The use of a mandoline is key for these little boats, as the cucumber needs to be sliced very thin so it wraps easily. If your cucumber is too thick, you can use a length of green onion or chive to “tie” it into place.
Rice Prep Time: 1½ hours
Sushi Prep Time: 15 minutes
Makes 12 pieces
1½ cups (300 g) Traditional Sushi Rice or Brown Sushi Rice (pages 21 and 23)
1 English cucumber
½ cup (40 g) roasted peanuts
1 teaspoon finely grated daikon radish
1 teaspoon grated ginger root
Chia Seed Togarashi (page 28) or shichimi togarashi
One green onion (scallion), thinly sliced
Sweet Chili Sauce (page 25), for dipping
Wet your fingertips and palms lightly with water. Grab a walnut-sized amount of prepared sushi rice (about 2 tablespoons) and mold it into a rectangular mound. The bottom should be flat. Repeat this with the remaining rice to form 12 balls in all.
Use a mandoline to cut the cucumber lengthwise into very thin slices. (Eat the first slice or two, as they will most likely not be long or wide enough.) The slices must be wide enough to extend above the height of the rice balls when wrapped around them like a wall. You should be able to get 6 slices from one side of the cucumber. Avoid using the middle slices that are full of seeds. Turn the cucumber over to get 6 more slices from the other side.
Wrap a cucumber slice snugly around each rice ball to enclose it in a wall. The ends should stick to each other. Place an equal quantity of peanuts on top of each rice ball. Add a tiny dab of grated daikon radish and a tiny dab of grated ginger root on top of the peanuts. Sprinkle with Chia Seed Togarashi or shichimi togarashi and top with green onion.
Dip the bottoms of the little boats in Sweet Chili Sauce before eating.
