Sushi Roll made of Squash and Pork Belly

Sushi Roll is made of Roasted Acorn Squash and Pork Belly topped with sweet and spicy mayonnaise and let's not forget the pomegranate seeds sprinkled for a perfect bite!

Does nothing say autumn like a taste of acorn squash and pomegranates but for sushi? Yes, I decided to spice it up. This was inspired by a Filipino sushi roll that I had in Washington DC while living in Old Town Alexandria. It was made with sweet potato instead but the pork belly roasted just made it a perfect marriage of flavors. 

So I decided to give it a little autumn twist and make an inspired version of sushi to serve during the holidays as an appetizer which is a great way to serve as finger food to just pick and eat. So let's get started on making the sushi roll recipe.

Grocery Store Items

• Pork Belly - can always substitute thick bacon.
• Acorn Squash - or sweet potato
• Pomegranate
• White rice
• Soy sushi wrap - more colorful for the holidays
• Sriracha sauce 
• Mayonnaise
• Rice vinegar
• Nori sheet

Tools Needed

• bamboo mat to hand roll
• plastic wrap

How to Make Acorn Squash & Pork Belly Sushi Roll

The best thing to get is a bamboo rolling mat which is very affordable and can be picked up in most grocery stores or ordered on Amazon of course. I got mine as a stocking stuffer years ago and still have the same one. I don't own a rice cooker but if you have one use your rice cooker.

Sushi Rice

1. Rinse the rice through a mesh strainer until the water is clear.
2. Place a pot with water on the stovetop and bring water and rice to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover the pot with a lid, and simmer for about 20 minutes.
3. Make the vinegar in a separate small saucepan and combine vinegar, sugar, and salt over medium heat. Whisk until sugar and salt have dissolved.
4. Combine cooked rice and sugar-vinegar mixture and toss until vinegared rice is well coated. It should look wet at first but as it cools it starts getting sticky so keep it covered.

Acorn Squash

1. Slice the acorn about ½ an inch, place on a greased pan, and sprinkle garlic salt and olive oil.
2. When done, peel the skin off.

Pork Belly

1. Slice the pork belly into small pieces, place it on a hot pan and let it roast, mix it around so it doesn’t burn. 
2. When it’s slightly brown, remove the pork and let it drain out the fat, and let it rest on a paper towel.

Sushi Roll

1. Prep all of your other ingredients so that you can have a nice assembly line of ready-to-roll sushi.
2. Press the rice onto the soy sheet in an even layer, leaving a 1-inch empty border of the soy sheet. at the top.
3. Layer fillings horizontally on the rice, side by side, as evenly as possible.
4. Lift the bottom edge of the sushi mat and carefully fold it over the fillings until they are enclosed in a roll. 
5. Roll and squeeze the mat tightly as possible.
6. Using a sharp knife, cut each sushi roll into 8 equal pieces on a cutting board. Place on a tray facing with the filling down.
7. Garnish with pork, pomegranate seeds then mix the mayo and sriracha and drizzle on top.
8. Serve and Eat!

Different Toppings

• little wasabi
• ponzu sauce
• unagi sauce
• eel sauce
• sesame seeds
• soy sauce
• chili sauce

What is Imitation Crab?

Most people do not know that most Crab in a sushi roll is imitation crab meat. It is common to see it called krab verse crab sticks which is how you know it's fake crab meat. Krab meat is made of minced fish with starch, egg whites, sugar, salt, and additives to mimic the flavor.

Types of Sushi By Diet

There are many substitutes for sushi rolls that you can find online. Here are a few of the combinations that I make that my taste buds love and nothing beats homemade sushi rolls. It is one of my guilty pleasures and the good things that are stuffed in the middle of your own sushi roll are up to you.

