Low Carb Sushi

 As a Diabetes Educator,  I frequently have conversations about the frustrations of sushi causing all kinds of blood glucose spikes, even in moderate portions.  So my current challenge is a low carb sushi.

Replacing rice with a cauliflower/bean blend drops the carb total from 30 to 5 per roll.  I started with my standard recipe with head of shredded cauli sauteed with onion and lemon juice.  But was too moist, so I changed to a microwave steamed version to be drier. 

The next debate was a "glue" to hold the cauliflower together.  Canned Navy Beans and Great Northerns worked great for the "glue" to make cauliflower sticky.  In theory, navy beans are somewhat softer for blending, but when I had to shift to Great Northerns, I really didn't see any difference.  Butter Beans should be an equal swap.

My first attempt, I was really focused on the veg, as I always am.  Trying to make a Rainbow Roll with a little crab or lox style salmon.  One of the critiques of the first round from an uber sushi lover was that I had too many flavors.   My personal critique was the flavor and moisture of the cauli/bean substitute for rice. The recipe below has adjusted for some of that problem.

And so did this proportion of cooked shrimp, cauliflower and avocado. 

Each roll = 3 large cooked shrimp, 1/8 cuke, 1/4 avocado. 1 cup cauli-sushi-rice.

I took 3 variations of this to a birthday party and forced people to give feedback.  The group favorite and runner up variations are listed below. 

Cauliflower Rice. 

1 onion finely minced or shredded. 

1 head cauliflower shredded in a food processor or box grater

In a large microwave safe glass container, cook onion for 3 minutes.  Add 1/2 the cauliflower and stir to combine.  Top with the other half and cook in the microwave on high for 4 minutes.  Stir and cook and additional 4 minutes.  ( I have done this on the stove top with a skillet, but you may need to add additional water to steam, and drain after). 

Bean Glue

Drain and rinse 1 can (16 oz) of white beans : Navy, Great Northern, Butter Beans.   

Puree with 3-4 Tbsp of Sushi vinegar:

    4 Tbsp rice vinegar, 3-4 packets of Splenda, 1.5 tsp soy sauce

The formula for rice substitute is 1 cup cooked cauliflower rice to 1/4 cup of bean puree glue.

The winning combination added 1/4 tsp ground ginger and 1/4 tsp wasabi powder for  each cup of cauliflower.  

About a third of the tasters preferred my wild card combination which used my home made hummus in place of the white bean / sushi vinegar blend.   I was only able to add 1 tsp of sushi vinegar to the mix without it being too wet. 

My thought was that being able to  buy frozen cauliflower rice and pre-made hummus could make this a more likely recipe for people to try.  

I cooked frozen shrimp in crab boil, but pre-cooked frozen shrimp could also speed this recipe up.

Unlike rice, the cauliflower/bean blend stores well and can be used for days to make a quick, on demand sushi roll with all kinds of leftovers.  

Eat well.  Be happy.