Dining Review: Time to get your vegan sushi on
Sushi. People seem to love it or hate it, even if they’ve never actually eaten it.
Images of uncooked seafood may come to mind when thinking about this popular Japanese food, but, in actuality, sushi is simply a roll made with sticky rice prepared in vinegar. Sure, raw or cooked fish, as well as egg, are common ingredients rolled into the final product, but sushi can easily feature vegetables.
If you’ve been avoiding sushi restaurants because you eat a plant-based diet – or are a meat eater averse to raw fish – it’s time to get your vegan sushi on.
– Tomo Sushi is busy with diners, offers up fun drinks and has an accommodating kitchen. Identifying ourselves as vegans, the server was quick with suggestions and options. The cucumber avocado roll ($4.75), with added tofu, is fresh and particularly light, which was like having a salad before the richer sweet potato roll with eel sauce ($6.95) was served. Yes, the eel sauce is vegan. It’s a mixture of soy sauce, mirin (sweet rice wine) and sugar and drizzled over the buttery potatoes like syrup. Tomo serves beer and wine, but I suggest trying the traditional Japanese sake. Made much like beer, this fermented rice alcohol beverage is served sweeter in the Tomo Sake ($6.95) with infused plum wine.
– Kohnami Sushi gets more intimate. Red lamps, dark wood, strings of glistening lights and just a few tables make for warm and cozy dining. Wine, beer and sake are on the menu. On a crisp night consider a big mug of earthy green tea ($1.99) or the small hot sake ($3.95). It’s pretty simple ordering vegan at Kohnami – there is a basic vegetable roll ($3.95) and two rolls that I can never resist: the asparagus ($4.25) and veggie tempura ($6.50). Both are fried, but that’s not the only reason I like them. The browned asparagus is barely battered and so quickly prepared that the colorful bright green veggie still snaps. The heavier tempura roll is filled with a variety of warm, colorful vegetables that are equally comforting on a cold night. An order of edamame ($3.95) can round the meal out with a good dose of protein.
– Yoo Mae is the place for sushi downtown. The tiny storefront is always busy at the noon hour. You’ll find lots of patrons considering the 50 sushi rolls, aptly named for each state.
The New Jersey roll ($10.99) is vegan and it’s massive. The centerpiece, rolled up in the center, is an egg roll. That’s right, a hot vegetable egg roll, surrounded by hearty pumpkin, fermented carrots and radish and fresh cucumber. Served covered in avocado and sprinkled with savory sesame seeds, this particular roll is served with the sweet sauce you would expect with a traditional Chinese egg roll, versus the standard dollop of wasabi – a green root tasting much like horseradish – and soy sauce served with most sushi rolls. (Most roll wrappers in Asian restaurants are not made with egg, so don’t let the “egg” in egg roll confuse you.)
The other vegan option, not on the menu but found on the specials board, is the Thailand roll ($7.99). Avocado and generous jalapeno slices are rolled up in rice and the entire roll is then wrapped in sticky rice paper. The peanut sauce helps alleviate the heat of the pepper, but beware: This roll can be hot, hot, hot. Consider ordering it light on the jalapeno.
Plant-based options are plentiful at sushi restaurants around town, but do proceed with caution on a few items: Miso soup is traditionally made with a fish or shrimp stock and that same stock is often used when preparing vegetable noodle dishes. Many of the restaurants serve iceberg lettuce or mixed greens with the lunch specials; the salad dressing often contains some type of dairy. The solution is to simply ask when ordering. But you can get a soup and salad anywhere. Go for the reliable veggie sushi rolls at Kohnami, Tomo and Yoo Mae.
Yoo Mae Restaurant “Thailand Roll” – jalapeño, picked carrot and radish, cucumber, crushed peanuts wrapped in rice paper and topped with spicy peanut sauce. Thursday October 22, 2015. Photo by Jeff Kearney
Yoo Mae Restaurant “New Jersey Roll” – spring rolls, sweet pumpkin, cucumber pickled carrot and pickled radish, topped with avocado and sesame seeds, and served with a side of sweet chili sauce. Thursday October 22, 2015. Photo by Jeff Kearney
Yoo Mae Restaurant “New Jersey Roll” – spring rolls, sweet pumpkin, cucumber pickled carrot and pickled radish, topped with avocado and sesame seeds, and served with a side of sweet chili sauce. Thursday October 22, 2015. Photo by Jeff Kearney
Yoo Mae Restaurant “New Jersey Roll” – spring rolls, sweet pumpkin, cucumber pickled carrot and pickled radish, topped with avocado and sesame seeds, and served with a side of sweet chili sauce. Thursday October 22, 2015. Photo by Jeff Kearney
Gazette reader comment: “A few weeks ago, I finally found the sushi place of my dreams! I’ve been searching Colorado 12 years to find you, Yoo Mae. I’m in love.” Address: 21 E Kiowa St, Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Yoo Mae Restaurant “Thailand Roll” – jalapeño, picked carrot and radish, cucumber, crushed peanuts wrapped in rice paper and topped with spicy peanut sauce. Thursday October 22, 2015. Photo by Jeff Kearney
Yoo Mae Restaurant Thursday October 22, 2015. Photo by Jeff Kearney
Yoo Mae Restaurant Thursday October 22, 2015. Photo by Jeff Kearney
Yoo Mae Restaurant “Thailand Roll” – jalapeño, picked carrot and radish, cucumber, crushed peanuts wrapped in rice paper and topped with spicy peanut sauce. Thursday October 22, 2015. Photo by Jeff Kearney
Yoo Mae Restaurant “Thailand Roll” – jalapeño, picked carrot and radish, cucumber, crushed peanuts wrapped in rice paper and topped with spicy peanut sauce. Thursday October 22, 2015. Photo by Jeff Kearney
Yoo Mae Restaurant “New Jersey Roll” – spring rolls, sweet pumpkin, cucumber pickled carrot and pickled radish, topped with avocado and sesame seeds, and served with a side of sweet chili sauce. Thursday October 22, 2015. Photo by Jeff Kearney
Yoo Mae Restaurant “New Jersey Roll” – spring rolls, sweet pumpkin, cucumber pickled carrot and pickled radish, topped with avocado and sesame seeds, and served with a side of sweet chili sauce. Thursday October 22, 2015. Photo by Jeff Kearney
Yoo Mae Restaurant “New Jersey Roll” – spring rolls, sweet pumpkin, cucumber pickled carrot and pickled radish, topped with avocado and sesame seeds, and served with a side of sweet chili sauce. Thursday October 22, 2015. Photo by Jeff Kearney
Yoo Mae Restaurant “Thailand and New Jersey Roll combo” Thursday October 22, 2015. Photo by Jeff Kearney
Yoo Mae Restaurant “Thailand and New Jersey Roll combo” Thursday October 22, 2015. Photo by Jeff Kearney
Yoo Mae Restaurant “Thailand Roll” – jalapeño, picked carrot and radish, cucumber, crushed peanuts wrapped in rice paper and topped with spicy peanut sauce. Thursday October 22, 2015. Photo by Jeff Kearney