I’ve never liked white or brown rice all that much but when I discovered black rice about 5 years ago, my husband and I were instant fans. Black rice is denser and chewier with a lot more flavor, and it’s also a lot healthier than white or brown rice. Anthocyanins are what give black rice its deep dark color and extra benefits, similar to blueberries, purple corn and other deeply-hued blue and purple food.

Black rice is also known as “forbidden rice” because in ancient China everyone except for royalty was forbidden to eat it. Now, luckily, it’s available to everyone and if you’ve never had it you should definitely try it.

One easy and healthy way to enjoy black rice is by making sushi with it. Sushi is incredibly stunning made with black rice and you can change up the vegetables here by customizing it with whatever you like.

This is a small batch of rolls I made over the weekend so the recipe here is for just 2 full sheets which, when sliced, makes about 12-14 rolls. Black rice takes about 30 minutes to cook and then for sushi, needs to be sprinkled with seasoned vinegar and left to cool, so I always start the rice first and then prepare the veggies and wasabi while the rice is cooking and cooling. You can certainly cook the rice ahead of time or the day before if that’s easier for you.

Black Rice and Veggie Sushi Rolls Recipe

• 1/2 cup black rice
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar (seasoned rice vinegar has salt and sugar added to it)
• 4 asparagus spears, tough ends trimmed or removed
• 4 5-6 inch spears of cucumber that have been peeled and seeds removed
• 10 5-6 inch spears of zucchini that have been peeled
• 2 scallions, trimmed and cut in half
• 1 small sweet red pepper, cut into thin slices (If using a large bell pepper, it will only be about 1/4 or less of it)
• 2 sheets of nori (dried roasted seaweed)
• Wasabi
• Soy sauce and pickled ginger (optional)

Directions:

• Add rice and water to a saucepan. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 30-35 minutes or until all of the water is absorbed.
• Shut off heat, leave covered, and let sit for 10 minutes.
• Remove cover and transfer rice to a large glass bowl.
• Sprinkle seasoned rice vinegar over the rice and, using a spatula, gently toss well, being careful not to smash the rice.
• Set seasoned rice aside to cool.
• In a small pan or microwavable dish, steam asparagus in an inch or so of water for a few minutes, just until crisp-tender. Immediately run under cold water until cool. Place on paper towels to dry.
• Peel and slice cucumber and zucchini, removing the seeds from the cucumber and discarding.
• Remove stem and seeds from sweet pepper and thinly slice
• If using powdered wasabi (which I prefer) prepare it by placing 2 teaspoons of powder in a small dish, adding a 1/2 teaspoon of water and stirring well with a fork, to break up any clumps. If too thick, add enough water to make a smooth but thick paste. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside.

As you can see by my photo below, it doesn’t take a lot of veggies to make these.

When black rice is cool, get your nori sheets ready. I have sushi rolling mats but you can also use plastic wrap to wrap your rolls. I actually use both, placing my rolling mat on a clean counter and then placing the wrap over it. The mat helps with applying the right pressure to start the roll and then I use the plastic wrap to finish them, but just plastic wrap will work.

Place each sheet of nori on your mat or plastic wrap and place about 1 cup of rice on each sheet of nori. Spread out into a layer completely covering the nori with a layer of black rice but leave about 1/4 inch at the end free of rice. This clean end will help with sealing the rolls when you’re done rolling them.

If desired, before placing vegetables on the nori, spread a very thin line of wasabi along the spot where you’ll place your veggies. Place vegetables on the opposite end of the clean edge, about 1/3 in on the roll, keeping them as uniform and compact as possible. Don’t make yourself crazy here, though…they’ll all get pressed tightly together when you roll them up.

Here’s a picture of how I place my vegetables. Let your veggies hang over the side a bit, so there are veggies all the way to the end.

Once you have your rice and veggies placed, using the mat and/or plastic wrap, roll the closest end over the veggies and pull back to tighten. Don’t pull too tightly as you can tear the nori sheet, but start firmly and then gently pull tighter all the way across until the initial roll is tight.

From here, roll again and pull back again and then continue rolling until you’ve formed a complete roll. If the edge isn’t sticking and holding well, moisten the clean edge you left with a bit of water and then press to seal.

Now, all you have to do is cut each roll into slices; I typically cut mine about an inch thick. Transfer slices to a serving dish.

Serve with wasabi and, if you like, some pickled ginger and a small dish of soy sauce for dipping.

Beautiful, isn’t it?

Again, you can customize the vegetables in these rolls to whatever you like. Avocado is delicious in these but, because my husband’s not a huge fan of avocado, I omitted them this time.

You can add all kinds of veggies – even fruit, such as mango, is delicious in these. If you want to make these black rice California rolls, add some imitation crab meat. Cold cooked shrimp is also delicious.

Never, ever be afraid to play with your food.

Enjoy!