Chirashi

….Chirashi means “scattered.” This is because ingredients are scattered over a bed of sushi rice. I made Gomoku(Osaka style) Chirashi. It has been around for hundreds of years. It’s a celebratory dish in Japan, it’s often made at home. Gomoku Chirashi uses cooked ingredients over sushi rice. There’s often a layer of thinly sliced tamago in between. Boiled shrimp, lotus pickle, braised shiitake mushroom, and ginger pickle are some of the more popular ingredients. But I added some fresh raw fish for my husband with yuzu kosher on top of the raw fish today… While the ingredients used in chirashi sushi depends on the type that is being prepared, chirashi sushi is a popular home-cooked dish. There is a lot of variation when it comes to the toppings used in home cooking. It often comes down to personal choice and access to ingredients. If the chriashi is unseasoned, you can pour soy sauce or soy/wasabi mixture over the chirashi. Alternatively, keep the soy sauce on the side and dip the sashimi and other ingredients to taste. The hard part is making it look good!! My husband said the braised shiitake mushroom was the perfect texture and uni was so delicious. Frankly, each ingredient was so delicious. We had a luxurious dinner today at home.

Servings: 3–4

Time: 1 hour plus 3 hour for marinating lotus roots pickle and shrimp

Ingredients:

1. 4 cups steamed rice
2. 100 g lotus root, peeled and sliced thinly(trimming the corners: this is optional )
3. 10–12 shrimp, peeled and deveined
4. 5 shiitake mushrooms, cut into 3–4 pieces
5. 3 eggs
6. 1 tbsp sake
7. raw fish(tuna, amber jack, yellow tails, salmon roe, uni: this is optional) to taste
8. shiso leaves to taste
9. radish, sliced thinly

For lotus root pickle:

1. 3 tbsp vinegar
2. 1 tbsp sugar
3. 1/3 tsp sea salt

For shrimp marinade sauce:

1. 1 tsp sea salt
2. 100 ml water
3. 2 tbsp vinegar
4. 1 tbsp sugar

For braised shiitake mushrooms:

1. 2 tbsp Mat-Gan-Jang
2. 1 tsp sugar
3. 1 tbsp Mirin
4. 1 tbsp water

For tamago:

1. 3 eggs
2. 1 tbsp water
3. 2 tsp sake
4. 1/2 tbsp sugar
5. 1/4 tsp sea salt

For rice sauce:

1. 1 cup vinegar
2. 5 tbsp sugar
3. 2 tsp sea salt
4. 5 * 5 kelp

Cooking Instructions:

1. heat a pot with medium high heat and add 4 cup water into the pot to boil.

2. Add the lotus root into the pot for 1 minute. Rinse them with cold water and sift it with a strainer.

3. Make the lotus roots pickle: put the vinegar, sugar, and sea salt into a bowl and add the parboiled lotus roots into the bowl for 2–3 hours. Set aside.

4. Heat a pan with medium low heat and add the shiitake mushrooms into the pan.

5. Stir fry it without oil until mushrooms are cooked(add the water if it burns) for 1 minute. Add the Mat-Gan-Jang, sugar, and Mirin into the pan to keep stirring until the moisture is gone. Set aside.

6. Heat a pot with medium high heat and add 4 cup water, the sake, and shrimp into the pot to boil the shrimp until the skin turns pink(the skin will turn pink before water is boiling). Turn off the heat and leave them for 30 minutes with a lid(the shrimp becomes very soft).

7. After 30 minutes, remove the shrimp onto a tray. Cut into half lengthwise and set aside.

8. Put the water, sea salt, vinegar, and sugar into a bowl to mix well and add the shrimp into the bowl for 2–3 hours. Set aside.

9. Put the egg, water, sake, sugar, and sea salt into a bowl to mix well. Sift the egg mixture with a strainer.

10. Heat a pan with low heat and some oil and pour the beaten egg into the pan to spread thinly.

11. Turn off the heat and let it cook on the hot pan for 1 minute. Flip it over and let it sit on the pan for 1 more minute.

12. Transfer it to a tray and cool down. Slice it into thin strips and set aside.

13. Make a rice sauce: put the vinegar, sugar, sea salt, and kelp into a sauce pot. Heat the sauce pot with medium heat to boil until the sugar is melted and turn off the heat. Set aside with a lid on until it cools down. Take out the kelp and keep in the refrigerator up to 3 months.

14. Put the steamed rice into a bowl and sprinkle the rice sauce evenly over warm rice. Fold gently with a wooden spoon to mix(1 cup steamed rice + 1 1/3 tbsp rice sauce). Set aside for cooling at room temperature.

15. Slice the fresh raw fish into 1/2 inch and set aside.

16. Put all ingredients into a bowl.

17. Serve it with miso soup and soy sauce/ wasabi.

You can also view this recipe on instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CnMrPdqL_8r/