00:00Chirashisushi is a traditional type of sushi where vibrant toppings are scattered over
00:04a bed of seasoned rice. That's literally what chirashi means, scattered. This colourful
00:10dish is a showstopper at Japanese celebrations, especially during Hinamatsuri on March 3rd.
00:16You can also find this recipe on my website, along with 400 Japanese recipes. Just google
00:21Chirashisushi space sudachi to find the written recipe.
00:25My recipe starts with soaking dried shiitake mushrooms in cold water. They need at least
00:2930 minutes to get all plump and flavourful. I'm using 3 small dried shiitake in 200ml of
00:36water, but 2 mediums or 1 large also works fine.
00:42Next I'm going to make a marinade for my tuna sashimi. Grab a small saucepan and pour in
00:481 tbsp of sake and 1 tbsp of mirin. Give it a quick 30 second boil to burn off the
00:54alcohol.
00:58Once that's bubbling away, turn off the heat and stir in 1 tbsp of soy sauce.
01:03Let it cool down for a few minutes, we don't want to accidentally cook our tuna.
01:09When your marinade has cooled enough that you can touch it, place 75g of cubed sashimi grey
01:15tuna in a container. Pour the sauce all over it. And mix everything up.
01:23Feel free to swap in other sashimi grey fish like salmon if tuna is not your thing.
01:27Smoked salmon works too, but skip the marinating step since it already has plenty of flavour going on.
01:33Cover it and rest it in the fridge until you're ready to serve.
01:38Now those mushrooms should be nice and rehydrated. Fish them out and squeeze them thoroughly.
01:45This leftover soaking liquid is now a rich shiitake dashi that we will use later, so don't throw it away.
01:52Here I have 1 julienned carrot and 30g of thinly sliced fried tofu pouches.
01:57Remove the stems of the shiitake and then thinly slice them to match the thickness of the other ingredients.
02:05Hold the shiitake dashi into a pan along with your sliced shiitake mushrooms, fried tofu pouches and carrot.
02:11If you can't get tofu pouches, you can replace them with more carrot or shiitake,
02:15just don't try to replace it with regular tofu because the texture is completely different.
02:21Add 1 tbsp of sake, 1 tbsp of sugar, 2 tbsp of mirin, and 2 tbsp of soy sauce to
02:29the pan,
02:29and simmer everything over medium heat, stirring now and then to prevent any burning,
02:34until all the flavour has absorbed into your ingredients and there's no more liquid left.
02:40Although this dish has a lot of elements, most of them can be prepared in advance and then assembled
02:45later. You can save yourself some stress by prepping components in advance, then when it's time to
02:51assemble, you can focus on making your chire shizushi beautiful rather than rushing around the kitchen.
02:57While just simmering, make your homemade sushi vinegar by dissolving 1 tbsp of sugar
03:02and ½ tbsp of salt into 2 tbsp of rice vinegar in a small bowl.
03:09Fold this vinegar mixture over 660g of freshly cooked Japanese short grain rice and fold it through
03:16thoroughly. This is 2 Japanese rice cups before cooking, or about 300g. If you want to know how to
03:23cook perfect sushi rice, please check out my separate video.
03:27Okay, the liquid is pretty much gone, so now empty the contents of the pan into the rice,
03:32and gently mix until everything is evenly distributed.
03:42I'm using a rice puddle to cut and fold the rice so that the grains don't get crushed. If you
03:48don't have
03:48one, a spatula works too. If your toppings aren't ready, you can cover the rice with a damp tea towel
03:55to stop it from drying out. Now it's assembly time. Unlike sushi rolls or nigiri you might be familiar
04:07with, chire shizushi is typically served in a bowl or on a plate. I'm using traditional sushi-yoka here,
04:13so I'm going to serve it in a help-yourself style, but you can absolutely divide it into separate serving
04:20balls.
04:21I'm starting with a generous sprinkle of shredded kizami nori, about 3 tbsp worth.
04:27Next, layer on some kinshitamago, that's shredded egg crepe. There's a recipe on my website if you're
04:32interested, but you can use egg cooked in different ways too. Now for the fun part, arrange your prepared
04:38topping ingredients and starting with the marinated tuna. Did you know what many of these ingredients
04:44used for chire shizushi carry symbolic meanings? For example, this tuna is red, which is believed to
04:50word of evil. Next, I have 100g of pulled shrimp. Shrimp represent longevity and good health,
04:58and since they shed their skin as they grow, they symbolise growth and success.
05:05Lotus root is another popular topping. This one has been thinly sliced and boiled. The lotus root with
05:11all those holes is said to offer a good outlook and the ability to see the future.
05:19Next, I'm using blanched snow peas, ikura salmon roe, and a sweet pink fish powder called sakuradenbu.
05:26It's all add colour, which is perfect for this celebrity dish. This might not be a helpful tip,
05:33but more than any other sushi, I think of chire shizushi as an art. Everyone has their own
05:38decorating style, no strict rules here, so get creative, use ingredients that make you happy,
05:44and let your personal style come through in the presentation.
05:49But one tip is, when selecting your toppings, aim for that perfect balance of red, yellow, and green.
05:55Remember, this isn't a rulebook. Feel free to play around with local ingredients,
05:59diced cucumber, avocado, real, or imitation crab, or cubed tamagoyaki would all work great.
06:06Dish it up into individual bowls and dig in.
06:12If it needs a little more punch, drizzle some of that leftover tuna marinade for an extra flavour kick.
06:21Want even more delicious recipes? Grab my free cookbook from the link in the description.
06:27Ok, let's go over the ingredients one more time, and if you're ready to cook,
06:31grab the written instructions by clicking the full recipe box with a picture that's about to pop up
06:36on your screen. Here we go, the link to the full recipe is on the screen for you now,
06:40and if you want to watch more similar videos, don't miss my rice recipe playlist popping up on your screen
06:45as well. Thanks so much for watching, and I hope to see you in the next one. Bye!
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