About the Recipe
Let's get the linguistics out of the way first. Chirashi in Japanese means "scatter". So what is "chirashi sushi" you might ask ? In short, it means small pieces of raw fish (AKA leftovers) which have been scattered, in this case, over a bed of rice. The dish arose out of the desire not to waste the morsels of raw fish left over from the filleting and cutting of fish. So, a chirashi dish contains small cuts of sashimi that would otherwise be discarded, laid over a bed of rice. In days gone by, the dish would have been a cheap option although I am not sure that is true any longer. In Japan, chirashi dishes would be served in individual bowls but I often make it in one large bowl for family and friends to dig in and share.
Ingredients
2 cups (300g) japanese rice
4 tbsp sushi vinegar
40g carrots
1 dried or fresh shiitake mushroom
1/2 sheet abura-age
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1 tsp sugar
4 tbsp water
2 tsp vegetable oil
2 eggs
a little salt
6 sugar snaps or mange toute
3 baby tomatoes
15 cooked king prawns
2 sheets (60g) smoked salmon
shredded nori (optional)
Preparation
rinse the rice with water until the water is almost clear, then cook in a rice cooker or saucepan
when the rice is cooked, add the sushi vinegar to the rice a little at a time in a large bowl, mixing the vinegar in gently with a cutting motion
peel & thinly slice the carrot then cut into juliennes
halve the abura-age, then cut into juliennes
remove & discard the shiitake stalk, then halve and cut into juliennes
halve the baby tomatoes
halve the sugar snaps diagonally
cut the smoked salmon into 2cm squares
put the carrot, shiitake, abura-age, soy sauce, mirin, sugar & water into a small pan, then bring to the boil and simmer for 5 mins stirring time to time until the liquid has almost evaporated
blanch the sugar snaps in boiling water with a pinch of salt for 1 min
heat the veg oil in a frying pan, whisk one egg with a pinch of salt in a bowl and pour into the pan to create a thin egg sheet.
flip and turn out to a plate
repeat with the other egg
cut the egg sheets into 4 strips per sheet and then cut into juliennes
mix the cooked vegetables gently into the sushi rice and place it in a large shallow serving bowl
spread the sliced egg sheets over the rice then place the smoked salmon squares over the egg
decorate with the prawns, tomatoes & sugar snaps
sprinkle with some shredded nori (optional)