What is Oshinko and How to Make Oshinko Roll Recipe

Oshinko is a dish prepared from daikon radish. I mostly use radish to make these delicious oshinko rolls. Some people also add cucumber, cabbage and turnips.

Oshinko has many names and the most popular one is Tsukemono .

If you are pickling at home you can use food dye to color it. It is optional. However, I never use food dye in it.

I learnt cooking Oshinko from my visit to Japan. Also it is very difficult for us to find a restaurant in U.S. that serves Oshinko sushi.

Also one thing to note this is a complete vegan food. So don’t worry I am not going to use any animals in it. Everyone loves the taste of oshinko rolls.

Making Oshinko is very easy and each of my friends love it. Plus, the best thing is that it doesn’t need many fancy things.

It needs only a few basic ingredients.

Now let’s first have a look at my secret and tasty recipe for making Oshinko.

How To Make Oshinko

For making Oshinko, you will need a few ingredients:

• 450 grams Daikon Radish
• 2 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
• 100 grams sugar
• 1 Tbsp salt

That’s it!

Now first you must note that your radish (daikon) must have a smooth skin and must be fresh. Somewhat like this:

The next step is washing it! Well, this is something everyone knows…. LOL!

Now if you want to have yellow pickled radish you can either use turmeric or saffron.

Next step is to take a sharp knife and cut it into thin strips. Now just place all the above mentioned 4 ingredients into a vessel and mix well.

Cover the lid and place it in the refrigerator. Wait for 3 days!

It’s ready!

Ya! also remember you can store this amazing dish for up to 25 days in the refrigerator.

Now as our Oshinko is ready. Let’s also discuss about creating Oshinko Maki Roll.

How To Make Oshinko Maki

Oh! not again…….I forgot to mention Oshinko Roll is also known as Oshinko Maki.

So let’s start:

Let me tell you something we can make this from 2 methods one is by cucumber and the other is by pickled yellow radish.

1st METHOD

Ingredients Needed:

• Yellow Pickled Radish
• Sushi Rice
• Nori Sheets
• Sushi Rolling Mat

Step 1

You need to start by first cooking sushi rice. Wash the rice with cool water until the starch comes out and the water runs clean after washing.

Then add water and rice to the rice maker( cooker). Remember not to add too much water in it. If you are putting 4 cups of rice then put 4.5 cups of water in it.

Now close the rice cooker and let it cook for 15 minutes.

If you are a beginner and have never created sushi rice then here is a detailed post regarding this.

Note: Some rice cookers may come with a pre-set timer for sushi rice or an automatic shut-off feature. If there isn’t any of it then, make sure you follow the rice cooker instructions.

Leaving the rice for too long will overcook the rice and turn it soft and sticky.

After cooking, transfer the hot rice on to a bowl wait for it to cool down slowly. Don’t let it cool down completely add sushi vinegar in it and stir it well.

Mix it properly.

Step 2

In this step we will prepare the Oshinko.

This step is the simplest. Just cut the yellow pickled radish into thick strips.

Some what like this:

For those who aren’t interested in making yellow pickled radish they can either get it from a local store or online from amazon.

Step 3

This is going to be our last step for creating an amazing Oshinko sushi roll.

In this step we will lay the bamboo mat and cover it with plastic sheet to make the mat clean.

Now we will place the Nori sheet on the bamboo mat.

Oh! wait Let me remind you something “The shiny side must face downwards while placing the Nori sheet on the mat.”

Spread the rice evenly over the sheet. Make sure you are leaving some gap at the top of the sheet.

Then place the pickled radish on top of the rice.

Now just lift the sushi mat from your side and start rolling the mat away from you. When you reach the end gently press the rice and filling together.

Then take a sharp knife and start cutting rolls into equal pieces.

It’s ready hurray!

Hey, Cucumber lovers don’t be sad, the next method of creating Oshinko sushi is for you.

If you don’t know how to make yellow pickled Radish.Have a look here:

2nd METHOD

Ingredients Needed:

• Cucumber
• Sushi Rice
• Nori Sheets
• 8 slices of avocado
• Oshinko strips

Step 1

This step is the same as that of the above method. First you need to start by cooking sushi rice.

Follow the method above to cook it.

Step 2

In this step we need to cut the cucumber into thin strips. The next step is to cut the avocado into half and make thin slices.

Step 3

In this step we will lay the bamboo mat and cover it with plastic sheet to make the mat clean.

Now we will place the Nori sheet on the bamboo mat.

REMEMBER- Shiny side must face downwards.

Now moisten your hand and spread the rice evenly over the sheet. Make sure you are leaving some gap at the top of the sheet.

Yes! it’s the same as the 1st method but now we will do some changes.

We will now arrange 3 thin Oshinko strips and 3 thin cucumber strips on top of the rice.

We’ll also add 2 slices of avocado on it.

