Microwavable Sushi

Published on Tuesday, March 23, 2010, by James Norton / Edit Post

Annie Chun’s Sushi Wraps

Annie Chun’s Sushi Wraps

I Paid: $4.19 for an 8.1-ounce kit (prices may vary by region)

Taste: 4 stars

Marketing: 1 stars

We’ve been schooled, not entirely without reason, to view sushi as a sacred delicacy prepared by expert chefs using only the finest and freshest ingredients. Therefore, Annie Chun’s Sushi Wraps kit—a microwave-it-yourself bowl of sushi rice, a packet of soy sauce, and 12 nori strips—seems heretical.

The kits themselves pound home how off-message the concept is. The back of the box for the Sticky White Rice kit features some reasonable roll choices (cucumber, salmon, avocado) and then segues into rolls including “cheese & pesto,” “egg & bacon,” sausage, and turkey. Not expecting much, I grabbed a cucumber and an avocado, fired up the microwave, and heated up the rice.

Assembly was easier than I’d feared. The act of spooning the heated rice onto the nori and inserting the avocado and/or cucumber pieces was simple enough. The rolls looked mashed up and amateurish (more a knock on the uncoordinated chef than the kit), but they weren’t disastrous. And as for flavor: not bad at all. The rice was both tender and properly sticky, the nori was nori, and the fresh market-bought veggies were better than many of the equivalent rolls that pop up at grocery stores or pan-Asian buffets. World-class sushi, no. Edible sushi, yes. Easy as hell, also yes. The one minor hitch was that the rice got really hot in the microwave and stayed really hot for a while—letting it cool down a bit is key.

So, yes: Sausage is an option, as is peanut butter. But if you stick to something classic and buy fresh veggies or good fish, Annie Chun’s Sushi Wraps are a surprisingly enjoyable simulation of the real deal.

James Norton edits the Upper Midwestern food journal Heavy Table. He's also the coauthor of a book on Wisconsin's master cheesemakers. For his Supertaster Daily videos, he samples offerings from supermarket aisles and fast-food menus. (Click here to see all of James's previous Supertaster work.) You can follow him on Twitter and fan him on Facebook.

ALLSupertaster
POST A COMMENT |11 Comments

COMMENT

  • Not bad at all, I made some cucumber-avocado and carrot rolls, and in a pinch they'll do just fine. i would recommend heating the rice in something other than the plastic container it comes in though.

  • Soooo easy to make your own FRESH sushi rolls if you can cook rice. Just season it with sweetened, ginger-enhanced rice vinegar, stir and fan for a few minutes to cool, then make your wraps. Nori sheets are available in all major supermarkets near the soy sauce. Bamboo rolling mats, too. easy peasy.

  • Holy crap! Sam, we need you, buddy. This stuff is not sushi; it doesn't even sound like food.

  • RIdiculous idea.

  • My husband just brought this home so that we can try and make our own Span Musubi. Can't wait to try it, missing Hawaii just a little too much!

  • Bad idea. Almost as bad as push-up pops sushi!
    Some traditions should be left alone and never enter the mass market shelves.
    Who microwaves sushi?

  • Dammnit, we didn't fight world war II so that we could have some wacky microwavable sushi wrap propaganda polluting the supermarket shelves!!!

  • I really enjoy Annie Chun's noodle bowls - give those a try!

  • Seems terribly underwhelming for what is essentially microwaveable white rice. The rice isn't even properly vinegared. It's just rice, water, and some kind of acid.

  • so it's just sushi rice, soy sauce and nori? why the mention of fillings when none are included? does the rice come in dry grains (Minute Rice?) or already cooked?

    i don't understand the convenience vs quality trade-off of this product vs rice made traditionally.

  • I just had it for dinner/snack. I often buy this and it's delicious and super easy. It isn't a full meal, though. I, too, recommend this.