Living in Japan, I'm surrounded by loads of ocean-based sushi I can't eat (I've been vegetarian since 2004); the few options that are vegetarian and vegan-friendly tend to be cucumber rolls and natto rolls, so it's nice to see such a wide variety of colorful vegetables used to stunning artistic (and textural) effect in creating sushi that is every bit as eye-catching and delicious as "the real deal." The author clearly lays out ingredients and techniques to ensure that even novice cooks will be able to produce beautiful rolls that rival those at your local sushi joint.

Sushi Modoki is a bright, beautiful, detailed, and very colorful vegan sushi cookbook. It’s filled with vivid, colorful, highly appetizing food photography throughout, but is also extremely practical and useful. There’s a list of information on specific ingredients and instructions on how to make or prepare various basic ingredients (sushi rice, fried tofu pockets, sauces, pickles, etc), as well as the recipes for various types of sushi dishes–not just those more familiar to American diners, like rolls and nigiri, but also chirashi (rice bowls), inari (aburaage/ stuffed tofu pockets), and oshi, among others. There’s even some recipes for beverages. The recipes have meticulously detailed instructions for preparation and assembly, often including step-by-step photographic illustrations.

In addition to being completely vegan, the recipes are mostly gluten free, or adjustable to gluten free (using tamari instead of soy sauce, for example, avoiding rice wine vinegar, etc.), and otherwise top-ten allergen friendly–with the notable exception of soy, naturally. Tofu abounds in this cookbook, featured not only as itself, but also in its various forms as ingredients for substitutes for mayonnaise, mackerel, and tamago (with kabocha squash), among others. In general, there are many creative substitutes for fish products: tuna substitutes feature fresh tomato or red bell pepper, carrot with flax seed oil stands in for salmon, and king oyster mushrooms serve as scallops or abalone, depending on how they’re cut and spiced. A Japanese yam cake called konnyaku stands in for ingredients like squid and, with carrot, for shrimp. Eggplant replaces eel. Amaranth with carrot serves as fish roe. Carrot and squash are prepared to resemble sea urchin.

Will the sushi taste like the seafood it’s designed to mimic? I can’t say, as I didn’t try to make any of the recipes yet, but I admit skepticism for the most part. However, I do think that the recipes as described sound delicious. I’d rather have iina’s version of a rainbow roll (carrot, red cabbage, cucumber, avocado, red and yellow bell pepper, and mustard greens) than its seafood equivalent. The pink rolls, with red cabbage slaw, the tomato miso soup, and the curry basil poke modoki oshi also all sound especially delicious.

Overall, this is a delightful cookbook, full of recipes pleasing to the eye and (presumably) to the palate. I’m grateful to #Netgalley and The Experiment for letting me read an advanced copy of #SushiModoki in exchange for my honest review. I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys Japanese food or vegetables and rice dishes or vegan dishes, or all of the above.

Sushi Modoki: The Japanese Art and Craft of Vegan Sushi is a tutorial guide and cookbook for creating and serving vegan sushi. Originally published in 2017 in Japanese, this English language translation, out 1st Nov 2019 from The Experiment, it's 128 pages and available in hardcover and ebook formats.

Sushi is perennially popular as a meal to eat out since it can be quite intricate to make and serve. This collection is so attractive and cleverly made that it has my fingers itching to recreate in my home kitchen. I'm especially excited about this cookbook because I love sushi, but don't care for 99% of sushi featuring fish. I absolutely adore inari sushi and this collection includes several recipes.

The flavors and textures are varied and appealing. I am amazed by how close to the traditional fish and roe sushi these appear. This would make a great social evening. Get friends together for an assembly and tasting party.

The recipes are arranged by type of sushi: nigiri, sushi rolls (including a kimbap recipe), chirashi, inari, oshi, soups and stocks, and condiments. There are also some drinks recipes included. The introduction includes a pictorial survey of the main ingredients and equipment and supplies. The author does a good job of explaining how to select and cook the basic components; rice, sushi vinegar, etc.

Each of the recipes include a serving picture, ingredients in the sidebar (measurements in US standard and metric), and step by step instructions. The ingredients are mostly relatively easily sourced and should be available from any well stocked Asian grocery or large supermarket.

The recipes themselves are clever look-alikes of traditional sushi. The names given in the headers reference the original sushi, such as "abalone" or "scallop" modoki nigiri. This doesn't detract from the book in any way, and in fact it's quite impressive that they really do look like scallop, roe (it's boiled amaranth), and tuna (it's -really- cleverly disguised carrot).

Five stars. This is a useful and clever collection.

Sushi Modoki means mimicked sushi. This cookbook shows vegans and vegetarians how to create beautiful replicas of famous sushi while not compromising their ethical values.

The book includes seventeen nigiri (thin fish over rice), nine sushi rolls, four chirashi (rice/veggie bowls), four inari (stuffed deep-fried tofu pockets), four oshi (rectangular sushi), seven soups/stocks, nineteen condiments, and four drinks. While the presentation is nice, how much can vegetables mimic the taste of sushi? The author uses clever techniques, like using kombu (kelp) to add a fishy smell and taste to the sushi rice, to overcome this issue.

There is something innately satisfying about creating these works of art. Using tomatoes and red bell peppers as tuna, and Japanese eggplant as eel, is flat-out clever as well as unexpected. If you use tamari rather than regular wheat-based soy sauce, all the recipes are gluten-free. Each recipe includes a color picture making you want to try them all. If only there was nutritional information, Sushi Modoki would be the perfect cookbook. 4 stars!

