I pulled out my eyebrow pencil and began filling in my grandmother’s brows. It was graduation day—after 3 years of law school, I was finally graduating. I was wearing a brand new Anne Taylor suit in all white and strappy white heels. But, Hahlmuhnee also wore her very best—a gold and Burgundy hambok, and though she didn’t ask, I knew she wanted my help with her makeup. My grandmother was born in a small village in North Korea. She never had any formal eduction. She married my grandfather, who was a poor farmer and then the Korean War happened. They became refugees. Eventually, through my mother, hahlmuhnee immigrated to the United States. Even though she never said it, she was so proud of me. At my college graduation, as I passed her in the audience to receive my diploma, she got up out of her seat and stopped me to shake my hand. After my law school ceremony, many came up to me to tell me, “Your grandmother is so beautiful!” Looking at my grandmother in her hanbok, I realized that it was as much her graduation day, as it was mine.
My husband is OBSESSED with JUSTEgg. And I’m not going to lie–having a chicken egg alternative has dramatically expanded my culinary world. There are soooooo many dishes from my childhood that became immediately accessible due to this mung-bean bit of genius. These Egg Sushi or tamago nigiri definitely bring me back to my mother’s kitchen or all those Japanese restaurants I used to go to with my family.
Quick Tips
- Cool the rice a bit before you try to shape it. Otherwise, you will not only burn your hands, but you will have a hard time keeping the rice from sticking. You may even want to wet your hands a little to avoid the sticky rice situation.
- You absolutely need to use a non-stick pan to make the gyerranmari (Korean word for omelet, but also known as tamago, in Japanese). If you try using any other pan–particularly if this is you’re first time trying this technique–you will get very frustrated.
- You do NOT need to use a square pan; however, you do want to use a smaller pan, so achieve similar dimensions. Just slice off the ends (which won’t be as neat as when you use a square pan) and eat them, instead of using them for your nigiri.
- You will also want to cool, slightly, the gyerranmari before slicing into it. Otherwise, the cheese will completely ooze right out and it will be too hot to handle.
Egg Sushi
Ingredients
- 2 cups rice
- 1/2 tbsp mirin
- 1/2 rice wine vinegar
- 10 strips roasted nori
- 1 carrot (small dice)
- 2 scallions (chopped)
- 1/2 jalapeño (small diced)
- 3/4 container justegg
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 slice non-dairy cheese
Instructions
- Add mirin and rice wine vinegar to rice and mix to incorporate.
- Shape the rice into ovals, about the length of an egg, but not as wide.
- Cut approximately 10 strips of roasted nori, each roughly 1/3 inch thick.
- Add carrots, scallions, jalapeno, salt, and pepper to JUSTEgg and stir. Add oil to a nonstick pan (see notes below) over medium heat and pour approximately 1/2 of the mixture. Add 1/3 of a slice of cheese.
- Once the JUSTEgg is nearly cooked, begin curling it (watch the video). When it is fully rolled up, push the roll back to the other end of the pan (the end you started rolling).
- Pour 1/2 of the remaining amount of JUSTEgg mixture and repeat (i.e., add cheese, roll, and push back).
- Pour the remaining amount of JUSTEgg mixture and repeat.
- Slice the omelet into 1/4 inch slices. Place them on top of the rice ovals you made earlier in the recipe. Wrap them with the strips of nori.