Chirashizushi is known as scattered sushi and is served on plates or bowls with colorful toppings. It's often cooked for celebrating special occations, such as festivals, birthdays, and so on. You can use your favorite toppings.
Ingredients:
- 2 1/4 cups Japanese rice
- for sushi vinegar (1/4 cup rice vinegar, 2 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt)
- 8 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated in 2 cups of warm water *keep the water for cooking
- (1 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp mirin)
- 3 eggs and 1/2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 cucumber, julienned
- 1/2 lb sashimi/sushi-grade tuna slices, marinated in 2 Tbsp of soy sauce and a little bit of wasabi (if you would like)
- 2 oz imitation crab, shredded
- 2 Tbsp white sesame seeds
Preparation:
Put rice in a large bowl and wash it with cold water. Repeat washing until the water becomes almost clear. Drain the rice in a colander and set aside for 30 minutes. Place the rice in a rice cooker and add about 2 1/3 cup of water. Let the rice soak in the water at least 30 minutes. Start the cooker. Make sushi vinegar by mixing rice vinegar, sugar, and salt in a sauce pan. Put the pan on low heat and heat until the sugar dissolves. Cool the vinegar mixture.
Spread the hot steamed rice into a large plate or a large bowl. Sprinkle the vinegar mixture over the rice and fold the rice by shamoji (rice spatula) quickly.
Meanwhile, remove stems from shiitake and slice thinly. Heat 2/3 cup of the water used for rehydrating shiitake in a medium pan. Add shiitake and soy sauce, sugar, and mirin. Simmer shiitake on low heat until the liquid is almost gone. Set aside. Beat eggs in a bowl and add 1/2 Tbsp of sugar. Oil a medium skillet and pour a scoop of egg mixture and make a thin omelet like a crepe. Make a few sheets. Cut the omelet into thin strips.
Serve sushi rice on a large plate or individual bowls. Spread simmered shiitake, cucumber, imitation crab meat, and omelet strips over rice. Place tuna sashimi on top. Sprinkle sesame seeds.
*Makes 4-6 servings
