushi rocks my socks. I have been addicted as of late. I think Sunday supper will be sushi – again!
Visually stunning is right, that looks amazing! So creative and original! Very nicely done! 🙂
An inspired dish indeed. Hats off to your creativity!
Interesting idea! I've never tried fish roe so I wouldn't know what it's supposed to taste like though. lol
Erin, that sushi looks amazing! I've only recently discovered your blog (via the Post Punk Kitchen forum) and wish it hadn't taken me so long to find. Your approach to cooking is so fun, creative, unique and inspiring! 🙂
As a fellow vegan girl cooking for a Meat-and-Potatoes guy, I'm very much looking forward to experimenting with your recipes!
Thanks so much Elle! Always nice to meet a fellow PPK-er over here! : )
Off the hook cool!
Thanks Derek!!
Brilliant work! I like your faux roe idea! 😉
This is gorgeous!
I just subscribed to your feed. Looking forward to more of your creations.
These look SO amazing! I tried to make them and epically failed 🙁 I’m sure it was my fault, not the recipe. I will try again until I get it right. Dying to try the “scallops” too
I was pescatarian until January… no fish since then and would love to learn some of your techniques! Would love to share all of these on my page too to inspire others to eat less or no meat/fish
🙂
Can this be stored in the fridge for a few days or does it need to be used within a few hours of making it?
Hi Ellen, this should be used within a few hours. I hope you enjoy!
Eleven or twelve years ago, I made this (before this came out, but the recipe was very similar) and kept it overnight for an event the following afternoon. I kept it in a glass mason jar in the juice, and drained/scooped it out at the just before serving. It went over very well indeed, and I even impressed the senior Japanese women! It was a Buddhist New Year’s event, and I made about nine different kinds of vegan sushi. The favorite was a spicy tuna using jackfruit, the second was a cashew puree, and this was the third. I tried making the amaranth roe with carrot, but it didn’t turn out. The beet turned out beautifully. The color in real life is amazing!
My sushi fails also include king oyster mushrooms. It’s like chewing a ball of yarn. I can’t get them right. This one I love, though.