In a loved-up haze, we enjoyed two weeks in St Lucia last summer as a very early honeymoon. I could dedicate a whole blog post, a whole series of blog posts, to the amazingeness that was this holiday, but this is about Sushi!

On afternoon, coming back from a gentle stroll along the beach, we were waved in by a very enthusiastic chef. It turned out that the chef was not just anyone, he was chef at Tao, one of the highest rated restaurants of the Caribbean. And he taught us how to make Sushi. Not just any Sushi, of course, lobster and fillet steak sushi with a wasabi mayonnaise. It was delicious and sure inspired the Northener to take the recipe back to the burbs (with slightly more affordable ingredients, that is).

As a Low FODMAPers, Sushi is a great nutritious and healthy option – and certainly, a delicious treat. When you are in control of assembling your favourite rolls, it’s also very safe. I gave it a difficulty rating of four out of five for complete newbies to homemade Sushi as it can be rather fiddly. The more you practice it, the better it will get. Even if it isn’t the prettiest Sushi, it will still be as delicious though. So… meh!

Recipe for Sushi Rice

Ingredients:

• 200g rice – well rinsed
• 350 ml water (add water if it runs dry too quickly)
• Sushi rice seasoning
  • 35g white sugar
  • 60ml rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp salt

Bring the rice and water to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 20 mins. Spread the rice out to cool down. Dissolve the sugar and salt in the rice vinegar. Pour it over the rice and stir. Let it absorb and marinate until you are ready to construct your rolls.

Low Fodmap friendly toppings and fillings

• Cucumber
• Spring onion (green parts only)
• Protein: Salmon, Tuna, Prawn, Steak
• Nori to wrap
• White and black sesame seeds
• Wasabi paste
• Pickled ginger to cleanse the palate
• Gluten-free soy sauce (if you can tolerate it)

1. Use a bamboo mat to help you roll the sushi. Put down a nori sheet, add a thin layer of rice and smoothen with wet fingers.
2. Add your ingredients of choice. Don’t overfill or you’ll have trouble to roll it. For instance, add some spring onions, cucumber sticks, tuna or salmon slices and wasabi paste.
3. Start rolling it tightly from the longer end. Wet a finger to wet the nori paper. This will close the roll so it doesn’t unfold in your hands when you try to cut it.
4. With a sharp knife, cut the roll into manageable pieces.

Alternatively, you can start with the rice, add a nori sheet and filling. This way you’ll end up with an inside-out sushi roll (otherwise known as California roll). You can then roll the rice in sesame seeds for some extra crunch and flavour.

Or if you don’t want to faff with any of that, you can always build little building blocks of rice and add your protein on top. Still pretty delicious without any of the work.

What would you fill your Low FODMAP Sushi with?