Then lift the sushi mat from your side and start rolling the mat away from you. When you reach the end gently press the rice and filling together.

Seal the edges with rice grains to properly pack it.

It’s almost ready!

Cut the roll into equal pieces.

Now serve it beautifully…….

What my friend told me?

Well, my friend Lily was never a sushi lover. Once she visited my house and asked, “Jack, where’s this unique smell coming from?”

I then smiled and said,” Oh! that’s just Oshinko Maki Roll “

She said,”Whatever, I would love to have it…….I never had heard something like this before……”

In order to tease her and see her reaction I once again asked her, “Lily Are you sure? because it’s a sushi roll!”

What! ‘ S-U-S-H-I ‘ Yuck!!!!

Lily jumped from the sofa and said, ” You should have told me this before”

I then told her, ” Lily, please try once and you will love it.”

But she wasn’t ready and after a lot of requesting she finally agreed .

I served her only 1 piece because I was confident that she wouldn’t like it.

But as soon as she tasted it—— “Yummmm! Tasty! Delicious! So Sapid! Where did you learn to make it ? Oh! my god I never have tasted something as good as this before.”

You turned me from a sushi hater to an oshinko sushi lover! Please teach me the recipe…….

Her reaction was somewhat like this:

I then thought of writing this post to teach all the “Lilies” out there who want to try out something new but don’t have someone to guide them.

Leave a comment about your friends reaction after eating it.

Now the next question is each of you want to know how it tastes? So let’s discuss.

What is the taste of an Oshinko Maki Roll?

Well, let me be very frank with you guys……….I am really speechless. I just don’t know how to explain you about the taste of it.

I am spellbound by the taste of it. Marvelous excellent ! delicious this is what I feel like when eating it. But I will try my best to describe the taste of it.

It has a light taste of radish. You will feel the taste of a mixture of carrots and radishes (like mixed in a mixer).

Each and every person has different taste buds and so people feel different tastes. Some people feel like sweet, some salty and some even savory.

The funniest thing is that my friend Lily felt salty where as I feel sweet.

If you add avocado it tastes different, if you add pickled radish it tastes different so it totally depends. You just make it and taste it. Do tell me in the comments about the taste.

In simple words Oshinko Sushi roll offers a large variety of tastes.

But if you want me to describe it in one word then I will say, “DELICIOUS”.

Some interesting features about Oshinko Roll?

Here are some of the most interesting features about oshinko roll:

1- Oshinko Roll is Vegetarian

Have you ever thought of why we add yellow pickle in sushi?
The answer is simple, “This Japanese knew that nothing can replace salmon then they thought–but what if we find a fresh alternative to it and they then thought of adding yellow daikon radish pickle to it. “

No need to worry this is a 100% vegan recipe.

2- Oshinko Nutrition Facts

Each and every foodie loves to try out new things but the only fear is–Does it have fat? If Yes, what percent? What amount of protein do we get?

Don’t worry we’ll answer all of this.

Oshinko has:

Fat- 1g
Sodium- 22g
Potassium- 206mg
Carbohydrates- 41g
Protein- 4g
Vitamin C- 17mg
Calcium- 24mg

CALORIES- 185

Source-Izzycooking

3- Oshinko Gluten-Free or not?

First let’s understand what is gluten- Well gluten is a family of proteins which is mainly found in wheat, barley, rye etc.

It is made up of two main proteins glutenin and gliadin. And gliadin causes most of the negative health issues.

Most people can easily digest gluten but some can’t.

So, here is the good news!

Oshinko contains very less amount of gluten, but when it is added to the roll then the gluten content increases .

Now the maximum amount of gluten comes from the sushi rice. So we can conclude Oshinko is not gluten free.

If you have any intolerance towards gluten products then it is better to avoid consuming Oshinko.

4- Some Benefits of eating Oshinko

As oshinko is pickled, this brings some new properties and creates benefits that were not present earlier.

• This has high fiber and that makes it a great food for weight loss.
  
• It also contains high Vitamin C that boosts the immunity power.
  
• It also has high no. of antioxidants which protect you from heart diseases, cancer and other diseases.
  
• It also contains some enzymes that may help in digestion.

So, these were some of the health benefits of eating oshinko.

5- What is the difference between Oshinko and Tsukemono ?

People in non-asian countries like U.K and U.S call Oshinko as Tsukemono. They use these words as synonyms.

Well, they are correct. But not completely!

Japanese traditions believe tsukemono to be all Japanese pickles. These type of pickles take longer time.

Whereas, Oshinko takes less amount of time and is also created without fermenting ingredients.

In short– Oshinko can be called tsukemono but tsukemono can not always be called Oshinko.

THAT’S ALL IN THIS POST…….

Let’s meet in the next blog post with another interesting and delicious recipe.

If you need any help then don’t forget to contact us.