Watermelon Sushi

An interesting twist on sushi as a dessert with sweeetened rice. You could also add or substitute mango, papaya or another fruit as the "fish" replacement or as the purée ingredient.

Ingredients

• Sushi rice (see below)
• Watermelon
• Fresh mint leaves
• Lime zest
• Balsamic vinegar or tamarind sauce
• 1 Mango
• 1 tsp sugar

Sushi Rice

• 1½ cups cold water
• 1 cup jasmine rice
• 1 cup milk
• ¼ cup white sugar
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 egg white
• Dash of vanilla extract

1. Pour water into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat; stir in rice. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until rice is tender and liquid has been absorbed, about 20 minutes.
2. Combine cooked rice, 1/2 cup of milk, sugar, and salt in a clean saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until thick and creamy, about 15 minutes.
3. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk and egg white; cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla until combined.

Assembly

1. Slice the watermelon into thin rectangles to look like tuna sushi.
2. Peel the mango and cut the flesh away from the central pit. Put the mango in a blender with a little water and the sugar, and purée. Pass through a fine sieve or tamis.
3. Form the sushi rice into fingers. Place a watermelon slice on the rice.
4. Slice the mint leaves into a fine chiffonade and sprinkle a few on top of the watermelon and add a couple of pieces of lime zest.
5. Place a couple of drops of Balsamic vinegar (or tamarind sauce) on one end of the sushi (to look like soy sauce).
6. Optional: Place a spoonful of the mango (or other fruit) purée on a plate and place the watermelon sushi on the plate.

Other fruits could be used in place of (or in addition to) watermelon as the topping of the rice: mango, papaya, canned peaches or pears, etc. Pears and apples could be poached to soften and to add colour with food colouring.

Ideas for other "sauces" than the mango purée to use as accompaniment: lemon or lime curd, strawberry or raspberry purée.

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Another dessert that looks like sushi is to make "pearls" from fruit juices to look like fish roe. See pearls recipe here. These are placed on top of a filling in a chocolate cup. The filling below the pearls could be a light dessert like Bavarian Cream, or something a little heavier like rice pudding or cheesecake. The pearls could be any fruit, but a red or orange fruit would match the colour of roe.