Totoro bento box with salmon maki sushi (salmon, avocado, cucumber) and a panda full of tamari.

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Inspired by the sushi counter at Whole Foods, I tried my hand at making brown rice sushi this morning. It turned out pretty well I think! I used sushi-grade salmon that I bought at H Mart a few weeks ago and froze (defrosted it overnight). Since this bento has raw fish in it, I refrigerated it upon getting to work. I like to take sushi out of the fridge about a 1/2 hour before eating to let the rice soften up a bit.

You may have noticed that things have been brown rice heavy recently. I am not cutting out white rice entirely, but am trying to work more brown rice into our diet. It is so much better for you than white rice! Brown rice is produced by removing only the hull of the rice kernel and is the least damaging to its nutritional value. Did you know that converting brown rice into white destroys 67% of the vitamin B3, 80% of the vitamin B1, 90% of the vitamin B6, half the manganese and phosphorous, 60% of the iron, and all of the dietary fiber and essential fatty acids? Most white rice is enriched with B1, B3, and iron, but heck, why not get it in its natural form?

Short-grain brown rice (I use Kagayaki brand), when cooked properly, is as soft and sticky as white rice. You can use it in onigiri, sushi, etc. without missing a beat. If brown rice is undercooked, cooked with insufficient water, or cooked without pre-soaking, you may end up with a more tough and less sticky texture that is hard to work with (and hard to chew!). For best results, rinse the rice and drain, then soak overnight before cooking. I like to set my rice cooker (which has a brown rice setting) on timer the night before for soft, fresh rice in the morning. If you want to make sushi, you can use the same seasoning as shown in the Perfect Sushi Rice tutorial. I snapped some photos as I was rolling this morning, so the Maki Sushi tutorial will go up soon. Which reminds me . . . Frying Tofu tutorial is up!