19 Ingredients For Better Homemade Vegan Sushi

It might be time to rethink your assumptions about sushi. While the true origin of sushi remains a mystery, the iconic food has become synonymous with Japanese cuisine worldwide. Traditional sushi is a work of art; delicate knife skills and flawlessly balanced flavors of seasoned sushi rice (known as sumeshi), seaweed, and raw fish, form the basis of every type of sushi. But, what if we told all of you who are allergic to seafood, squeamish about raw fish, or concerned about sustainability, that plant-based sushi is on the rise — and it's just as good as the real thing?

Unsurprisingly, the secret lies in the ingredients. Think beyond cucumber, carrot, and avocado; we're talking about vegan caviar, crispy tempura, and marinated watermelon. Unsure which to pick? To help you select the top ingredients for better homemade vegan sushi, we've enlisted experts from two incredible plant-based restaurants with drool-worthy sushi menus. 

First is Joel Jordan, the head chef of San Diego's first vegan Japanese restaurant, The Yasai by RakiRaki. Find its menu of ramen, bento boxes, maki rolls, and nigiri in two locations: Convoy and Little Italy. Adding to our wealth of knowledge is David Le, the executive chef behind Planta restaurants: A group of 11 restaurants scattered across the United States and Canada boasting an impressive menu of dumplings, small plates, noodles, rice, and sushi. By combining the two esteemed chefs' expert advice, you'll never make lackluster vegan sushi again. Get that sushi mat out, and let's get started.

Even though avocado is widely associated with sushi in the U.S., it's a moderately modern addition. The avocado fruit is wholly foreign to Japan and only arrived on its shores, imported from Mexico, sometime between the 1960s-70s. Due to this, it never really caught on as a sushi ingredient. That all changed in California when a Japanese chef noticed that avocado possessed the quintessential fatty and creamy texture of exquisite sashimi and began to use it frequently due to its abundance. Soon, this happy discovery led the way to the now-famous California roll, caterpillar roll, and avocado roll. Moreover, it's for this very reason that avocado is a requisite for homemade vegan sushi; it's widely available, malleable enough to drape over sushi rolls, and has a delectable mouthfeel.

When we spoke to the co-owner and executive chef of Planta, Lee emphasized the importance of employing seasonings that will highlight and accentuate the natural flavors of other ingredients. Foremost on his list is miso, a deeply savory, salty, toasted, and slightly sweet paste. The complex, layered notes in different types of miso paste derive from its processing — specifically, two-step fermentation. 

First, rice (or another grain) is mixed with a kōji culture starter and left to ferment for several days. Secondly, cooked soybeans are mashed into a paste, added to the rice, and allowed to age. Because the fermented paste has such an assertive flavor, it's vital to know how to use miso. We suggest using it to accent other ingredients: For example, brush eggplant with sweet miso, sauté mushrooms in vegan butter infused with miso and garlic, or glaze the sushi rolls in a compound of miso with sriracha or vegan mayo.

Sushi may be a legendary Japanese dish, but the innovative sushi chefs who brought the techniques to the U.S. have carved a unique space for themselves. Among the countless variations of sushi created in America are Philadelphia rolls — uramaki sushi (meaning inside out) is made with smoked salmon, cream cheese, and crisp cucumber. Philadelphia rolls are essentially bagels in sushi form, but, surprisingly, it works. 

While smoked salmon and cucumber are widespread in sushi culture, the true outlier here is cream cheese, a polarising ingredient that, if used correctly, can heighten the experience of biting into a sushi roll. Of course, traditional cream cheese isn't vegan-friendly, but luckily, there's no reason to skip it; top vegan brands such as Daiya, Miyoko's, Violife, and Kite Hill offer cream cheese substitutes (even Philadelphia makes plant-based cream cheese).

While Philadelphia rolls seem the obvious choice, avoid limiting yourself. The creamy whipped texture is an excellent way to juxtapose chewy sushi rice, crunchy vegetables, panko-coated vegan shrimp, or crispy tempura. To avoid the frequent mistake of watering down the flavor of other ingredients in the sushi, pair cream cheese with intensely flavored ingredients like spicy tempeh or miso-fried mushrooms.

