Sometimes, I forget where I read something, don’t you? Then, hours or days later, I remember that I saw a recipe, somewhere, for something interesting, but who knows where it was. This time, it was a fusion burrito wrapped in the soy paper that they use in sushi bars, and thought it looked interesting. Then I tried to remember where it might have been, among the many websites, magazines, blogs and books that I glance over in the course of the day.
Of course, that was a waste of time, it was gone. So, I decided it was time to investigate these soy wrappers, and to create my own version of this burrito. You see, I love nori, so I never really got interested in the soy wrappers. I’ve used Chinese soy sheets, and old school Yuba, but these are different. So, I decided to order some online and then create my own fusion-y burrito, combining some of my favorite tastes from both Sushi and Mexican food.
The wraps came in the mail, and they look like this:
They are the same size as nori sheets, so they are not going to hold a humongous burrito. So, I took a can of convenient mock duck, a really nice heirloom tomato, and some chipotle and mixed that up. I made a quick pickled daikon-carrot element like in Banh Mie. I used short grain brown rice, and instead of vinegar, I put in a jolt of lime. Creamy avocado and mayo straddle the fusion divide.
I think the big appeal in these hot fusion dishes is that they take the best parts of two cuisines and marry them. While sushi in pretty subtle in tone, it’s great with amped up spices from Mexican cuisine. Heat, savory, salty and sweet all dance around on tender rice, making for a pretty great mouthful of food.
The wrappers are thin, and rather delicate, and do adhere to themselves, like nori, so you can roll up your burrito and it will stick closed. They don’t really have a flavor, so they don’t clash with anything.
In the end, it was a tasty, spicy little wrap. I still like wheat wraps, but if you are looking to cut carbs, these soy wraps are nearly carb free. I still love my sushi rolled in nori, but I will experiment with making some straight sushi with the soy wraps, too.
Sushi-Burritos with Soy Wraps
Make sure that you really wring the extra moisture out of the mock duck and tomato, and that you don’t put in too much of the pickling liquid from the daikon, or it will be sloppy.
Makes 6 small burritos
6 sheets of soy wrapper
1 cup short grain brown rice, cooked in 1 3/4 cup water
2 teaspoons lime juice
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup grated daikon
1/2 cup grated carrots
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
10 ounces mock duck, drained and squeezed out, then chopped
1 medium ripe tomato, diced and squeezed out
1 teaspoon chipotle powder
1 medium ripe avocado
6 teaspoons mayonnaise
fresh cilantro for garnish
Cook the rice, then cool. Add lime and stir, breaking the grains a bit to make it sticky. Add a pinch of salt. In a cup, mix the daikon and carrots, then stir in rice vinegar and brown sugar, and a pinch of salt. In a medium bowl, mix the mock duck and tomatoes and chipotle powder. Cut avocadoes in half and slice the flesh in the shell, then scopp out the slices.
On each soy wrapper, put 1/4 cup rice, patting it out to make a small rectangle, leaving the ends bare to fold in. On top, place 1/4 cup mock duck mixture, then a couple of slices of avocado, smear a teaspoon of mayo across the avocado. Put a heaping tablespoon of the daikon mixture on the seitan. Tuck in the ends and roll it all up. Serve halved and garnished with cilantro, and mayo sprinkled with chipotle, if desired.
