January 21, 2013 at 6:00 am
· Filed under Fish-Seafood-Caviar, International Foods, Recipes
Chirashi sushi: fish layered atop a bowl of
rice. Photo | Dreamstime. |
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Making sushi rolls or nigiri—the slices of fish atop a bed of rice—takes some training and dexterity.
But you don’t need the skills of a sushi chef to serve chirashi sushi at home: sliced fish arranged atop a bowl of rice.
Or, you can make our Japanese-American “fusion chirashi”: sliced fish atop a green salad.
Chirashi is not pressed together like other forms of sushi (see our Sushi & Sashimi Glossary for the different types of sushi). The word “chirashi” means “to scatter.”
Japanese cooks are too disciplined to scatter the ingredients willy-nilly, so an appealing placement of fish and vegetables is presented.
You don’t have to use as much fish on top of your chirashi as shown in the photo (which is quite a deluxe portion), as long as you cover at least half of the rice with fish and vegetables.
Look for whatever is fresh at the fish market—ask the fishmonger for recommendations.
Cooked shrimp and salmon caviar are wonderful ingredients. We’re partial to raw scallops and oysters.
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Sushi rice. Make this sushi rice recipe, slice some fish and enjoy chirashi sushi at home.
Add cooked fish. Since a variety of sushi/sashimi fish ingredients are precooked (octopus and squid, for example; mackerel is marinated), feel free to add canned tuna to your creation.
Condiments. Serve your chirashi with conventional soy sauce and wasabi, plus a wedge of lemon or lime. It isn’t authentic Japanese, but we love a hearty squeeze of citrus on our sushi and sashimi, and it cuts down the amount of soy sauce required. Even if you use low-sodium soy sauce, the sodium quotient is high, more than 500 mg of sodium per tablespoon.
Vegetables. Add sliced cucumber, chopped scallions, homemade pickled vegetables and anything else that appeals to you.
Pickled ginger. You may be able to find Japanese pickled ginger at your market. Or, pickle your own by marinating thin slices of ginger in rice vinegar and sugar. The pink color, if you want it, is a tiny amount of red food coloring.
Other ingredients. Be creative, go fusion. While olives, for example are not part of Japanese cuisine, they go nicely with raw fish. It’s the same with Chinese ingredients such as water chestnuts. And if you’ve had cans of baby corn, bamboo shoots or bean sprouts on the shelf for too long, it’s time to use them.
You can serve chirashi sushi as an appetizer or a main course. You can serve individual portions, as at restaurants, or make one large bowl family-size bowl, which is typical in Japanese homes. If you don’t have chopsticks, forks are fine.
Now, think about chirashi atop a green salad. Start by choosing your greens:
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“CHIRASHI” GREEN SALAD
Ingredients
Mesclun
Frisée
Endive and/or radicchio
Shredded cabbage and carrots (cole slaw mix)
Green onion, red onion or sweet onion
Assorted fish and shellfish
Wasabi vinaigrette (recipe below)
EASY WASABI VINAIGRETTE RECIPE
Ingredients
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon wasabi paste
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Optional: 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Optional: 1/2 teasppon grated ginger
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
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Sashimi with a shredded cabbage-frisée salad. Here, the tuna is cut into chunks instead of sashimi-style slices. Photo courtesy Triomphe | NYC.
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Preparation
1. COMBINE vinegar and soy sauce; whisk in wasabi.
2. WHISK in oil and sesame seeds. Season as desired.
Enjoy: It’s healthful and low in calories!
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