Pantry Spicy Tuna Tekka Maki Sushi

We’ve been staying home, working, cooking, cleaning, puzzling, laughing, gardening, and yes, sometimes crying for the last two weeks. And while life is changing, the kitchen continues to provide infinite amounts of comfort. I’ve been cracking open all the cookbooks I’ve been promising myself I’d get to eventually and actually reading them and cooking from them! I’ve also been turning to tried and true recipes from home that utilize all the pantry staples we’ve neglected. We ordered delivery once, but all our other meals have been home-cooked, which means we are starting to crave certain foods we usually go out for. Moses’ craving is sushi.

So I decided I’d do my best to bring him the sushi! Pantry Spicy Tuna Tekka Maki Sushi is easier to make than you’d think and it uses a bunch of pantry essentials you probably have on hand like rice, mayo, and a can of Bumble Bee® Solid White Albacore in Water. If you’re anything like me, you’ve got a nice stack of tuna and want to turn each can into a fun meal. Fun fact, ounce for ounce tuna is lower in calories, fat, sat fat, and cholesterol than even the leanest cuts of beef and chicken. And it’s also canned, so you don’t need to give up precious fridge space to store it!

Pantry Spicy Tuna Sushi could be the best thing I’ve whipped up so far. The joy it brought Moses made the 15 to 20 minutes I spent making it soooo worth it. We plated the sushi up on our sushi plates, took it outside, and had an outdoor sushi break. It was just the escape we were looking for and it more than satisfied Moses’ sushi cravings. So happy to have this recipe in my back pocket. I hope it brings you as much happiness as it brought us!

PANTRY SPICY TUNA TEKKA MAKI SUSHI

Makes 5 rolls; 40 pieces

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
2 cups just-cooked white rice
1 5-ounce can of Bumble Bee® Solid White Albacore in Water
2 tablespoons mayo
1 ½ to 2 teaspoons Sriracha
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
1 small cucumber, cut into ¼-inch wide strips, soaked in ice cold water then dried
½ small avocado, pitted, peeled, and cut into ¼-inch wide strips
5 nori (dried seaweed) sheets
Pickled ginger
Shoyu (soy sauce)

TOOLS

Rice paddle
Sudare (bamboo mat) or a piece of parchment paper

FIX

Pour the seasoned rice vinegar over the hot rice, fluffing it and tossing to evenly coat the rice with a rice paddle. Let the rice cool to room temperature before using it.

To make the spicy tuna, first, drain all the water from the tuna and turn the tuna out into a bowl. Flake it with a fork then add the mayo, Sriracha, rice vinegar, and kosher salt and mix well to combine. Fold in the chopped green onions and set the bowl aside.

Place the sudare (bamboo mat) on a clean work surface, with the bamboo running horizontal. Add a sheet of nori, shiny side down, and align it with the bottom edge of the mat (the end without the extra ends of string). Spread a thin layer of sushi rice, as thin as you can while still evenly covering the nori), over half of the nori, starting at the end closest to you. Leave a ¼-inch margin of rice on the end closest to you and arrange your fillings in a tight row in this order: spicy tuna, a couple of slices of cucumber, and a couple of slices of avocado. Carefully roll the sushi away from you, using the mat to apply pressure. Use one hand to keep the filling in place until you get to the point when the mat touches the rice. At this point, lift the mat away from the rice so that you can continue rolling. Repeat this process with the remainder of the ingredients.

Cut each roll into 8 pieces and serve with pickled ginger and shoyu (soy sauce).

 Note: You can use any remaining fillings and rice to build a sushi bowl!

Substitutions: If you don’t have seasoned rice vinegar, you can make your own with some rice vinegar and a pinch or two of both granulated sugar and kosher salt, stir together and heat for a minute or so over medium heat or until the sugar and salt have dissolved. If you can’t find pickled ginger but have fresh ginger on hand, you can make your own. Slice the ginger as thin as you can, I use a mandoline and toss the thinly sliced ginger with a couple of tablespoons of rice vinegar, a few pinches of sugar, and a pinch or two of kosher salt. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes and you’ve got a quick pickled ginger. If you don’t have a can of tuna on hand, but you’ve got a can of salmon, guess what? Spicy Salmon Sushi is just as good! Finally, if you don’t have cucumber or avocado but you’ve got carrots, use those. My best advice is to get creative with what you’ve got.

This post was sponsored by Bumble Bee® Seafoods! Since 1899, they have been on a mission to show the world that there’s a Better Way to Seafood™. I am thrilled to have partnered with them to bring you this post!