Thanks to The Experiment and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

I'm not vegan, but I am conscientious about eating seafood, especially living in a landlocked state - which means I never eat sushi! This book gives me hope that I can try recipes in my kitchen that will replace my usual avocado or cuke rolls (boring!) with delectable rolls that are not only environmentally friendly, but look like the real stuff. I can't wait to try these recipes!

The sushi art in this book is mouth watering! I love sushi and am always looking to improve my own at home sushi capabilities. Reading the book made me hungry and gave me plenty of new ideas for becoming more creative. Easy to follow step by step preparation made learning much easier.

The rice recipe makes perfect sticky rice, it looks and maintains the same consistence as Japanese restaurants. The success of making sushi at home really is dependent on the outcome of your rice and this was the right balance.

Spicy mayo is absolutely my favorite condiment and I was thrilled to find the recipe. A pleasant discovery was the tofu cream cheese. My friends are vegan and sometimes its a challenge to get creative with their rolls and this is something I have not see in any restaurants. Looking forward to using this recipe for their next visit and surprising them with a new twist! This book had plenty of vegan friendly options and I discovered why - the author is a vegan!!! Her recipes are sans artificial seasoning or coloring, avoids processed ingredients and dairy. Learning about the author I will definitely read more of her books, growing up on an organic farm and making healthy recipes with organic ingredients I can trust her recipes to advise on the highest quality ingredients for my own healthy living and dietary restrictions of friends and family.

Sushi Modoki features vegan sushi that imitates its fish counterpart and is filled with bright, ascetically pleasing pictures. I'm not sure how close the vegan alternative tastes to the fishy versions but the sushi rolls look really tasty and colorful. I love sushi but have never made it myself, however, the recipe instructions were easy to follow and extremely user-friendly. This cookbook is the quintessential guide for beginning sushi chefs.

*Thank you to NetGalley and The Experiment publishers for providing a free ARC

This is an impressive vegan cookbook with absolutely gorgeous photography, and it gets five strong stars with a couple caveats: It is mainly for vegans, and it is very Japanese so several ingredients may be difficult to find depending on where you live.

I take issue with the blurb that says it “tastes and looks like the real thing”. This sushi is phenomenal in beauty, but it is not going to taste like fresh seafood. That said, the recipes are made with fresh veggies and rice, with vegan condiments, and any vegan would love the recipes. Contrary to what some omnivores think, vegans are not always looking for direct taste substitutes.

So why then would vegans want to eat something that is a direct visual swap for fresh fish? Because it follows the Japanese theme of Beauty. This is an excellent book for any vegan who wants to have friends over for dinner, or who wants to impress their guests. There is even a section for holding a hand wrap party. Several dishes in the second half are less focused on looking like seafood, and more centered around delicious vegetable and noodle salads. These are equally as gorgeous as the “nagiri” dishes. Non-vegans would do just fine with that that second half of the book.

I am used to vegan sushi consisting mainly of cucumber or mushroom, but this book is just spectacular, both visually and in taste. Other than the usual work of rolling and putting the sushi together, the recipes themselves are not a lot of work. So if you are vegan and want to throw a sushi party that will be talked about for years, this book is one hundred percent for you.

Many thanks to NetGalley and The Experiment for gifting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. If you have a vegan in your life, put this on their gift list. Even if they don’t like to cook, they will enjoy the beautiful and imaginative photos in the book.

What a wonderful book! I teach vegan cooking classes and the vegan sushi classes are some of the most popular. I'm thrilled to see these new recipes that will bring new ideas and information to students who want to learn to make a variety of sushi that are similar to what they see in restaurants. This book has great recipes, beautiful photos, and a wealth of information. Highly recommended!

It is so nice to finally read a vegan sushi cookbook. Great recipes, that I enjoyed making. Very creative in converting regular sushi into a vegan style that not only looks great but also delicious. The photos were a wonderful reference to creating the sushi. Enjoyed reading this book. I would recommend this book everyone.

An interesting vegan sushi cook book. I enjoyed the beautiful pictures and wanted to wait to write my review until I had a chance to try some of these recipes. It’s been a busy summer but I swear I am going to make these soon!

*I received an ARC from NetGalley for a fair and unbiased review of this book.

A beautiful book but maybe a bit much for the average home cook. A lot of ingredients that would require trips to specialty stores - but, again, a beautiful book!

While I applaud the idea of Sushi Modoki - vegan sushi that mimics the colour, taste and texture of fish sushi - I fear it may be all too much for the common British home cook.
The ingredients glossary only has five items, but the recipes are full of unfamiliar items such as konnyaku, shiso leaf, umeboshi, abuurage - that I feel are unlikely to be stocked in a provincial branch of Sainsbury’s.
This might suit someone with some prior knowledge of Japanese cookery and easy access to an Asian grocery shop.
It’s an interesting book with lovely pictures, but I already feel defeated before I’ve finished writing my shopping list.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This is a fun book for beginners and veterans. I'll definitely be recommending this one to friends and patrons alike.

Vegan sushi? Yes, please! I'll definitely be adding this one to my permanent collection when it's published. This cookbook is filled with vegan alternatives to the sushi we're all used to seeing made with fish. Though I'm not sure how closely some of these taste to the fishy versions (a slice of pepper with a bit of oil is like tuna??), I'm not bothered by that. Instructions are clear and most recipes have simple ingredient lists. This one's a keeper!

Thank you to The Experiment and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

I like sushi. I like this book. Recipes. Techniques and cute photos. You will be able to gain a lot of info about sushi preparation and handling.
Great for begginers and advanced readers.