About Rice, and various Sushi Recipes

RICE DISHES

Rice is the main dish of virtually every Japanese meal. Perhaps this accounts for the fact that the commonly used word for meal, “Gohan,” literally means “Rice.”

Rice is most commonly served in its pure, white state, and accompanied by many different types of “okazu,” or side dishes. You may be surprised to learn that Japanese rice is not eaten with soy sauce, as some Americans enjoy. A friend who was new to Japan was eating in a restaurant and, as was his custom, sprinkled soy sauce on his bowl of rice. When the waitress noticed this, she expressed horror at his dreadful “accident of spilling soy sauce on his rice” and quickly got him a fresh bowl of rice.

Japanese will eat rice with various types of “Furikake” – different types of mixtures of dried fish, seaweed, vegetables, etc., which are sprinked on the rice; ume-boshi (pickled plums); and various types of pickled vegetables.

There are also different types of “Don,” such as “Gyuu-don,” (Sauteed beef and onions on rice), “Oyako-donburi,” (Sauteed beef and eggs over rice), etc.

And of course, there is sushi. This is not so commonly eaten in Japanese households, but rather is something a bit special which is eaten in Sushi Restaurants.
Japanese Rice

How to cook Japanese rice without a rice cooker

Choose a heavy sauce pan.
Add equal amounts of rice and water.
Soak the rice for 10-15 minutes.
Turn on the stove to high, and bring to a boil. The pan should be covered.
When it’s boiling, turn the stove to low. Allow to simmer for about 10-15 minutes, until all the water is absorbed.
Set aside and leave covered for another 10-15 minutes.
Serve.



Chirashi-zushi
Mixed sushi
Serves 4-6

Be sure to read through the whole recipe first, to get the idea of how to make this before you start. The basic idea is to cook the rice, and while the rice is cooking you prepare various foods to add to the rice, and to top the sushi with.

Gather the following ingredients:

2 cups raw rice
rice vinegar
white sugar
salt
shiitake mushrooms (fresh or dried and reconstituted)
bonito hon dashi powder
mirin
soy sauce
½ cup bamboo shoots
1 carrot
2 eggs
shredded nori
yusu age (thin fried tofu)

Sushi rice:
2 cups raw rice (cook in 2 cups of water)
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp konbu dashi

Cook the rice. Mix vinegar, sugar, dashi, and salt. While lightly stirring and fluffing the rice, sprinkle on the vinegar mixture. Keep stirring and sprinkling until all is used. The rice grains should each be shiny and not clumped together.

Set sushi rice aside.


Ingredients to mix in with the rice:

Mushrooms –

4 shiitake mushrooms – chopped into small pieces (Fresh, or dried and reconstituted for 1 hour are fine. If using rehydrated mushrooms, use the mushroom soaking water and add dashi powder to make your dashi broth.)
¾ cup dashi broth (water and ½ tsp dashi powder)
2 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar

Simmer all ingredients for 30 minutes, until the mushrooms absorb the flavor of the seasonings. When done, remove the mushrooms. Do not discard the broth. You will need it for the usu-age.

Bamboo shoots –

½ cup chopped fresh bamboo shoots
½ cup water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp soy sauce

Simmer together for 30 minutes

Carrots –

1 carrot, chopped into ¼ inch chunks
1 tsp sugar
dash of salt

Simmer in a little water until carrot is soft. About 3 minutes.

When all ingredients are prepared, mix them into the sushi rice, being careful not to crush the rice. Stir and fluff the rice as you mix it.

Top the sushi with 3 sections of:

Thin fried tofu –

1 piece of Yusu-age

Cook in mushroom broth for 5 minutes. Drain. Slice very thinly.

Egg –

2 eggs
½ tsp sugar
½ tsp usukuchi soy sauce

Whip with a fork until mixed, but not bubbly. Cook a little bit at a time in a lightly oiled non-stick pan so that the layer of egg is very thin. Continue cooking little by little until all is cooked. Slice in very, very thin strips.

Shredded nori


Maki-zushi
Rolled Sushi
Makes 5 sushi rolls
Serves 4-5

This lends itself to much variety and personal taste. Read through the recipe and decide which types of rolled sushi you would like to make, then choose a few types to try this time.

Be sure to follow the preceding directions on how to cook Japanese rice.

Sushi rice:
2 cups raw rice (cook in 2 cups of water)
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp konbu dashi

Cook the rice. Mix vinegar, sugar, and salt. While lightly stirring and fluffing the rice, sprinkle on the vinegar mixture. Keep stirring and sprinkling until all is used. The rice grains should each be shiny and not clumped together.

Set sushi rice aside.

