One of my favorite healthy meals is homemade chirashizushi. For those who don’t know, chirashizushi is a Japanese cooking method of putting raw fish on top of sushi rice.
When I make these myself, I usually add a wide variety of vegetables prepared raw, steamed, pickled, or otherwise prepared.
This will be a great, easy and incredibly healthy diet in addition to your favorite raw or cooked fish. The best thing is that you can do other work while cooking rice, so it takes almost no time to prepare.
Have fun and try the bowl. With an endless combination of protein, vegetables and sauces / seasonings, this may be one of the most open-ended recipes to date.
I used salmon and baby sweet shrimp, but I highly recommend visiting a reliable fish store and suggesting good ones to eat raw (of course, more if you want to cook fish) There are options for). Smoked salmon can also be used as a great alternative.
Homemade chirashizushi bowl
material
- For four bowls, keep in mind that there are always vegetable leftovers. If you’re feeling hungry, make your protein a little heavier.
- 2 cups of short “sushi” rice
- 2.2 cups of water
- 5 tablespoons of seasoned rice vinegar; look for one labeled “Sushi Seasoning”. The brand I use is Mizkan.
- Sesame toast
- A bunch of green onions, clean, thinly sliced white and light green
- 1 pound of sushi grade fish; tuna, salmon, yellowtail, scallops, boiled crabs and more. There are many choices (the term “sushi grade” is not a real classification, but for our purposes you will get what you are looking for). Slice the fish against the grain in 1/5 inch thick slices. If you are using tuna, you can cut it into cubes if needed.
- 1 small headed purple cabbage, slice thinly and soak in additional seasoned vinegar
- 1 English cucumber, sliced thinly and soaked in seasoned vinegar
- 2-3 thinly sliced radishes
- 1 package of bean sprouts green (this can be replaced with spinach or romaine lettuce)
- 1 small salmon roe (this is completely optional. I like the salty shine of salmon roe)
- Low-salt soy sauce
How to use rice
- Prepare the rice: Take the rice out, put it in a bowl and rinse with cold water, mix the rice and rinse the water several times. Continue this until the water is completely clear. This can take up to 15 minutes, but believe me. It’s worth it.
- If you have a rice cooker, please cook the rice according to the instructions. If you don’t have a rice cooker, follow these steps:
- Grab a heavy-bottomed pot with a tight lid. Put the rinsed rice and the measured water in a pan. Soak for 20 minutes.
- Set the heat to medium and cover the pot. When the water is boiling (a glance is enough to make sure the water is boiling), reduce the heat and cook for 10-12 minutes or until all the water is absorbed.
- Remove the pan from the heat and leave it with the lid on for another 10 minutes. After this, the rice is ready.
- If you are using a rice cooker, start your backup from this step. Transfer the cooked rice to a large bowl. Ask someone to pick up a magazine, etc., and actively stir the rice. Do this for a few minutes until the rice is quite cold. At this point, mix the seasoned rice vinegar. Make sure it covers all the rice.
- Cover the rice with a damp towel and set it aside until you use it.
Bowl assembly procedure
- Take about 1/4 of the sushi rice and put it on a plate. Sprinkle sesame toast and green onion slices on top of the rice.
- Place the selected protein, such as sliced fish or cubic tuna, on the left side of the bowl.
- In the right layer are pickled cabbage, pickled cucumber, sliced radish, and just a handful of bean sprouts. Try to cover the rice with these different colors and textures. It will be a truly breathtaking finished product.
- At this point, if you want to use salmon caviar (or other caviar), spoon the fish.
- Prepare a small plate of low-salt soy sauce on each person’s side.
- fun!
As always, please tell me how to make the chirashizushi bowl yourself. We want to see pictures and stories of your creativity.
In “Recipes of the Month,” food writer Stephen Desalvo shares recipes that the Montclairs may enjoy making. DeSalvo holds a degree in Hospitality Business Management from the University of Delaware and is widely active in restaurants and hotels. If you have any questions about how to make it, or have eaten at a local restaurant that you want to make at home, please contact culture @ montclairlocal.news.
