Seafood Sushi Wraps

I sometimes wonder if I could do a themed blog around making everything on Brenda's Canadian Kitchen's Blog?
You know, like the Taking on  Magazines one?  Or the I Heart Cooking Clubs one, where they have a theme?
I could just count down how many recipes I've made from Brenda's blog.
Hey! It's an idea...  since I seem to do a lot of it.

Once again, she comes up with a winner with  Seafood Sushi Wraps. 

There was just little problem for me:  When a recipe says  "low-sodium"  (as in soy sauce used for a dipping sauce), there is usally a reason.  PAY ATTENTION to that piece of the directions.
Everything was great about these little sushi appetizers, except I didn't use 'low-sodium' and my dipping sauce, while still good, was just very, very salty.

To be honest, we are not sushi lovers around here.  I've only ever had the ones you buy at Costco and while I do enjoy those, I don't think that is probably 'real ' sushi that one would get at a restaurant.  (correct me if I'm wrong).
But that is a good thing, BECAUSE this isn't real sushi either.  (Brenda will agree because she wrote the same thing)
We loved this little wrap.  Loved them enough to take them to  a friends house to share (and take all the credit for)
I am going to leave it to  Brenda to apptly describe how great it tasted, go here for that.

Meanwhile, I'm just going to help myself to another one and read a book.
( gosh I love this themed blog thing---I don't have to worry about the description and all the work writing it--SHE already did it for me.  And copying and pasting the directions--pffpht!   She did that too!  HA!  She's doing all the work here.  Shhhh...don't tell. )

Seafood Sushi Wraps

(recipe taken directly from Brenda's Canandian Kitchen--even her substitutions)

 3/4 cup uncooked sushi (medium-grain) rice
1 cup water
3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
3 large whole wheat flour tortillas (10-inch)
6 tablespoons garden vegetable cream cheese spread
1/2 cup shredded carrot (I finely chopped my carrot instead of shredding)
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
6 to 8 (about 1 oz/28 g each) refrigerated imitation crabmeat sticks
3 green onions, trimmed to 8-inch length, halved lengthwise




Dipping Sauce


2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger root
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoons roasted red chili paste*
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/3 cup 2 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce


*I happened to have some chili-garlic sauce in my fridge so used that instead.


In 1 1/2-quart nonstick saucepan, heat rice and water to boiling. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook 15 to 20 minutes or until all water is absorbed and rice is tender. (I needed to add a bit more water). Meanwhile, place 15x10-inch pan with sides in freezer to chill.


Drizzle rice vinegar over rice while lifting and fluffing rice; spread rice in chilled pan. Place in freezer for 5 minutes to cool completely.


Trim 1 1/2-inches from top and bottom of tortillas to form rectangles. On work surface, place 1 tortilla rectangle with short sides at top and bottom. Spread 2 tablespoons cream cheese over entire surface of roll-up. Spread 3/4 cup cooled rice over cream cheese, leaving 1 1/2 inches of top short edge free of rice. Starting 1 inch from bottom short edge, arrange narrow row of carrot, row of bell pepper and row of crabmeat crosswise over rice. Above crabmeat, place 2 onion halves, alternating ends so there is one green end and one white end on each side. Press all layers into rice.


Bring bottom edge of tortilla over fillings to top edge of rice; pull bottom edge of tortilla back toward bottom, scraping rice into roll and fillings to make a firm roll (be sure there are no air spaces). Roll up, letting cream cheese seal the roll. Wrap in plastic wrap. Repeat with remaining ingredients, making 2 more rolls. Refrigerate rolls 1 hour.


Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix dipping sauce ingredients. To serve, trim ends of each roll; cut each roll into 8 slices. Serve with dipping sauce.


Kitchen Tips: To prevent the cooked sushi rice from becoming sticky, lift and fluff it while adding the rice vinegar. Spreading the rice on a cold pan helps cool it quickly.


Makes 24 sushi wraps.