A sushi burrito is a concept that no sushi chef would have come up with and yet it is a thing, and this sushi burrito is exactly what we will be talking about today.
What is a sushi burrito and how is it made? A sushi burrito is exactly what it sounds in that it is made of ingredients normally used in sushi and is formed by either using nori or the actual tortilla used for a regular burrito. This can be approached in three ways, as well, with using burrito ingredients wrapped in nori, the other way around, or a combination of the two.
Making a sushi burrito is not complicated at all, but if you haven’t really done it before, it can be quite the messy proposition.
How to Make a Sushi Burrito?
If the issue is making a sushi burrito, you might think that it as easy as wrapping ingredients in nori or tortilla, and in a way, this is right. However, if you approach this issue while thinking that it’s as easy as frying eggs, you might have another thing coming. More often than not, you are likely to make a mess of it and this is not even mentioning the handling of the ingredients involved.
If you really want this to go well, you need to have at least a modicum of cooking skills to match the situation. At the very least, you need to be able to:
· Slice neatly
· Clean properly
· Balance flavors
· Roll carefully
Those are just the most basic requirements, as well, and they will get you a sushi burrito that will be edible enough to eat. If you are looking to do it the right way, you will need more skills and experience. Still, just to get the ball rolling, you might want to take a look at the steps in the table below:
| Steps | Details |
| Choose your wrap | You can choose between a dried seaweed wrap, preferably one that is untoasted, and a tortilla wrap of appropriate size |
| Choose your ingredients | Both sushi and burritos are made of a wide variety of different ingredients, and you will need to choose which of them you are going to use |
| Prepare your wrap | Depending on the size of your sushi burrito, you might need to trim or join your wraps to accommodate all of the ingredients you will be using |
| Prepare your ingredients | Purchase all of the ingredients you will use and lay them out so that you can get a picture of what you will be doing clearly in your head |
| Clean, slice, and cook as necessary | Clean and wash everything that needs to be treated so, slice your meats, vegetables, and aromatics, and then cook anything that needs to be cooked |
| Assemble your burrito | Depending on which wrap and ingredients you chose, you might need to wait for cooked ingredients to cool down before you begin assembling your burrito |
Those are the steps to making your average sushi burrito. However, it only makes sense if those don’t seem like they are going to be enough. As such, it might help to go through them in more detail.
Choosing the wrap – The wrap is a very important part of the sushi burrito that you are about to make. It will contain everything that you are about to make, so you have to make sure that you will actually get the right one. Generally speaking, you have two main options to choose from, which are the nori and the tortilla wrap.
The former is made from dried seaweed pressed together to form a cohesive sheet. The other is made either from wheat flour for the commercial kind or from corn flour, which is the authentic kind. You will want to choose the latter for the tortilla wrap since it tends to offer more strength and flexibility.
It is worth pointing out, though, that the nori can also come in two forms. One is toasted and the other is untoasted. Normally, if you are making just the regular kind of sushi, you would go for the toasted nori since those offer the crunchy texture that you want for your dish. However, since we are making a burrito, going for the untoasted kind might be better for you.
Choosing the ingredients – The ingredients that you will be using for your sushi burrito will need to be split into two main categories, namely: sushi and burrito. Regardless of how haphazardly the two food items might have been smashed together, they do not necessarily share all of the same items. Then again, they do have certain similarities.
Among the ingredients that both sushi and burrito uses are:
· Rice
· Beans
· Eggs
· Avocado
· Mayo
· Fish
· Corn
This is how you might conceivably combine the two food items with the right combination of ingredients. Emphasis on the “right combination” part.
Before you buy your ingredients, though, it would help if you already had some idea as to what kind of sushi burrito you are going to make. That is to say, you need to decide if it is going to be more sushi than a burrito or the other way around. You also need to choose if it is going to be a combination of the two because that will completely change the dynamic if you are not careful.
You should also remember that some ingredients just will not go together, no matter what you do. Shrimp and avocado, for example, will taste horrible if you put them together. So be sure to keep that in mind as you are making your choices so that you won’t end up wasting money. Even worse is when you end up getting an upset stomach because of the ingredients you chose.
Preparing the wrap – With the wrap already chosen, it’s time to start prepping it so that you will actually be able to use it for your purposes. In the case of the nori, you might need to connect it with another sheet if the burrito you are planning on making is particularly big. You can just use water for this, but rice glue would work, as well.
As for the tortilla, just trim some of the excess materials if there are any and then toast it. This is done by putting the tortilla wrap on a pan with a flat bottom that is big enough to accommodate the entire circumference. Turning the fire up to low or medium heat, you will wait for the pan to get hot before placing the tortilla there.
You will know that it is nicely toasted when it has ballooned to its limits and when the bottom is nicely browned. When that happens, you flip the wrap and brown the other side. Make sure to avoid burning it though.
Preparing the ingredients – The ingredients that you will use for your sushi burrito will need to be purchased, separated, and organized so that you will know exactly what to do with them. This is the part where you check off your list and make sure that you didn’t miss anything. Once you start, you can’t stop.
Clean, slice, cook – Wash and clean any vegetables, fruits, and meats that you got for your sushi burrito. Slice and separate all of the items that will need to be assembled in accordance with what you have planned for them. As for any meats or vegetables you need to cook, you can go ahead and do so with the help of any recipes that you might have on hand.
