In times like this we need to try and be creative with pantry staples and canned goods. This amazing sandwich does all that, whilst also satisfying your sushi cravings.
What has happened since the last time I checked in? The UK is now approaching a possible lockdown, with people self-isolating and social distancing. Businesses are shutting. Many are working from home and even I am stuck indoors. I understand that this is a time of anxiety and fear for many of us. For this reason, I decided to make most of my time indoors to provide content for all of you, distracting you (and myself!) from the madness unfolding out there. My focus will be to provide easy recipes, mainly made with pantry and freezer staples, so that you can still enjoy great and varied food with what you managed to rummage. I am also going to include some different posts, to help you diversify your shop and make the most of the ingredients you find at supermarkets, now that many are hoarding food they don’t need, leaving others with nothing to bring home. In short, hang in there peeps, it will be alright!
Now onto the recipe. I have been making this sandwich for months and I absolutely adore it. I am a massive fan of sushi. In Italy, there are thousands of all-you-can-eat sushi restaurants and when I visit my family, I eat there A LOT. One of my favourite dishes is the Spicy Salmon Roll (at least, that’s how it’s translated in my local Japanese restaurant, but I am confident this is absolutely not how a Japanese person would define it). But here in the UK, fresh sushi is much more expensive than it Italy and I am not the greatest fan of the supermarket one. So I had to come with a way to replicate those flavours for everyday use. And that’s when it hit me that a sandwich filling could be a great idea. I have seen online a lot of “rice sandwiches” where sushi rice becomes “the bread”, keeping the filling together. As much as I love that idea, it is not practical enough for me. I wanted something quick and fuss-free but still full of flavour. So for me, normal bread does the trick. This time around I found a lonely loaf of sesame bread which was great because it added the sesame seeds which are often scattered onto my lovely sushi roll in Italy. But any bread you manage to get your hands on will do!
Another thing you can do is placing the filling inside a lettuce cup, making it a lighter, healthier option. Romaine or Iceberg lettuce would both work really well for this purpose.
Now, this recipe requires very minimal ingredients. Mayonnaise and hot sauce are the stars of this sandwich, along with canned salmon and avocado. I am aware that salmon is one of the most expensive types of tinned fish out there, but the beauty of this sandwich filling is that it works great with simple canned tuna, which is much more affordable. Still, this sandwich is also great for times like this, when standard cupboard essentials have been stockpiled. So you might need to get some more exotic or expensive ingredients for this week, if you can afford them. So tinned salmon, or even tinned crabmeat might be more available at your local shop for the next few weeks than tuna. That was certainly the case at my local supermarket.
That’s why I think this sandwich is perfect for the current situation: it is probably one of the easiest, most adaptable meals I have ever produced. And it delivers in taste every single time! For what concerns the avocado, the only fresh ingredient in this recipe, you can of course leave it out if you can’t find it at your local store or if you are on a budget. You could substitute it with some cucumber, another common find in California or other sushi rolls. You get it by now, everything goes with this sandwich.
Now, let’s talk hot sauce. I normally use Frank’s Hot Sauce, which I love. It is however quite mild compared to other brands, so I find that 2 tablespoons of sauce work well for my filling. If you are using Siracha or other hot sauces though, you might want to halve the amount of sauce. That all comes down to how spicy you want your food to be.
So there you have it. This sandwich is perfect if you are looking for a quick lunch whilst working from home or trying to entertain your now-out-of-school children. But it can also be a great way to use what you can find at the store in a creative, flavourful way. Whatever you do, you will be hooked. And when times get normal again I promise you, you will pack this bad boy in your lunchbox over and over again!
Ingredients:
1 tin canned salmon (or tuna, or crabmeat)
4 slices of bread (I used wholemeal sesame bread)
2 tbsp mayo
2 tbsp hot sauce (or less if you have a very hot sauce)
1 avocado
Method:
If you want to, lightly toast your bread in toaster or oven.
Open the can of salmon, drain it and transfer it to a bowl. Shred it with a fork and check if there are any bones in it (some cans have a few and you will want to remove those).
To the bowl, add the mayo and the hot sauce and mix until fully combined. Finely slice one avocado. Add half of the filling to each sandwich and top it with the avocado. How easy was that?!
Enjoy!
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