The sweet sushi with apples wins everyone over, both for its taste and its very scenic and colorful appearance. To prepare it, you’ll just need to make a sort of rice pudding, let it cool, and then fill it with apples and strawberries. To achieve an even more interesting and tasty effect, I added the apples both sliced, sautéed in the pan, and raw, cut into sticks. The variety I chose is the Golden Delicious apple from Val Venosta, as it is available all year round and therefore easily found even during strawberry season.
Aren’t these Uramaki and Nigiri made with apples and strawberries beautiful?
Serve them with yogurt or even with caramel sauce if you prefer!
If you like Golden apples, also try these recipes of mine:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Rest time: 1 Hour
- Preparation time: 35 Minutes
- Portions: 3 uramaki rolls and 6 nigiri
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: International
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer, and Fall
Ingredients
- 14 oz coconut milk
- 1 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 slice lemon peel
- 1 cup Arborio rice (or Vialone Nano)
- 2 Golden Delicious apples (Val Venosta)
- to taste lemon juice
- 2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 10 strawberries (Val Venosta)
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- to taste pistachios (chopped)
- to taste vanilla yogurt
Steps
To prepare the sushi with Golden Delicious apples, start by cooking the rice, which needs to cool before you can proceed. Put the coconut milk, water, salt, sugar, cinnamon stick, lemon peel, and rice in a pot. Bring it all to a boil with a lid on, stirring every now and then, let it boil gently for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat and, without lifting the lid, allow it to rest for another 12 minutes. Then check the cooking level; if it’s not yet cooked, let it cook for a few more minutes until done, otherwise transfer the rice to a baking dish and let it cool.
In the meantime, prepare the filling.
Wash the Golden Delicious apples. Cut them in half and remove the core with a melon baller. Then slice three apple halves thinly and cut the fourth half into very thin sticks. Drizzle the apple sticks with lemon juice so they don’t brown and set aside.
Heat a large-bottomed pan with the butter, and when it’s melted, add the apple slices. Sauté for a few minutes until they’re slightly softened. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, and continue cooking over high heat so the sugar caramelizes. Deglaze with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, let it evaporate, and remove from heat. Set aside to cool.
Wash the strawberries, remove the hulls, and cut them in half.
When the rice has cooled, you can assemble your sushi.
Start with the uramaki.
Cover the makisu (bamboo sushi mat) with plastic wrap. Take some rice with wet hands and form a rectangle of approx. 8 x 5 inches on the wrapped makisu, compacting the rice well. Place 5-6 slices of caramelized apples along the lower part of the rice, leaving about 1/2 inch free along the bottom edge. Place strawberry halves horizontally along the lower side of the apple slices, followed by the apple sticks.
Lift the mat from the bottom and roll the uramaki tightly. Once the roll is formed, press it to compact.
Unroll the mat, remove the uramaki, and transfer it to a piece of plastic wrap. Wrap it tightly, sealing the sides like a candy, and refrigerate to chill.
Prepare two more uramaki in the same way.
Then prepare the nigiri. With wet hands, take a small amount of rice and shape it into elongated gnocchi-like forms. Place a slice of caramelized apple and half a strawberry on each.
When the uramaki have chilled, mix sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle some on your work surface. Then remove the first uramaki from the wrap and gently roll it in the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Place it on a cutting board and, using a sharp, wet knife, cut it into slices about 3/4 inch thick. Repeat with the remaining two uramaki. Arrange the sliced uramaki on a platter or plate and sprinkle with chopped pistachios.
Serve the uramaki and nigiri with vanilla yogurt.
