Vegan Philly Roll

A delicious inside-out maki sushi roll filled with smoked “salmon” carrots, sliced cucumber strips, and non-dairy cream cheese.

Do you like sushi? If so, what’s your favorite combination?

I admit wholeheartedly that I am a sushi fiend. Sushi and I go way back! We’re the best of friends. Honestly, I haven’t met a sushi that I didn’t love. In fact, my favorite form of sushi is called maki, which is what you probably think of when you think of sushi. Maki is rolled sushi – the sushi rice and fillings are rolled up in a sheet of dried seaweed. According to Google, it’s called makizushi in Japan. I just call it yummy!!

And my absolute favorite maki is a toss up between a spicy salmon roll and my beloved Philadelphia Roll <– Philly Roll for short. And since I have a really tough time choosing between these two amazing maki, I typically get both – well, now I make both. They’re both just so perfectly amazing!!! The texture, the colors, the flavors, the presentation. Yum!

A Philly Roll contains smoked salmon, cucumber, and cream cheese. So, I’m going to be very honest with you. When we initially transitioned to a plant-based diet, I couldn’t imagine a full and happy life without being able to eat my favorite combinations of sushi anymore.

The first conundrum that had to be addressed was how to order sushi when one doesn’t eat fish or dairy? For starters, both of my favorite maki contain either fish or fish and dairy. And I didn’t want to consider giving up either of these incredible rolls. Yet, I understand the health attributes of eating a plant-based diet and want my body to benefit from a plant-based lifestyle. Would I only be able to enjoy cucumber, carrots, and avocado.

But have no fear, there is so much more than these three sushi ingredients!! In fact, there are so many more options available for plant-based sushi than I could have ever imagined. It just takes a little creativity and sometimes a little extra planning. But otherwise, a few clever substitutions make plant-based sushi rolls just as delicious and a far healthier alternative to regular sushi.

I mean, check out this little guy. Doesn’t it look incredible? This Vegan Philly Roll is the picture of perfection.

What’s even more awesome is that this Vegan Philly Roll is super easy to make and it tastes great! It just takes a few standard sushi ingredients and one not so standard. Let’s cover the standard ingredients first. For starters, you’ll need nori, which is dried sheets of roasted seaweed. Nori contains incredible umami and is super easy to find and use. When you add your seasoned rice and fillings, the sheet softens and seals when you roll it up. Pretty neat stuff. The toasted seaweed also provides that standard sushi flavor which is pretty awesome, too.

Next up is cream cheese. Any commercial or homemade cream cheese recipe should work in this Vegan Philly Roll. I use Daiya cream cheese because that’s what my local grocer carries. I’m happy to report that it works great!

The cucumber only requires a sharp knife and a steady hand. You can leave the skin on your cucumber or peel the skin off. It doesn’t matter and is completely up to you. I sometimes leave mine on but it’s easy enough to peel it with a vegetable peeler. The cucumber is cut in long thin strips about the length of the nori. Otherwise you might end up with sushi pieces without cucumber or the cucumber will be too long and stick out the sides.

Another important note is that it’s easier to use a seedless cucumber. Though, if you can’t find one, any cucumber works. You just don’t want to use the middle seedy portion in your sushi. Just scoop it out and use it in a salad or eat it while you prep. Easy fix.

Now for the star of the show!!! I recommend making Vegan Smoked “Salmon” Carrots. Similar to my Plant-based Carrot Dogs, these little strips of carrots are roasted in a super delicious marinade. The end result is amazing! And these Vegan Smoked “Salmon” Carrots are the perfect substitute for smoked salmon in this Vegan Philly Roll. Best of all, they really are easy to make and tastes incredible!

Simply use a vegetable peeler to peel your carrots, steam them for five minutes, place them in a baking dish, pour the marinade over roast the carrot peels, and roast them in an oven for about an hour or so. Allow them to continue marinating overnight and voila! May I present perfection!

These Vegan Smoked “Salmon” Carrots are not only incredibly delicious, they are also extremely versatile!

To illustrate, I have successfully made a myriad of tasty treats with these marinated carrots, including Smoked Carrot Stack, Spicy “Salmon” Sushi Stack, Smoked “Salmon” Lox, Spicy Salmon rolls, Sushi Bowl, and more!

So the star of this Philly Roll may be the marinated carrots; however the most important ingredient in any maki is actually the sushi rice. Sounds crazy, but it’s true. Luckily, sushi rice is widely available and super easy to make – I cook short or medium grain sushi rice for four minutes on high pressure in my Instant Pot to make perfect sushi rice every single time.

After the pressure releases naturally, stir in a little rice wine vinegar, agave, and a dash of sea salt, and cover with a wet paper towel. This helps keep it from drying out.

To complete this Vegan Philly Roll, sprinkle a dash of sesame seeds on the rice before rolling it up and slicing with a very sharp knife. Then serve with fresh wasabi, pickled ginger, and soy sauce or gluten-free tamari. I like using black and white sesame seeds for fun. But you can use any sesame seeds you have on hand.

I hope you enjoy this Vegan Philly Roll as much as I do.  Please leave a comment and rate it down below, tag a picture @pebblesandtoast and #pebblesandtoast on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook!   I’m just starting out and would love to see your results.  Enjoy!!

Ingredients

• sushi rice* (recipe in Notes below)

• 1 cup Vegan Smoked “Salmon” Carrots
• 4 sheets of nori, broken or cut in half
• ¼ cup dairy-free cream cheese (I used Daiya plain)
• 1 half seedless cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced
• 1-2 Tbsp sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Wrap a sushi mat or piece of cardstock with a long piece of saran wrap and fold the edges around to seal it nicely.
2. Lay one half sheet of nori shiny side down on the plastic wrapped bamboo sushi mat.
3. Set a small bowl with a wet paper towel and a little water next to your mat.
4. Wet your fingers on the paper towel and place about ½ cup of sushi rice in an even layer across the nori sheet. 
5. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
6. Carefully flip the nori over so that the rice-sesame side is now facing down.
7. About an inch from the edge, lay marinated carrots in a line from end to end.
8. Now lay thin uniform slices of cucumber and a thin strip of cream cheese along the marinated carrot strips.

1. Using the sushi mat and both hands, start rolling from the bottom of the roll, tucking the edge of the roll to fully enclose the filling.
2. Once you reach the end, use the mat to rotate the roll inside to make sure you have an even and consistent sushi roll.
3. Now use the wet paper towel to wipe the edge of a sharp knife.
4. Slice your sushi roll into 6 equal pieces, depending on your preference.  Cut it in half first, then cut each half in thirds.  
5. Wipe the knife with your wet paper towel in between each cut; otherwise the rice sticks.
6. Place your sushi on a serving dish and enjoy with soy sauce, tamari, pickled ginger, and wasabi.

Notes

* To make sushi rice, combine 1 cup of medium grain sushi rice and 1¼ cup water in an instant pot on high for 4 minutes.  After it naturally releases, add in 2 Tbsp rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp agave or maple syrup, and a dash of salt.  Keep covered with wet paper towel.

This recipe uses Vegan Smoked “Salmon” Carrots, which are essentially marinated carrot strips – the recipe should be made at least one day in advance for the best flavor and can be found here.

This recipe makes about 8 half rolls, depending how much rice you use on each roll.

To make a full roll, spread 1 cup of rice across a full nori sheet and proceed per instructions.

A Sushi Golden Rule: the shiny side of nori is always placed on the outside of the sushi.