Chirashi sushi or chirashi zushi (vinegared rice with pieces of raw fish and other ingredients arranged on top) is a perfect spring time dish. Vinegar is good for your body, and the colorful ingredients on top make this a feast for the eyes.

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About Chirashi Sushi

People associate eating chirashi sushi with celebratory occasions. For example, chirashi sushi is a dish we traditionally eat on Hinamatsuri (Dolls’ Festival). There are various theories about the relationship of chirashi sushi to Hinamatsuri, but none of them has been proved. One theory is that chirashi sushi was created as a healthy dish for girls by placing a variety of nutritious ingredients over rice.

Strictly speaking, chirashi sushi should have ingredients of four colors: blue, red, white and black. The four colors represent the Four Godly Creatures, namely, the Blue Dragon, the Red Chinese Phoenix, the White Tiger, and the Black Tortoise (or Black Warrior). The Four Godly Creatures are believed to govern the four corners of the world. The Blue Dragon looks after the East and Spring, the Red Chinese Phoenix is in charge of the South and Summer, the White Tiger controls the West and Autumn, and the Black Tortoise is the God of the North and Winter.

Adjusting the Taste of Sushi Rice

Adjust the balance of vinegar and sugar to taste. Generally, when making sushi with raw fish, you should add a little less sugar.

Older recipes often instruct you to first “wash the rice and place it on a bamboo sieve (or strainer).” This is because in olden times rice was refined and stored in different ways and therefore had a hard surface. That’s why rice had to be washed and then dried on a bamboo sieve so that the surface would crack and more water would be absorbed. This is not necessary with today’s rice.

How to cook Chirashi Sushi Bowl?

If you look for an easy cooking version, you can use this Chirashi Sushi Mix.

Gomoku chirashi Sushi Recipe Ingredients (Serves 4 ) Sushi rice to serve 4

Ingredient to be mixed with rice 4 dried shiitake mushrooms

1/2 burdock

1 carrot Seasonings 2/5 cup dashi soup stock

1 Tbsp. sake (cooking sake)

1 Tbsp. mirin (Japanese sweet cooking rice wine)

1 Tbsp. soy sauce Toppings 5.3 oz. shrimp

0.7 oz. snow peas

3.5 oz. lotus root Sweet vinegar mixture 1/5 cup water

1 Tbsp. vinegar

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. mirin (Japanese sweet cooking rice wine) Thin strips of egg 1/2 tsp. corn starch

1/2 Tbsp. water

2 eggs

1 tsp. sugar

Salt (to taste)

Vegetable oil (as needed) Cooking Directions To prepare the ingredients to be mixed with rice Soak the dried shiitake mushrooms in lukewarm water, whittle the burdock and soak in vinegar water (add the desired amount of vinegar other than the measured vinegar listed above), and slice the carrot thinly. Julienne the shiitake mushrooms and put them into a pot with the soaking water, add the drained burdock and carrot pieces and seasonings, and boil until no liquid remains. To prepare the toppings De-shell and de-vein the shrimps, and boil them in salted water (add the desired amount of salt other than the measured salt listed above). If the shrimps are too big, cut them into halves. Boil the snow peas in salted water (add the desired amount of salt other than the measured salt listed above) and slice diagonally. Slice the lotus roots into thin crescent pieces. Boil in salted water (add the desired amount of salt other than the measured salt listed above), and soak in the warmed sweet vinegar mixture. To prepare the eggs Mix the starch, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add water to dissolve all the ingredients. Add eggs and beat well. Coat a frying pan with a thin layer of oil and make an egg crepe. Let it cool, and slice into thin strips. Finish

Mix shiitake mushrooms, burdock and carrot with the sushi rice. Transfer the rice mixture onto a serving plate. Cover with the thin strips of egg, and garnish with the toppings.

Salmon Chirashi Sushi Recipe Ingredients (Serves 4) Sushi rice to serve 4

Ingredient to be mixed with rice 3 Japanese cucumbers

A pinch of salt Salmon flakes 3 slices of salmon fillet

3 Tbsp. mirin (Japanese sweet cooking rice wine)

2 Tbsp. sake (cooking sake)

A pinch of salt Toppings A pinch of black sesame seeds

5 oba (green perilla) leaves Cooking Directions Thinly slice the cucumbers. Sprinkle with salt and let stand for a while. Remove the skin from salmon and cook in a pan with mirin, sake and salt. Use a rice scoop to break the fish into flakes as you cook. Squeeze the cucumbers to drain the water. Mix with sushi rice, salmon flakes and sesame seeds. Julienne oba leaves and sprinkle them over the rice mixture.

