By Special Request: Hot Dog Sushi

Those who know me well know that I am pretty obsessed with food and cooking, and lately Kyo has been telling me I should blog more often about my foodie thoughts and recipes. So I’m going to give it a try.

Today I’m posting about one of our daughter”s favorite lunch menus: hot dog sushi. I posted a picture of hot dog sushi on Facebook once at the beginning of the school year and I got a few incredulous/disgusted responses, so before you register your horror, consider that a) this is a lunch for a 5-year-old; and b) hot dog sushi is actually a staple of Japanese bento box cookbooks!

As you can see, this lunch also includes stuffed cherry tomatoes. The tomatoes are stuffed with a tuna-cream cheese filling.

Hot Dog Sushi Recipe

• approx. 1 cup leftover white rice (preferably Japanese rice)
• approx. 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• approx. 1 tsp sugar
• one piece nori (seaweed sushi wrapper)
• three or four cocktail franks
• several pieces of green vegetable such as celery, cucumber, steamed spinach, or Asian greens

If the cocktail franks need to be cooked, boil them in water for about 4 minutes.

Dissolve sugar in rice vinegar and then mix with the rice until they are well combined. Taste and adjust seasoning the way you like it.

Place nori on a flat surface. Wet your fingers and press rice in an even layer to cover about 2/3 the nori, leaving an empty strip at the top (furthest away from you).

Place the franks in a long row about two inches from the bottom of the nori (closest to you). Place the greens right next to the franks in a long row.

Starting from the bottom of the nori, roll up (away from you) tightly. With the seam side down, use a sharp knife to slice the nori roll into 4 or 5 pieces. Place in your lunch box. Fill any empty spaces in the lunchbox with fresh vegetables or fruit, and add an envelope of soy sauce if you have one.