My version, inspired by a dish cooked in an episode of Izakaya Bottakuri, has salmon teriyaki, eggs, nori, sakura denbu and tobiko.
The salmon can be substituted with other seafood which can be cooked or raw. Other vegetables, such as carrot, edamame and lotus root, may also be added.
Three components of the dish need to be cooking separately. First, cook Japanese rice and season with rice vinegar to turn it into sushi rice.
Second, cook a large fillet of salmon in teriyaki sauce in a pan. For best results, let the fish cool in the remaining sauce to allow the flesh to soak up the flavors.
Third, beat eggs, pour into a lightly oiled pan and swirl the pan to allow the eggs to spread so that you get an omelette as thin as a crepe. If you’re cooking more eggs than can be accommodated in the pan in one go, just repeat until you’ve cooked all the eggs. The thin omelette is transferred to a chopping board, rolled into a log and sliced very thinly.
In addition to the cooked ingredients, you will need Japanese condiments to complete the dish. Sakura denbu (above, left) is a dried codfish condiment. It is pink due to the addition of food color to mimic cherry blossoms. Kizami nori (above, center) is pre-shredded nori. Tobiko or fish roe (above, right) comes in many sizes and colors. Black tobiko (tinted with squid ink) is used in this recipe. All three are available in Japanese groceries.
To assemble the platter, cover a large plate with the sushi rice and, optionally, drizzle in some of the teriyaki sauce in which the salmon was cooked. Scatter the egg strips over the rice followed by the salmon teriyaki which has been broken into chunks.
Sprinkle in sakura denbu and kizami nori over everything, then top with the tobiko. Finally, drop in some finely sliced scallions. Provide everyone with rice bowls into which they will ladle their portions of the chirashi sushi.
Chirashi (scattered) sushi platter
Ingredients
Rice
- 1 ¼ cups Japanese rice
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
Eggs
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon dashi granules
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
Salmon teriyaki
- cooking oil
- 300 to 400 grams salmon fillet
- ¼ cup Japanese soy sauce
- ¼ cup sake
- ¼ cup mirin
Platter
- 1 tablespoon sakura denbu
- 2 tablespoons kizami nori
- 1 tablespoons tobiko - (fish roe)
- 2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions
Instructions
Make sushi rice
- Rinse the Japanese rice until the water runs clear.
- Cook as you normally cook your rice (stovetop, rice cooker or microwave).
- Spread the newly cooked rice on a tray, drizzle in the rice vinegar and stir.
- Allow the rice to cool, stirring the grains every few minutes.
Cook the salmon
- Heat a large heavy frying pan and lightly brush with oil.
- Lay the salmon fillet (skin side up if your salmon is not skinless) and brown lightly.
- Pour in the soy sauce, sake and mirin.
- Cook the salmon over medium heat, uncovered, for five minutes then flip and cook for another three minutes.
- Allow the salmon to soak in the sauce as it cools (if your salmon fillet has skin, cool it in the sauce with the skin side up).
Cook the omelette
- In a bowl, beat the eggs with the dashi granules.
- Coat the bottom of a frying pan with the tablespoon of oil and heat.
- Pour the beaten eggs into the hot oil, tilting the pan around to allow the eggs to spread.
- Cook the eggs until set then roll into a log using a spatula.
- Transfer the rolled omelette to a cutting board and slice thinly.
Assemble your chirashi sushi
- Spread the sushi rice on a platter (optionally, drizzle in some of the teriyaki sauce from the pan).
- Scatter the egg strips over the rice.
- Break the salmon in chunks and arrange on top of the egg strips (again, optionally, you may drizzle in a little more teriyaki sauce).
- Scatter the sakura denbu and kizami nori over everything on the platter.
- Arrange the tobiko at the center of the platter.
- Sprinkle the sliced scallions over everything, and serve.
