Wholesome, colorful sushi wraps made from
vegetables, fruits and spices enhance the flavor of traditional and novel sushi
fillings. Above, two spinach sushi-style wraps flank nine others being tested:
apple-cinnamon, red bell pepper, mango-orange, carrot-ginger, tomato-basil,
broccoli, soybean, strawberry and peach. Sushi wrap image courtesy Origami Foods LLC.
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Healthy, Flavorful Wraps Enhance Sushi-Style
Delicacies
By Marcia Wood July
26, 2005
Sushi appetizers at neighborhood sushi restaurants might soon be
served in brightly colored wrappers made from familiar vegetables and fruits,
offering a fresh alternative to the traditional seaweed. And the trendy,
American-style sushi delicacies--sized, shaped and sliced like typical sushi
but made with innovative ingredients--also may be enhanced by the new
wraps.
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists at Albany, Calif., and
research partner Origami Foods, LLC, based in Pleasanton, Calif., are
experimenting with dozens of delicious, attractively colored wraps. For
example, they've tested a bright-orange carrot-based wrap to encircle a
cucumber, garlic and rice filling, and a deep-red tomato and basil wrap to hold
a spicy tuna and rice filling.
The wraps, which can be produced as soft, pliable sheets, are made
with infrared drying and other leading-edge technologies, according to
Tara H.
McHugh, who heads the
ARS
Processed Foods Research Unit at Albany.
McHugh, Albany colleague
Carl
W. Olsen--both food technologists--and Origami Foods owner and president
Matthew de Bord have applied for a product patent. The tasty, imaginative wraps
rank as the newest in the line of fruit- and vegetable-based edibles from
McHugh's laboratory.
Other combinations include:
- a Thai curry sushi made of potatoes, carrots, green onions and
coconut milk, curry-seasoned and held snugly by the carrot wrap;
- a rice and diced roast pork sushi rolled in a
pineapple-apricot-ginger wrap;
- a bite-sized quiche sushi of carrots, onions and asparagus in a
broccoli wrap; and
- a perfect mini-dessert of rich, creamy cheesecake in a blueberry
or strawberry wrap.
All the wraps are at least 75 percent vegetable or fruit, plus other
wholesome natural ingredients. Besides being fun to eat, the sushi-style
delicacies are ideal for weight-conscious Americans trying to control portion
size.
The team is fine-tuning wrap formulations, experimenting with
different combinations of wrap flavorings and fillings. Two well-known sushi
chefs, among other food industry experts, are helping.
ARS is the U.S. Department of
Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.