Japanese Cooking - Contemporary & Traditional by Miyoko Nishimoto Schinner Read Free Book Online

necessary, add a dash of sea salt.

     
    I recall as a child coming to the United States and discovering that Americans put butter on their rice. I was appalled and sickened. I felt even more disgusted when a friend told me she enjoyed pouring sugar and milk on her rice. (Since then, of course, I have adapted well to Western cuisine and now enjoy hot rice cereal with vanilla soy. milk!) But here is a simple way of eating rice beloved by Japanese that has made American jaws drop upon hearing it described — pouring green tea over rice.
     

Sushi Rice
     

Sushi Meshi
     
    8 cups white rice
    8 cups water
    1 cup sugar, rice syrup, or FruitSource
    1cups rice vinegar
    2 tablespoons mirin
    3½ tablespoons sea salt
    Cook the rice in the water as instructed in the basic recipe on pages 38 and 39. It will be slightly firm. Combine the sweetener, vinegar, mirin, and sea salt in a pot, and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and allow to cool.
     
    Transfer the cooked rice to a large bowl or vat. With a large wooden spoon or shamoji (wide, flat wooden rice spatula), stir and fold the rice as you add the sushi vinegar a little at a time. The rice will absorb the liquid. If the rice stops absorbing the liquid, do not add any more. It should be moist but not wet or gummy. Traditionally, the rice is fanned to cool it and prevent it from becoming gummy as the vinegar is added; this is a great job for a youngster!

     
    Sushi is a practically a national pastime in Japan. Delicate fish served in the raw coupled with a slightly sweet, vinegared rice is almost a raison d’être for many Japanese. This is a dish that does not offer as many alternatives for the vegetarian, although some good ones do exist. This is also the one rice dish where I usually make a concession to white rice, although I have made and served brown rice sushi. (Somehow, it lacks the delicacy I associate with sushi.)
     
    Yield: 6 to 12 servings depending on appetites
    Sushi rice should not be refrigerated after being made, as it turns hard. If you are not serving it soon, cover and leave at room temperature until serving time. Sushi rice can be made several hours in advance.
     
    To make hand-rolled nigiri-zushi for your sushi party, you will need the following:
    Toasted sheets of nori, cut in half
    Wasabi (Japanese horseradish; available in powdered form as well as in prepared tubes)
    Soy sauce
     

     
    Also, sugar is the standard sweetener for the sushi vinegar, since it is a sweetener with no inherent flavor. If using a liquid sweetener as a substitute, be sure to use one that is very mild in flavor, such as rice syrup, or FruitSource.
     
     
    Here is a basic recipe for cooking sushi rice, followed by suggestions for serving “okonomi-zushi, ” or sushi-as-you-like-it, at home. It makes an ample amount of rice, since this is the meal and not a grain supplement to other dishes. Invite some friends and have a sushi party! (For a family meal, cut the portions in half)
    In addition, you will need some or all of the following for fillings:
    Avocados, cut into strips (delicious!) Cucumbers, cut into sticks (preferably Japanese; if using the English variety, peel and seed)
    Thin slices of grilled or sautéed eggplant (not traditional, but good)
    Carrot sticks, cooked in a little water with a dash or two of soy sauce and mirin or sweetener
    Fresh shiitake, cooked in the ni-mono style (see page 125)
    Burdock root, cut into matchsticks and cooked in the ni-mono style (see page 125)
    Fresh shiso leaves—fragrant and wonderful!
    Natto mixed with soy sauce and green onions
    Kaiware (daikon sprouts—delicate but spicy)
    Thin strips of smoked tofu (not traditional, but it works)
    Blanched asparagus
    Blanched spinach
    Wakame, juliened and tossed in a little sesame oil and sea salt
    Pickled ginger
     

     
    To serve, line all the filler ingredients on a large platter or two. Provide small individual plates for each person to place his or her soy sauce and wasabi. Each person then