Chirashi zushi is a cheerful rice salad that can be the centerpiece of a festive meal. You can prepare the fillings a day or two in advance, so all you have to do is make the sushi rice on the day you plan to serve the dish. You’ll want to be sure to cook the rice fresh, to serve it warm. Refrigerating cooked rice will turn it stiff and dry. In this chirashi zushi, I have included a variety of colors: red cherry tomatoes and shrimp, orange carrots, green beans, yellow egg and white rice. You can also use salmon eggs or flaked, cooked salmon for more of the red accent; and for the green, you can use asparagus, fava beans or snow peas instead of green beans. You can also use a variety of herbs such as shiso, parsley or basil to accent your rice. And, you can turn this into an even more deluxe chirashi by adding sliced sashimi, cooked crab or salmon eggs on top of the shiso leaves.

Chirashi Zushi

Category

Category name

Serves

4

For the Sushi Rice

Ingredients

Makes 5 cups rice

  • 1 ½ cups haiga-mai or medium-grain or short-grain white rice
  • 1 ⅔ cups filtered water
  • 1 (2 by 2-inch) piece dried kombu seaweed

Method

  1. In a medium bowl, rinse the rice under cool, running water for about 10 seconds and then drain completely. Gently stir the rice with your hand about 30 times and rinse again under cool, running water. Drain starchy water. In a heavy-bottomed, 4-quart saucepan with a tight-fitting lid, combine the rice and the measured, filtered water. Let the rice soak in the water for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight.
  2. To cook the rice, place the kombu in the center of the soaked rice, just slightly submerged in the water. Heat the saucepan over medium heat until it begins to boil, about 7 minutes. When the water is bubbling vigorously around the rim of the pot, cover it, reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting and cook, without lifting the lid to peek, for about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and, without opening the lid, let the rice rest for another 15 minutes. Remove the lid and gently fluff the rice with a rice paddle or wooden spoon. Replace the lid and allow the rice to rest for another 5 minutes. The rice will keep fresh at room temperature for 1 day. Do not refrigerate or freeze it as it will harden. Japanese cooks use the microwave or a steamer to soften hardened rice. I like to make fried rice with hardened rice.

For the Chirashi Sushi Salad

Ingredients

  • 2 medium carrots
  • 4 ounces green beans
  • Salt
  • 8 large shrimp, shell-on and deveined, about 10 ounces
  • 4 large eggs, beaten
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 5 cups freshly cooked white rice
  • ¼ cup unseasoned rice vinegar
  • 1 ½ to 2 tablespoons cane sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 3 tablespoons minced ginger
  • 3 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 3 tablespoons fresh dill fronds
  • 3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
  • 2 sheets nori, cut into ⅛ x 2-inch strips, optional

Method

  1. Prepare the carrots and green beans. Bring a small pot of water to a boil over medium heat. Add the carrots and ½ teaspoon of salt and cook until al dente, about 2 minutes. Remove from the water, shock in an ice bath until cool and cut into fine dice. Bring the water back to a boil and add the green beans. Cook for 1 minute, remove from water, shock in an ice bath until cool and slice thinly crosswise into ¼-inch pieces.
  2. To prepare the shrimp, remove the legs and using kitchen scissors, make an incision along the back of the shrimp, beginning the cut where the head would be, and continuing down toward the tail. This incision will expose the vein of the shrimp so that you can use a paring knife or toothpick to carefully remove the vein through the slit in the shell. Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil and add the shrimp. Cook until they are pink, opaque and just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the shrimp to an ice bath until cool; when cool enough to handle, peel away the shell.
  3. To make the egg ribbons: In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and ½ teaspoon of salt until smooth. Heat ½ tablespoon of the oil in a nonstick or well-seasoned, 10-inch cast iron skillet. Add 1/4 of the beaten egg mixture and tilt the pan to spread it evenly over the base. Cook until the egg is just set, about 1 minute. Cover, turn off the heat and let cook for 1 more minute. Dump the crepe onto a cutting board, loosening it with chopsticks or a spatula if it needs help releasing. Repeat with the remaining oil and beaten eggs to make 4 crepes. When the crepes are cool, cut each in half and stack them. Trim off the rough edges and save for snacks. Slice the crepe rectangles into ⅛ by 2-inch ribbons.
  4. Make the vinegar dressing for the rice. In a small bowl, whisk the vinegar, cane sugar and 2 teaspoons of salt until dissolved. Transfer the freshly cooked hot rice into a large bowl or wet handai (wooden sushi rice container) and add the vinegar dressing. Toss to combine, moving a rice paddle at a diagonal to avoid squashing the grains. If using a handai, be sure to wet it first, giving it a light wipe with a clean kitchen towel before adding the rice to prevent grains from sticking to the surface.
  5. Add the ginger, sesame seeds, green beans, carrots and mix gently.
  6. To serve, spread the rice mixture over the base of a shallow serving dish. Scatter the tomatoes, egg ribbons, shrimp, dill and nori strips, if using. Serve immediately.
  7. If you make the components for the dish ahead, be sure to eat the finished dish within a day, as the sushi rice will harden quickly.