A delicious and beautiful sushi bowl that's easy to customize for picky eaters. I'll walk you through all the fresh and easy ingredients (including sweet mushrooms and Japanese omelet) to make a classic chirashi bowl at home and it's faster than you think. Use as many or as few of the toppings as you like.
Cooked and shelled edamame beans, wakame or nori seaweed, thinly sliced, shredded or julienne carrot and daikon (Japanese radish), thinly sliced sushi grade raw seafood or bits of cooked seafood
Seasoned mushrooms, cucumber and omelet (recipes below)
Garnishes: Wasabi, pickled ginger, shiso leaves or microgreens, sliced scallions, sesame seeds, tobiko, lotus root, edible flowers such as shiso or thyme flowers (the Japanese love a beautiful dish!)
Seasoned Sushi Rice
1.5cShort grain white or brown rice, cooked according to package.
3tablespoonRice Vinegar
2tablespoonSugar
½teaspoonSalt
Cucumber Salad
1cCucumbers, sliced very thin in rounds
¼cRice Vinegar
1teaspoonSugar
Sweet Seasoned Shiitake Mushrooms
1cShiitake Mushroom, sliced ¼"
2tablespoonMirin (sweet Japanese cooking wine) or 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 tablespoon water
1tablespoonSoy Sauce
1 teaspoonVegetable Oil
Japanese Omelet
2 Eggs
1teaspoonSugar
pinch Salt
Chirashi Sushi Dressing
2tablespoonMirin or 2 teaspoon each sugar and water
2tablespoonSoy Sauce
2tablespoonRice Vinegar
1tablespoonVegetable Oil
1tablespoonGreen Tea or water
Instructions
Seasoned Sushi Rice
Once you've cooked your rice, mix vinegar, sugar and salt together and sprinkle over rice. Stir gently and leave to cool until ready to serve. *Note, seasoning the rice is optional. Also, if you have kombu seaweed, you can add a chunk to the rice while it cooks to add more authentic Japanese flavour.
Cucumber Salad
Combine sliced cucumber, vinegar and sugar and let sit until ready to use, up to 4 hours. Drain cucumber before adding to dish.
Sweet Seasoned Shiitake Mushrooms
Toss all ingredients with mushrooms and add to a small non-stick pan. Cook gently on medium low until the liquid is almost evaporated. Let cool, then use for topping dish.
Japanese Omelet
Beat eggs well with sugar and salt. Preheat a large pan on medium, oil very lightly and then pour in eggs to make a paper thin omelet. Once cooked through (only about 1 minute), cool slightly, roll onto a plate and once it is room temperature, slice it into julienne (thin) strips.
Chirashi Sushi Dressing
Mix all ingredients together and lightly spoon over arranged Chirashi bowls.
Assembly
Fill the bottom half of your bowl with 1 cup of rice. Then artfully arrange your chosen ingredients on top and gently spoon a few teaspoons of dressing over any unseasoned toppings and enjoy. Serve with additional soy sauce for dipping if desired. Kanpai!