Chirashi Sushi with Spring Vegetables Recipe Ingredients (Serves 4) Sushi rice to serve 4

Ingredient to be mixed with rice 1 sheet of fried bean curd Seasonings 1 Tbsp. sake

2 Tbsp. mirin (Japanese sweet cooking rice wine)

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 small boiled bamboo shoot

2/5 cup uncooked green peas

2/5 cup uncooked broad (fava) beans

3.5 oz. boiled sansai (mountain vegetables) Toppings 1/2 bunch mitsuba (Japanese honewort)

0.7 oz. sakura no shio zuke (salt-pickled cherry flowers)

1/4 cup mominori (roasted shredded seaweed) Cooking Directions Boil the fried bean curd to remove the oil, thinly slice it, and cook with the sake, mirin and soy sauce until no liquid remains. Let dry. Boil the beans in salt water. Soak the cherry flowers in lukewarm water to remove salt. Slice the bamboo shoot and mitsuba (fresh) into bite-sized pieces, and drain the mountain vegetables. Mix the sushi rice with fried bean curd slices. Transfer the rice mixture onto a serving plate, and garnish with the toppings. This is a staple sushi dish and a home-cooked delicacy, and requires careful preparation but is well worth it!

Eel & Squid Chirashi Sushi Recipe A heavenly combination of sauce and sushi rice Ingredients (Serves 4) Sushi rice to serve 4

Ingredient to be mixed with rice 1 piece grilled eel

1 Tbsp. sake (cooking sake)

1 slice sashimi-grade squid

3 oba (green perilla) leaves

1 Japanese cucumber

1 oz. tobiko (flying fish roe)

1 pack kaiware (radish sprouts)

Sliced nori (dried seaweed) (as needed) Eel sauce 3 Tbsp. soy sauce

3 Tbsp. mirin (Japanese sweet cooking rice wine)

2 Tbsp. sugar Cooking Directions Boil the eel sauce ingredients in a pan, and let cool. Pour sake over eel. Reheat in a broiler, oven, or on a fish grill, etc., and cut into bite-sized pieces. Score the sashimi-grade squid. Turn it over and put oba leaves on top. Roll the squid into a cylinder, and cut into thin slices. Julienne the cucumber. Put sushi rice on a serving plate. Sprinkle with cucumber, tobiko, squid, and eel. Pour sauce over the chirashi rice, and garnish with kaiware and nori.

Bara Chirashi Sushi Bowl Recipe Ingredients (Serves 1) 1 cup sushi rice

1 Tbsp. sushi flavoring powder

Slices of sashimi fish of your choice

1~2 slice of tuna sashimi

1~2 slice of cooked unagi (eel)

1/2 oz. crab meat

2 tsp. uni (sea urchin)

1 tsp. ikura (salmon roe)

2 Tbsp. diced avocado

2 tsp. masago (capelin roe)

2 tsp. diced takuan pickle

2 tsp. chopped tamago yaki (egg omelette)

2 tsp. diced cucumber

1 sheet nori (seaweed)

1 tsp. gari (pickled ginger)

1 tsp. wasabi

1 Tbsp. chopped shiso leaf Cooking Directions Cook the sushi rice (short grain rice) and add the sushi vinegar powder and mix well. Dice your ingredients such as sashimi fish, crab meat, omelette, avocado, cucumber to a 1/4 inch-size. Serve rice in a bowl, place a sheet of nori on the rice. Place all the diced ingredients over it nicely. Top it with uni, masago, diced takuan, and shiso leaf. Lastly, put the chopped tuna on top and add the gari pickled ginger and wasabi on the side. Tips You can marinate the sashimi grade fish with soy sauce for about 5 mins before serving.

If you can’t find sushi flavoring powder, make your own sushi vinegar flavoring with 1 Tbsp. rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp. sugar, and 1 tsp. salt. Recipe and photo by: Hachi

Easy cooking: Chirashi Sushi Mix

A Chirashi sushi bowl may look intimidating to make, but not when you use these chirashi sushi mixes! All you have to do is cook rice and then add in the chirashi sushi mix!

Mizkan Gomoku Chirashi Sushi Mix

Mix the vinegar powder pack and the ingredients package in the rice and you will have an authentic chirashi sushi dish in no time! The ingredients in the package are carrot, maitake mushroom, yam cake, and fried tofu. Mizkan has been popular in Japan since 1804 as vinegar and seasoning manufacturing company.

Product Info & Photo Credit: http://www.mizkan.asia/

Nagatanien Sushi Taro Gomoku Chirashi

Here is another sushi mix that makes traditional chirashi sushi. Nagatanien’s Sushi Taro Gomoku Chirashi contains renkon (lotus roost), carrot, kanpyo (dried gourd strips) bamboo shoots, and shiitake mushroom. Just mix it in the rice and it’s ready to serve! Nagatanien started as a green tea manufacturing company during the 19th century, but now they are known for their seasoning brands.

Product Info & Photo Credit: http://www.nagatanien.com/

Gochiso Magazine, Nijiya Market