Vegan Spicy Tuna, youuuu say? I do indeed say so. I have a complete adoration for Japanese culture and sushi life. When I decided to life a vegan lifestyle a few years ago, I panicked at the thought of never tasting a spicy tuna again. That all changed as I’m now a frequent regular at the local vegan sushi restaurant (I love this city). The first time I brought my best friend there and fed him a tomato spicy tuna roll- I watched the look on his face shift to complete mystification and glee. That is when I knew I needed to make my own spicy tuna recipe… who knows when the inspo is gonna drop at 2am to whip up some of this?
Often I think of all the suffering around us that we simply do not see. If you’re on my page, it’s most likely because you love the magical idea of going anywhere your feet can take you or you aspire to cook classic dishes from around the world as vegan. Or you simply want to make fun of me for calling a dish made of tomatoes ‘spicy tuna’ and that’s cool too- you do you. Regardless, we can all agree that we love food and don’t want to contribute to the mental and physical suffering that it causes the animals all around the world. So if you’re reading this- just know that the animals thank-you. (and hey! so does the environment)
How to Prepare Tomato
After testing multiple different tomatoes, it is clear to me that roma tomatoes are the best for this recipe. You can use other tomatoes, they “worked” for me, however, they often fall apart and you lose a lot of the actual tomato due to difficultly cutting– it just becomes mangled.
Step 1: Bring salted water to a boil and boil roma tomatoes for 45-60 seconds or until skin cracks.
Step 2: Immediately transfer to an ice bath and allow tomatoes to cool fully. This will stop the cooking process and avoid them becoming mushy.
Step 3: Remove skin and cut tomato into 4 equal pieces. (Cut length wise so each piece is long like a piece of sashimi!)
Step 4: While cutting tomatoes, spoon away the seeds and cut out any firm core.
Step 5: From here you can choose to leave your pieces as long sashimi or cut into cubes.
Vegan Spicy Tuna Marinate
I am no stranger to asian marinates. One of my first recipes on Faraway Kitchen was a Watermelon Poke Bowl that my family requested on repeat every time I stopped over. So much of cooking is the flavors and spices, not the meat- I will go to the grave on that one. I am continuously shocked by the lack of craving that I have eating a 100% vegan lifestyle. I credit the reasoning to NOT GIVING UP MY FAVORITE DISHES. I still eat all of my favorite things, only now they feel like love and compassion. Some of my staple ingredients for cooking asian marinates are…
- Soy Sauce
- Rice Vinegar
- Sesame Oil
- Sesame Seeds
- Seaweed Flakes
- Liquid Smoke (if you have never used liquid smoke, I urge you to try! The little bottles last forever and it’s such a fun new ingredient to try)
There’s so many other fresh ingredients as well- like ginger, garlic, and green onion. When you add these things to that strip of boiled tomato, you’re going to be swooning at the idea of eating this forever.
I’ve always loved food, who doesn’t? But some sort of switch went off in my soul the moment I stopped eating animals. I truly believe that there’s a secret to life that exists in this glorious way of living. Happiness? Wowza. Who would have thought? Remember… you are what you eat. It feeds your mind like a chain reaction to everything around you. So eat kindly and attract all the good things in life.