Sushi Fillings:
Kampyo (dried gourd) and shiitake mushrooms – soak for 1 hour. Rinse kampyo thoroughly and squeeze it out.
Simmer for 1 hour in:
2/3 cup dashi stock
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp soy sauce
When done, slice shiitake into thin strips. Cut kampyo to fit the length of the nori that you will use to wrap the sushi.

Tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled omelet):
3 eggs
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp usukuchi (light colored) soy sauce

Thoroughly mix eggs, salt, and sugar. Pour a little bit into an oiled hot heavy-bottomed frying pan. When it is set, roll up carefully. Add another very thin layer of egg to the pan and lift your little omelet roll to attach it to the new layer of egg. Roll it up carefully. Continue adding more egg, one thin layer at a time, then roll it up, until all the egg is used. Shape the egg into a rectangular shape. Slice into 1/4ths, lengthwise. Set aside.

Cucumber – sliced in ½ and then lengthwise in rectangles. You don’t need to peel the cucumber. Usually the seeds are not used.

Tuna and Lettuce –
Drain 1 can of tuna and mix with mayonnaise to moisten and hold it together. Add a little wasabi if you like.
Wash and dry large lettuce leaf and set aside.

Fried shrimp and lettuce –
Shrimp is dipped in egg and then in bread crumbs and deep fried.
Wash and dry large lettuce leaf and set aside.

Fried chicken breast strips and lettuce –
Cut chicken breasts in ½ inch lengths. Dip in flour, then in beaten egg, and then in Japanese bread crumbs. Deep fry. Drain and set aside.
Wash and dry large lettuce leaf and set aside.

Natto – set aside one pack of natto (fermented soybeans – not for the uninitiated.)

Boiled Shrimp – Straighten the shrimp out to make a line across the rice. Add a thin line of wasabi beside the shrimp before you roll the sushi.

Raw Tuna – Cut tuna into a long thing strip. Place on the rice. Add a thin line of wasabi beside the tuna before rolling.

Combinations:
Kampyo, shiitake, egg, cucumber
Tuna, lettuce
Cucumber
Fried shrimp with lettuce
Fried chicken breast with lettuce
Natto
Boiled shrimp
Raw tuna

Prepare all ingredients.

To make a rolled sushi:

Lay your bamboo sushi mat on your working surface.
Place a piece of sushi nori on the mat, shiny side down.
Cover the bottom 2/3rd of the nori with a ½ inch layer of sushi rice. Use a spoon or rice scooper that you keep in a bowl of salt-water to serve the rice with. This will keep the rice from sticking to the utensil. Press the rice firmly, making sure that the surface is even and that the rice is tightly packed.
Add your choice of ingredients from the list above. I will use chicken breast and lettuce as an example. Roll the fried and cooled chicken breast in about ½ of a large lettuce leaf. Both chicken and lettuce should be as long as the width of the nori. Place in the center of the rice, lengthwise. Carefully lift the sushi mat to roll the sushi away from you towards the empty part of the nori. Roll it tightly so the nori doesn’t fold or crumble. Dip your finger in a little water or soy sauce and use the liquid to seal the open end of the nori to the roll.
Use the bamboo mat to shape your sushi into a tight roll. Set aside.

Continue making sushi according to that method until 5 rolls are made. There should be just enough rice. Combination #1 is the most challenging, so be sure to hold the ingredients so they don’t tumble as you roll the sushi.

When all the rolls are made, slice them with a damp knife. First cut off the ends, then slice each roll into 8 tidy pieces. Clean and dampen the knife as needed, so the rice doesn’t stick to it. Lay the sushi attractively on a platter.

Serve with wasabi and soy sauce.


Inari-zushi
Sushi in fried tofu pockets

Serves 4-5

Gather the following ingredients:
For sushi rice:
2 cups raw rice
3 tbsp rice vinegar
2 ½ tbsp sugar
¼ tsp salt
3 tbsp sesame seeds
For abura-age preparation:
4 pieces of abura-age (thin fried tofu), cut in half to make pockets
2/3 cup dashi stock
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp mirin
3 tbsp soy sauce
pickled ginger

Cook the rice.
While the rice is cooking, rinse the abura-age, and then simmer in mixture of dashi stock, sugar, mirin, and soy sauce for about 15 minutes. Remove from the pan and pat dry with a paper towel. Set aside.
When rice is done, mix vinegar, sugar, and salt. While lightly stirring and fluffing the rice, sprinkle on the vinegar mixture. Keep stirring and sprinkling until all is used. The rice grains should each be shiny and not clumped together.
Mix the sesame seeds into the rice.
Form the rice into little rectangular ovals to fit inside the pockets. Fold the excess abura-age over the rice.
Place decoratively on a plate.
Place a clump of pickled ginger nicely on the plate to be eaten with the sushi.