Do remember that you might be pairing ingredients with strong flavors with those with subtler flavors. As such, you might want to adjust the seasonings and flavorings a bit so as to avoid any case of overpowering other items.
Assembling – With all of that done, it is now time to start assembling your sushi burrito. You lay down either the nori wrap or the tortilla wrap on a flat surface like a table or a cutting board. You spread the rice, corn, or beans that will be your starch before you add the rest of the fillings. In the case of the nori, this is why you want the untoasted kind.
Untoasted nori is chewier than the toasted kind, which actually makes it closer in texture to the tortilla. As such, this can only be a plus and another bonus is that it is less likely to tear, as a result. You will then have fewer things to worry about as you are rolling the sushi burrito.
If you are working with a tortilla wrap, your only concern is that you avoid tearing some parts or any holes forming. This is why it would be to your benefit to use the wrap right after it was toasted so that you won’t have to worry about it becoming too stiff.
Why Sushi Burrito?
Sushi burrito might seem like an absurd idea to those who like sushi and burrito in a separate manner but can actually make a bit of sense. If you are not too hung up on the rules of purity and just want to go with the excitement and thrills that go with experimenting, a sushi burrito might actually be a great idea. You just need to get it right.
The great thing about sushi burritos is that they offer many of the same experiences that you would get with one or the other depending on how you handle it. The freshness of the sushi, the strong flavors of the burrito, and the filling feeling that you get when you are done eating both are still there. However, by combining the concepts, you now get more options.
Believe it or not, you can actually take a chicken burrito and wrap it in untoasted nori to completely change the experience. You won’t even feel like you are eating a chicken burrito, anymore. In the same vein, just imagine eating a spicy tuna roll that is wrapped in a tortilla. It would certainly be a new concept, but it would still be quite fulfilling.
These are the kinds of concepts that come into play when you are considering making a sushi burrito. With that being the case, it can be quite the experience for food lovers to try it out, even for those who tend to be wary about new food trends. There is one thing that can be said about sushi burritos though; when you get it just right, you really do get the best of both worlds.
Which Sushi Burrito to Make?
If you are going to choose which burrito to make, you can start by asking yourself one question: do you like sushi better or burrito better? If you like sushi better, you can start by preparing ingredients typically used for regular sushi but this time, you will make a bigger roll. This will serve to help you get accustomed to the idea faster.
For those who like burritos better, you can still use a nori wrap to make the roll but this time, you will wrap burrito ingredients. The idea will still be the same and thanks to the texture of the untoasted nori, it will be a bit like eating a burrito with a black tortilla.
From there, you can progress to using a tortilla to wrap sushi ingredients and then you can also start combining ingredients. The important point to make here is that you are maintaining a balance between the flavors so that you don’t end up with a disgusting mess.
After all, wrapping cooked burrito rice with green peas, corn, and raw salmon is not the best combination in the world. You might even end up spoiling the thing if you are not careful because half-cooked fish is a big threat in the world of food. You don’t want to end up sitting on a toilet all day, do you?
Related Questions
What is Sushi Wrapped in?
The item used for wrapping sushi is called nori, which is basically a sheet of black or dark green that is made of dried seaweed. It is usually toasted so that it is crispy but there are also untoasted varieties. Nori is used in many kinds of Japanese dishes, including soups, stews, noodles, and more.
What is a Sushi Taco?
Sushi taco is basically an assembly of ingredients including deep-fried nori that is coated in batter and is then formed into a taco shell so as to hold the fillings associated with sushi and sushi rice. This will then be consumed much like a taco would and is also drizzled with various condiments.
Sushi Burrito or Sushi Hand Rolls?
On the matter of sushi being consumed in the form of a wrap or a roll, there is actually this thing called a sushi hand roll. This is basically sushi where the rice is spread on a nori sheet and is then rolled to form a cone. This cone will then be filled with the vegetables, fish, and fruits that you want for your roll. From there, you eat it pretty much like a burrito.
The difference between that and a sushi burrito that makes use of untoasted sushi nori is both the size and ingredients that come into play. After all, anyone making a sushi hand roll would not even think of using burrito ingredients, simply because it doesn’t really play well in the whole authenticity argument. In a sushi burrito, though, this is not that big of an issue.
Then there is the matter of the size, which is something that you won’t really get much from a sushi hand roll. You are pretty much stuck with just one sheet of nori and that doesn’t make for much of a sizeable meal.
Can Sushi Burrito Be Sliced?
You would normally eat a burrito whole by taking bites out of it until it is all gone. However, you can actually slice a sushi burrito so that you end up with some fairly large maki sushi pieces if you wanted to. As a matter of fact, this is often done in many sushi restaurants where they serve their sushi dishes in much larger sizes.
Of course, it would still need to be small enough to be consumed in one or two bites, but as long as it doesn’t take you forever to get through it, it is a doable enough practice. You can easily make the most of your sushi burrito if you were to roll it with a sushi rolling mat. Just start with one end and roll as much of it as you can, as tightly as you can, and just pull it closer until you get through the wrap.
This will help maintain the form of the sushi burrito since you still have to make sure that it won’t fall apart once you slice it. It should also be noted that you don’t really need to close either end of the roll if this is what you intended to do from the start.