Recipe(tried): Chirashi Sushi

Chirashi Sushi
Serves any number

Chirashi sushi looks pretty and is easy to make. The recipe looks long, because a lot of ingredients are scattered over the rice. Feel free to leave out or substitute toppings.

There is a lot of latitude as to choice of ingredients. Osaka-style versions, like this one, don’t contain raw fish. For an attractive dish, maintain the “something pink, something yellow, and something green” color scheme. Except for the rice itself, all ingredients may be prepared ahead of time and stored, refrigerated, overnight. Bring to room temperature before using.

Toppings:
Pink:
cooked, peeled shrimp OR
flaked crabmeat OR
fake crabmeat OR
cooked fresh salmon OR
smoked salmon

You can use large shrimp, cooked and halved lengthwise, or small bay shrimp. Or use flaked crabmeat, or flaked fake crabmeat. Or use cooked fresh salmon that has been flaked, or smoked salmon torn into small pieces. For more flavor, you can marinate any of the above except the smoked salmon in sweetened rice vinegar (1 tablespoon sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup rice vinegar); drain before using.

Yellow:
eggs

For 4-6 servings, season 2 eggs with 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Then you can make extremely thin omelet sheets in a nonstick skillet; let cool, roll up loosely, and cut into fine “noodle” shreds. Or you can scramble the eggs finely and break into small flowerbuds.

Green:
snow peas
broccoli rabe,broken into small florets

Cook snow peas in boiling water; refresh under cold water. Cut in small diagonal pieces to resemble leaves. Or cook broccoli rabe in boiling water until crisp-tender.

Other ingredients as desired:
sliced bamboo shoots (canned)
sliced lotus root (canned or fresh)
dried shiitake mushrooms
carrots
nori

Simply rinse canned bamboo shoots before using.
Marinate canned lotus root in sweetened rice vinegar (1 tablespoon sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup rice vinegar). To use fresh lotus root, peel and slice, dropping into a saucepan of acidulated water (water to which you have added a little vinegar or lemon juice to keep the lotus root from darkening). For an even more decorative effect, you can use a small knife to trim the lotus root slices into “petals” following the shape of the holes. Cook in the acidulated water 2-3 minutes until the lotus root changes color slightly. Drain and marinate in sweetened rice vinegar.
To prepare 6 dried shiitake mushrooms, soak in warm water until soft. Remove hard stems, then cook the mushroom caps in a mixture of 2 cups water, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 2 tablespoons sake until almost all of the liquid boils off. Let cool, then slice in fine slivers.
Peel carrot and cut as desired: julienne, or slice into flower shapes—cut V-shaped notches down a length of carrot with a sharp knife, then slice crosswise to form a flower, or slice carrot crosswise and then use a small flower-shaped aspic cutter to cut the shapes. Cook until tender in dashi or water to which you have added a pinch of sugar and a dash of salt. Drain.
To use nori, crumble a sheet of nori into small bits.

Sushi rice:
For about 6 cups of cooked rice (serves 4-6, depending on appetite), wash 3 cups short-grain Japanese-style rice under water until the water runs clear. Place in a saucepan with about 3-1/4 cups water (or follow the measurements given by your electric rice cooker). Bring to a boil, cover, turn down the heat to the lowest setting, and cook 17 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat 6 tablespoons rice vinegar, 2 tablespoons sugar, 2 teaspoons mirin, and 2 teaspoons salt until the sugar and salt dissolve. (Or you can use about 6-1/2 tablespoons bottled seasoned rice vinegar.)
Transfer hot rice to a wooden sushi tub or other non-metallic container for mixing. (I use a 9 x 13” Pyrex baking dish.) Sprinkle vinegar mixture over hot rice and cut into rice with a bamboo rice paddle or wooden spoon, turning the rice over quickly. With your other hand (or third hand if you have a helper!), fan the rice with a paper fan or piece of cardboard so it cools quickly and doesn’t become sticky. Continue cutting in the vinegar until it is all absorbed and the rice is body temperature.

To assemble the chirashi sushi:
While the cooked, seasoned sushi rice is still warm, sprinkle with all desired (drained) “other ingredients” except lotus root and fold in. Spread in a serving dish. The typical Japanese serving dish is a round lacquer tray with sides about 1-1/2” high; barring that, you can use an attractive baking dish or mound the rice onto a platter.
Scatter pink, yellow, and green toppings and the lotus root, if using, on top. If not serving immediately, cover with plastic wrap and hold at room temperature up to 2 hours. Do not refrigerate or the rice will become hard and inedible.