As much as I love a cupcake or scone, sometimes some carb-free meals are in order. Often, tea foods tend to be on the carb-y side to allow for the taste of tea shine. This is definitely true for sushi, where a base of starchy white rice provides a culinary canvas for the filling ingredients and for tea.
My favorite kind of sushi is spicy tuna. With a cup of umami-rich Japanese green tea, the combination of creamy and peppery flavors is always satisfying.
As expensive as the rolls are at the sushi shop, you’d be surprised how easy spicy tuna filling is to make at home. As long as you can source fresh sushi-grade fish (even an order of sashimi from the local Japanese restaurant will do), you’ll be good to go.
This recipe for Spicy Tuna Dumplings transforms a popular sushi dish into one that’s super low in carbs but still elegant and tasty. The secret lies in using Yamamotoyama’s Soy Wrappers, a fabulously versatile ingredient that’s light in calories doesn’t leave you craving sushi rice. 
For extra nutty flavor, I love using sesame flavored soy wrappers to make these dumplings. While you can just cut the wrappers into simple squares, I like to use a round cookie cutter to create gyoza wrapper-like circles for a pretty presentation.
Since these don’t require any cooking, all you need to do is stuff some filling inside and they’re ready to eat! As long as the ingredients are ready-to-eat and cut into small pieces, virtually any of your favorite sushi fillings will work. To seal each dumpling, use a thin smear of mayo as edible “glue.”
Enjoy these Spicy Tuna Dumplings on their own or atop a fresh salad whenever you’re counting calories. And don’t forget the sencha or iced green tea–a few sips in between bites and the meal instantly turns gourmet!
This post is sponsored by Yamamotoyama. All opinions expressed here are my own. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who support Thirsty for Tea!
Spicy Tuna Dumplings
Makes 15 dumplings.
Ingredients:
8 oz. sashimi grade tuna, cut into pea-sized bits
2 Tbsp low-fat mayo, plus more for sealing the wrappers
1-2 tsp sriracha hot sauce
1 Tbsp sliced green onions
1 tsp of lemon juice
4 sheets of Yamamotoyama’s Soy Wrappers (I used Sesame)
Equipment:
small bowl
3 1/2″ round cutter
sharp knife
spoon
Directions:
1. In a small bowl, mix the tuna, mayo, sriracha, green onions, and lemon juice together. Set in the fridge to chill.
2. Meanwhile, using a 3 1/2″ round cookie cutter on a work surface, cut 15- 3 1/2″ rounds from the soy wrappers. You may need to use the sharp tip of a knife to cut the rounds out if the cutter itself isn’t sharp enough to cut through the wrappers.
3. Fill each round wrapper with about 2 tsp of the spicy tuna filling. Dip the back of a spoon in some extra mayo, then spread it against the edge of one half of each filled wrapper. Fold each filled round in half, joining the mayo-coated side with the dry side. Repeat this step to create 15 finished dumplings.
