The Spring Roll was not our first attempt at a vegan sandwich (that honor belongs to the mid-20-teens’ The Tempest — RIP Romesco on the sandwich line). In fact, it didn’t even begin as a fully vegan sandwich.
The Spring Roll is: sliced cabbage, hausmade Pickled Vegetable Medley, chopped Marcona almonds, sliced cucumber, Teriyaki Smoked Tofu, and a blend of mixed greens, basil, and cilantro, all dressed in sesame oil vinaigrette and sriracha — originally wrapped in a pillowy, and very buttery, naan — now prepared on a stirato (square-shaped ciabatta that is dairy- and egg-free).
YES, it is a bit confusing to name a sandwich after a popular thin pastry- or rice paper-rolled appetizer — and YES, this isn’t our first sandwich name conflating another food name (looking at you, Sitka Sushi) — BUT, in our defense, a stirato IS a type of roll. We are sorry for party rocking. It probably won’t happen again…
At our core, we’re a smoked fish and meats place, but it’s important to us that our vegan and vegetarian offerings are not just a concession, but a high-quality offering on par with any of our other sandwiches. And to that end, the Spring Roll delivers. Teriyaki Smoked Tofu brings just as much umami and substance to the sandwich as any of our meat portions, and the balance of the veggies, sauces, and chopped almonds only elevates it.
Whereas we refuse to make any concessions in the quality of our plant-based diet-friendly offerings, we will make a nod here toward carnivores looking to add more vegetables into their lives: The Spring Roll is also a great vessel for meats such as our cold-smoked Nova Lox and Smoked Pork Loin (sold at the deli counter as “Canadian Bacon”) — if tofu just isn’t for you, consider those as substitutions.
Sandopedia: Fuzzy Bunny
You may know us best by our haus-smoked fish and meats. They’re what put us on the map. But Northern Waters Smokehaus is a place for everyone.
Today we feature the Fuzzy Bunny. Assembled on a (dairy- and egg-free) square stirato roll, and held together by our hausmade Scallion Cream Cheese, the Fuzzy Bunny does NOT contain smoked rabbit meat (contrary to semi-popular confusion), but DOES feature plenty of veggies: cabbage, cucumber, roasted red peppers, tomato, red onion, mixed greens, and cilantro, are carefully stacked, then dressed with crushed black pepper and sesame oil vinaigrette, completing the sandwich.
It’s a plenty filling sandwich as-is, but for those with a larger appetite, a great veg-friendly addition is our Teriyaki-marinated Smoked Tofu.
(And meat-lovers, while this post isn’t specifically for you, we won’t forget about you: about any one of our smoked meat or fish options would make a great addition to the Fuzzy Bunny, if you wanted to test them out with a whole slew of veggies).
Sandopedia: Sunday Sushi
Today's sandwich feature came to our menu via an ancient ritual known as SANDWICH LAB, in which the entirety of the Smokehaus staff come together with their pet sandwich ideas and vote on the offerings. Only the highest ranked sandwiches made it onto the menu (and even then, sometimes only as temporary offerings). Other notable SANDWICH LAB creations include: Cedar's Secret, Club-Mariner, Purple Range, and mmMmm.
The Sunday Sushi takes a classic Midwestern hors d'oeuvre, oftentimes nicknamed “Lutheran Sushi,” as its influence—ham, brushed with cream cheese, wrapped around a pickle spear—deconstructs it, adds sliced cabbage, and puts it on a hero roll.
Michael (our Mail Order and Wholesale director) pitched this sandwich, and, simply put, it just works. It's a great sandwich that is surprisingly both light and filling. It nods to Midwestern church basement culture. It didn't require any new ingredients added to the line (this is one of the points graded on the SL voting rubric).
Sadly, the halcyon days of SANDWICH LAB are likely behind us—as our staff has grown a bit too large to reasonably attempt this event—but its legacy will live on through the Sunday Sushi and others. If you're interested in exploring the history of SANDWICH LAB, scoot on over toward the blog section of our website!
Sandopedia: The Gorilla
The Gorilla is one of our most widely-discussed sandwiches. It's got a blog post, a "recipe" in our cookbook, and at least one Instagram/Facebook post celebrating the addition of pickles to the sandwich. Often featuring relatively interesting, but ultimately unnecessary, historical context that meanders to discussion of several other (failed, or unrefined) sandwiches that preceded it, and lengthy explanations of the name.
Let's skip all that nonsense this time around, and get right into what makes this sandwich special:
1. The Gorilla was our first Smoked Ham sandwich. It was developed by the staff alongside NWS' first batches of Smoked Ham. It's truly a pillar of NWS culture.
2. It's a real "sandwich eater's" sandwich. Locally made rye bread (from a longtime Smokehauser's recipe), mayo, hausmade mustard, ham, Swiss cheese, lettuce. Sliced pickles were added to the recipe nearly a decade after the sandwich's conception, but are a natural fit, and play nicely with all the other ingredients.
3. Honestly, that just about covers it. The Gorilla is an easy to understand sandwich, made with excellent ingredients.
Now here's the fun part: If you want to know more about The Gorilla, check out the "Sandwiches for Every Season" chapter of our cookbook "Smoke on the Waterfront: The Northern Waters Smokehaus Cookbook," published by University of Minnesota Press or search our website for the blog post "Great Moments in the Smokehaus Lexicon: The Story of The Gorilla" to dive into all those superfluous details.