• Cucumber roll with cream cheese
• Tempura shrimp roll - crispy battered shrimp, cucumber, and avocado slices
• King crab roll - avocado, crab, and cucumber
• salmon roll - only sushi-grade fish
• California roll - cucumber, crab, and avocado.
• Spicy tuna roll - tuna with scallions
• Rainbow roll - cucumber, avocado, and crab stick
• Philadelphia roll -  salmon, cream cheese, masago, avocado.

Storage

I have stored my sushi for a day but after that, I find the rice gets too dry. I usually use an airtight container to place the Acorn Squash & Pork Belly Recipe for Sushi Rolls.

Tips & Tricks

Sushi is easy to make if you have everything in front of you so you can work like an automatic assembly line. I have a small bowl of water to dip my fingers in to remove the sticky rice as I am rolling out sushi.

I love a good sushi restaurant and Japanese cuisine is of my top 5 favorite cuisines. The cost of food today has affected the eat-out budget. Which is why I started making my own sushi. Once I started making my own rolls I have never looked back! I hope you liked the Acorn Squash & Pork Belly Sushi Roll I would say it is very colorful and festive in color and taste. Nothing says fall more than an acorn squash! Until next time enjoy your journey to the perfect bite!

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More Appetizer Recipes

Acorn Squash & Pork Belly for Sushi Rolls

Lizzy Cascalheira

Acorn Squash & Pork Belly Recipe for Sushi Rolls is sweet and spicy to make a perfect appetizer. Filled with roasted acorn squash, flavorful crispy pork belly and topped off with pomegranate seeds.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hr

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

0 minutes mins

Course Appetizer

Cuisine Asian

Servings 4

Calories 522 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Sushi Rice

• 2 cups sushi rice
• 2 cups water
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ cup rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp sugar

Filling

• 1 Acorn Squash
• ½ pd Pork Belly
• 5 Soy Sheets
• 2 tsp garlic salt

Sauce & Ganish

• ¼ cup Pomegranate
• ¼ cup Mayonnaise
• 3 tbsp Sriracha Sauce

Instructions

 

Sushi Rice

• Rinse the rice through a mesh strainer until the water is clear.
• Place a pot with water on the stovetop and bring water and rice to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cover the pot with a lid, and simmer for about 20 minutes.
• Make the vinegar in a separate small saucepan and combine vinegar, sugar, and salt over medium heat. Whisk until sugar and salt have dissolved.
• Combine cooked rice and sugar-vinegar mixture and toss until rice is well coated. It should look wet at first but as it cools it starts getting sticky so keep it covered.

Acorn Squash

• Slice the acorn about ½ an inch, place on a greased pan and sprinkle garlic salt and olive oil.
• When done, peel the skin off.
• Pork Belly
• Slice the pork belly into small pieces, place on a hot pan and let it roast, mix it around so it doesn’t burn.
• When it’s slightly brown, remove the pork and let it drain out the fat and let it rest on a paper towel.

Sushi Roll

• Prep all of your other ingredients so that you can have a nice assembly line ready to roll sushi.
  
• Press the rice onto the soy sheet in an even layer, leaving a 1-inch empty border of the soy sheet. at the top.
• Layer by fillings horizontally on the rice, side by side, as evenly as possible.
  
• Lift the bottom edge of the sushi mat and carefully fold it over the fillings until they are enclosed in a roll.
• Roll and squeeze the mat tightly as possible.
  
• Using a sharp knife, cut each sushi roll into 8 equal pieces on a cutting board. Place on a tray facing with the filling down.
  
• Garnish with pork, pomegranate seeds then mix the mayo and sriracha and drizzle on top.
• Serve and Eat!

Video

Notes

• Sushi is easy to make if you have everything in front of you so you can work like an automatic assembly line.
• I have a small bowl with water to dip my fingers in to remove the sticky rice as I am rolling out sushi.

Nutrition

Serving: 4gCalories: 522kcalCarbohydrates: 96gProtein: 8gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 2gPolyunsaturated Fat: 7gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 6mgSodium: 2109mgPotassium: 509mgFiber: 5gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 583IUVitamin C: 22mgCalcium: 57mgIron: 2mg

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