Photo of Brown rice sushi rolls with tuna by WW

Brown rice sushi rolls with tuna

8
Points® value
Total Time
1 hr 40 min
Prep
40 min
Cook
35 min
Serves
4
Difficulty
Easy
Brown rice not only provides the benefits of whole grains, but it also adds nutty flavour and a wonderfully chewy texture to these sushi rolls. We call for raw tuna, but you can substitute cooked tuna, smoked salmon, or cooked shrimp if you’d rather. Though you may see recipes that call for sushi-grade tuna, that label doesn’t really mean much. Buy the freshest tuna you can find from a trusted source. You don’t need any special equipment to make these sushi rolls. If you have a bamboo sushi mat, that’s great—use it for rolling up the rolls. If not, no worries; you can use a plastic wrap–lined kitchen towel instead.

Ingredients

Dry short grain brown rice

1 cup(s)

Unseasoned rice vinegar

2 tbsp(s)

Sugar

1 tbsp(s)

Kosher salt

¾ tsp(s)

Nori seaweed

4 sheet(s)

Unsalted toasted sesame seeds

2 tsp(s), white and black

Carrots

1 cup(s), matchstick-cut

Cucumber

1 slice(s), 4-in-long chunk, cut lengthwise into 8 wedges

Uncooked tuna

6 oz, cut into thin strips

Instructions

  1. Place the rice in a strainer and rinse under cold water. Place rice and 1 ⅔ cups water in a small saucepan; let stand 15 minutes. Bring to a boil over high heat; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 35 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 10 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, in a small microwave-safe bowl, stir the vinegar, sugar, and salt. Microwave on High until hot, about 30 seconds. Stir until the sugar and salt dissolve. Drizzle the vinegar mixture over the warm rice, folding rice over itself to thoroughly coat. Spread the rice out onto a sheet pan to cool quickly; let stand until cooled to room temperature, about 10 minutes.
  3. Wrap a bamboo sushi mat entirely with plastic wrap, or arrange a large piece of plastic wrap on a folded-in-half kitchen towel. Arrange 1 nori sheet on the plastic wrap, rough side up. With damp hands, sprinkle one-fourth of the rice (a scant 1 cup) over the entire surface of the nori; pat the rice onto the nori so that it sticks and completely covers it. Sprinkle ½ tsp sesame seeds evenly over the rice. Arrange one-fourth of carrot, 2 cucumber pieces, and one-fourth of tuna horizontally along the edge of nori closest to you. Roll up nori over fillings, pulling the roll back with plastic wrap and the mat (or towel) as you go to close the roll tightly. Repeat with remaining nori, rice, and fillings. Cut each roll into 8 pieces.
  4. Alternatively, for inside-out rolls, arrange 1 nori sheet on the plastic wrap, rough side up. With damp hands, sprinkle one-fourth of the rice (a scant 1 cup) over the entire surface of the nori; pat the rice onto the nori so that it sticks and completely covers it. Sprinkle ½ tsp sesame seeds evenly over the rice. Flip the nori over, rice side down. Arrange the fillings and roll the sushi roll as described in step 3. Repeat with remaining nori, rice, and fillings. Cut each roll into 8 pieces.
  5. Serving size: 1 sushi roll (8 pieces)