If there's one mushroom with a reputation for being meaty, it's the king oyster mushroom, which is known as eringi in Japan. Native to the Mediterranean, king oyster mushrooms have picked up popularity in vegan circles because the meaty flavor of the mushroom is said to taste like chicken. Admittedly, chicken is a rarity in sushi, but the thick stems, full-bodied texture, and abundant umami make king oyster mushrooms suitable for transforming into any number of avatars. 

For example, the meaty ends can be sautéed with seaweed, lemon juice, and paprika (for that juicy pink color). Conversely, scoring the mushroom and letting it rest in a concentrated marinade full of salty, umami flavors before torching or grilling it, will result in a beautiful topping for nigiri sushi.

Tofu is one of the ancient cornerstones of vegan cuisine. In Japan, monks have followed a strict vegetarian diet for centuries, creating many meat-free dishes that employ tofu as the main protein. Seemingly neverending classifications of tofu — silken, soft, firm, extra firm, puffed — can each add something special to sushi. However, an excellent place to start is the intricate flavor profile of firm smoked tofu, which adds a subtle depth and rounds most vegetables. Smoked tofu can be fried until it develops crispy edges and a chewy interior, marinated with umami-rich sauces, or kept mild and soft depending on the textural play you wish to achieve. Either way, cut it into chunky strips and layer up with vegetables.

At first glance, it doesn't seem like wine would have anything to do with sushi. Cooking with mirin, a sweet fermented rice wine, is a mainstay in any traditional Japanese kitchen. Similarly to many other Japanese foods, such as tamari and miso, mirin is fermented: First, mochi rice is blended with kōji and alcohol made from sweet potatoes before being left to ferment for around two months. Only some chefs opt for real mirin; others prefer cheaper, alcohol-free alternatives called "mirin-like condiments."

Now that we understand what mirin is, we need to tackle how to cook sushi with it. Co-founder and executive chef David Lee divulged that mirin is vital for achieving the balanced, umami-laced sensation found in Planta's sushi. Notably, mirin offers a distinctively high-sugar content, meaning it's crucial for creating caramelized sauces, marinades, and glazes.

Since its inception in the late-20th century, California rolls have dominated the North American sushi culture. Despite varying accounts of its origin and creator, everyone agrees that the classic sushi roll was initially produced to address the public's aversion to raw seafood. Consequently, chefs began using imitation crab, known as surimi. Although this derivative isn't vegetarian, much less vegan, home cooks can easily make their own "imitation crab" with entirely plant-based ingredients. 

Chewy and shredded artichoke hearts, fleshy hearts of palm, or shredded extra-firm tofu each provide a textural basis, but the real magic happens in the seasoning. Grab your ingredient of choice and combine it with plenty of vegan mayonnaise, zesty lemon juice, dijon mustard, and salt, within seconds, you have a creamy, tender crab alternative. There's nothing crabby here, only joy — we promise.

Did you know that caviar can be made from seaweed? Whereas traditional caviar, although an expensive delicacy, is made from the admittedly rather unappetizing salt-cured roe, which are fish eggs, seaweed-based caviar is a nutritious and sustainable alternative with a convincing appearance, salty flavor, and a firm, smooth texture. While it can be hard to get your hands on this luxury vegan item, those interested in dabbling with molecular gastronomy can use the plant-based agar-agar, kelp, and spherification to make them at home. 

Treat vegan caviar just like any other — except there's no need to be stingy because it's not costly. It adds an impressive pop of color carefully balanced on top of individual rolls, or, if you really want to make a statement, roll inside-out uramaki sushi in the caviar to cover it completely.

Pickled fruits are an integral part of Asian cuisine, particularly Japanese dishes. One such example is ume, small and intensely sour Japanese plums that are a relative of the more widespread apricot. Once pickled in salt, ume becomes umeboshi — briny, tangy, and fruity. Strikingly, the traditional red shiso (a popular herb related to mint) added during the fermentation process lends its color to the plums, dying them a fiery, bright pink. 

The pickles aren't used directly in the sushi; instead, one or two pickled plums are ground into a smooth paste, then mixed with oil and fresh green shiso leaves. The paste can be spread between the nori-rice layer or added in a small dot on top of the finished roll to bring a touch of lively acidity to your sushi.