Midnight Sushi with Wasabi Skulls

It is officially Halloween in my kitchen. The kiddos were at a sleepover this last Saturday so I was able to play around with an idea I had for a fun Halloween-inspired main dish.
I call it Midnight Sushi! My husband suggested the name. I was thinking something like Sinister Sushi, but I liked his name better. It's basically a super cool looking Spicy Tuna Roll with veggies. I can't have a meal without my veggies. 
The most noticeable difference is that I made it with Forbidden Rice instead of sushi rice. I saw some forbidden rice at the store a few months ago and bought it wanting to make a Halloween dish and voila! This is the result...Can you just imagine eating this at midnight on Halloween? Yum. 

(This is my simulated nighttime pic...I think it turned out pretty cool considering it was daytime when I took this picture. I've been playing around with lighting so that it looks like it's night time.) The daytime shots are down below. :)

I really like the way it turned out. Forbidden rice when uncooked is gorgeously black! See?

But once it's cooked it becomes a beautiful deep burgundy-purple color. 

When cooked properly for 30 minutes, Forbidden Rice is nutty and has a chewy texture with a little bite to the grain. Normally, Forbidden Rice wouldn't be sticky enough for sushi so, for this recipe, I cooked it two times in my rice cooker to get a more sticky consistency. 
The first time with equal portions of rice and water. The second go around, I added about a half a cup of additional water and flipped the switch again. It turned out sticky with some of the grains broken. Perfect for sushi but not for a pilaf! In fact the nutty flavor of the rice really elevated sushi for me. Typically sushi rice just gets me really full without a lot of flavor, but this rice tasted amazing with the spicy tuna and veggies. :) My husband even said, "I think you got something here! This is really good, the rice really adds to it." High praise from my sushi-loving husband.

Note: I tried rolling some of these rolls with the rice on the outside but it was not successful. When I went to cut the roll, the rice fell off the nori sheet. Darn. So definitely roll the rice on the inside. Like this. :)

 Midnight Sushi
(Makes 4-6 rolls)

2 cups Forbidden Rice
2 cups plus 1/2 cup water
Dressing
3T rice wine vinegar
2 T sugar
1 t salt

1/4 lb sushi grade tuna, finely minced
2-3 T garlic chili sauce (to taste)
splash of low-sodium soy sauce
1 t. mayo
radish sprouts
red bell pepper, sliced thinly
cucumber, sliced thinly
Sushinori sheets

Make rice according to rice cooker instructions and then cook the rice a second time, adding about a half a cup of additional water.  While rice is cooking, prepare the dressing. 
Dissolve the sugar and salt in the rice wine vinegar and set aside. Once the rice is done cooking, let it cool for about 10 minutes and then pour the dressing over the hot rice and mix well. Let the rice cool completely to room temperature. 

Prepare tuna to your desired spiciness and prepare all veggies, cutting them thinly. 
Assemble the sushi following these instructions here.


Wasabi Skulls

For a festive addition, I used a mini Halloween cookie cutter to mold the wasabi into a skull shape. I used a small knife to draw the nose and mouth and a chopstick for the eyes...pretty cute huh?

Other Halloween Food Ideas:
Spiderweb Eggs                       Amputated Appetizer          Mummified Meatloaf