To make your vegan nigiri, start by cooking your sushi rice or short-grain white rice according to package instructions and deciding if you want to use a jar of roasted red bell peppers (fast method) or roasting fresh red bell peppers from scratch in the oven. If using store-bough roasted bell peppers, skip to step #3. If roasting bell peppers in oven, preheat oven to 400 degrees F / 200 degrees C.

For roasting fresh red bell peppers in the oven, prepare your peppers by slicing each bell pepper in half lengthwise, remove stem and seeds, as well as wash it. Next, place your washed bell peppers on a lined baking sheet and bake in oven for at least 1 hour until the sides become slightly blackened and the bell peppers sweat. Then, remove the roasted bell peppers from the oven and when cool enough to touch, peel the outer layer of the bell pepper. The outer layer should come off very easily (if you have a hard time peeling the outer layer, you might need to roast for a bit longer).

Once rice is cooked, place sushi rice in a large mixing bowl, along with rice vinegar, sugar and salt. Make sure rice is cooled down enough that you can work with the rice with your hands next. (Continue to next step / come back to this step if your rice is still cooking if you went with using jar of bell peppers).

With your roasted red peppers, cut them into 5 to 8 long pieces (around 2 inches wide) in the shape of salmon or tuna to be placed on top of sushi rice.

Optionally, if you desire a fish-like taste for your vegan nigiri, make a marinade for your red pepper pieces by mixing together soy sauce, rice vinegar, kelp powder and sugar in a small bowl. Place the pieces of roasted bell pepper into the marinade and let it sit for 5-10 minutes or longer to absorb the flavours.

Once sushi rice is cooled enough to handle, it's time to prepare your nigiri. Dampen your hands with water and place around 1.5 tbsp of seasoned sushi rice in your hands and shape the rice into an oval ball shape. Add a small smudge of wasabi if you desire spicy (optional).

Place a piece of your roasted bell pepper on top of a rice ball and repeat with the rest of the sushi rice and bell pepper pieces (repeat steps 6 and 7). Enjoy your vegan nigiri with soy sauce or move onto the next optional steps.

Optionally, drizzle a little vegan mayonnaise on top of each piece of nigiri, along with a slice of jalapeno.