Hina-Matsuri Birthday Party: Tri-colour sushi "cake"

Tri-colour sushi "cake"

I had a girly Hina-Matsuri themed birthday party this year and this tri-colour diamond-shaped sushi "cake" was the centerpiece dish. 

Brightly coloured sushi is a feature of the Hina Matsuri (Girls' Day or Doll Festival) spread. 
I plotted this for a few weeks, checking out various ideas online here and here, and in the March 3 editions of Orange Page magazine, which has a Hina Matsuri feature most years (this year's edition was especially helpful). In the end, I took ideas from many places and mashed them up as I went along.

I couldn't exactly call this a "piece-of-cake" recipe (sorry, couldn't help myself ; )), but you will feel like a real Japanese domestic goddess if you take it on! In the end, I entrusted a dear friend to the decorating as I tussled with the rest of my ever so slightly over-ambitious menu. Thank you, M-san, for the fabulous job!

Here's the plan of action:
Make your diamond-shaped rice mould (a day or two ahead)
Make pickled lotus root flowers (a day or two ahead)
Dye daikon cherry blossom petals (optional; a day ahead)
Make sweet simmered shiitake (on the day)
Make omelette ribbons
Make sushi rice
Blanch snow peas and prep garnishes
Buy sashimi and form into "roses" 
Assemble

And the shopping list:
dashi powder
Japanese rice vinegar
Japanese soy sauce
sugar
salt
dried chilli
lotus root
daikon (optional)
dried shiitake (a meaty Japanese variety, for preference)
eggs
katakuriko (starch thickener; optional)
short-grain ("sushi") rice
Tamanoi Sushinoko powdered sushi seasoning (or homemade sushi vinegar, recipe included)
snow peas
shiso (perilla) leaves
frozen edamame (soy beans)
sakura dembu (pink fish "fluff"), or grated carrot, if unavailable
sashimi
gari (pickled ginger slices)


Tri-colour sushi "cake"

Serves 6-8

For the rice mould

Open up an empty and washed 1 l milk or juice carton by cutting down one of the corners (avoid the corner with the seam) and around the base. Cut off the square that was the base, and the section that was the spout. You should be left with a rectangle. Cut in half across the width, creating two thick strips. Tape the short ends of the strips together to form a square.

For the subasu spicy pickled lotus root

half a section of lotus root (approx. 7 cm long)
splash of Japanese rice vinegar

For the amazu sweet vinegar pickling liquid:
2.5 tbsp (38 ml) dashi stock (made with water and a pinch or two of dashi powder)
1.5 tbsp (23 ml) Japanese rice vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
pinch of salt

1 dried Japanese red chilli, sliced finely
1 cup (200 ml) boiling water
1.5 tbsp Japanese rice vinegar
pinch of salt

1 Peel lotus root with a vegetable peeler. Cut away sections of flesh between the holes of the root to create a flower shape (optional). Slice the root into rounds 5-6 mm thick. Soak in water with a splash of Japanese rice vinegar added to it.

2 Make the amazu pickling liquid. In a small pot, heat the dashi stock, rice vinegar, sugar and salt. When the sugar has dissolved, remove from the heat, add the sliced dried chilli and allow to cool.

3 Bring the water to the boil, add the rice vinegar and salt. Boil the lotus root for 1-2 min, or until slightly transparent, and drain immediately. Take care not to overcook or the texture will become unpleasant.

4 Place the cooked lotus root and the pickling liquid in a zip-topped bag and leave to marinate for a day in the fridge. 

For the daikon petals, if making

Cut three to four 5 mm thick slices of daikon and press out shapes using a cherry blossom petal vegetable cutter like this one. Mix just enough water to cover the daikon petals with a little red food colouring. Soak the petals in the solution until they reach the desired colour.

For the sweet simmered shiitake

4 large dried shiitake 
1 cup (200 ml) water
1 tbsp sugar, divided
1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce

1 Place shiitake, water and 1/4 tsp of the sugar in a bowl. Mix and cover with wrap, pushing the wrap down on the shiitake to keep them submerged. Leave for 1-1.5 hours. Once re-hydrated, gently squeeze the liquid out of the shiitake and slice thinly. Reserve the soaking liquid.

2 Place the soaking liquid, soy sauce and remaining sugar in a small pot, stir, add the sliced shiitake and bring to the boil over medium heat. Skim off any scum that forms. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 8 min. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

For the omelette ribbons

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp katakuriko (optional, but helps prevent tearing)
pinch of salt
vegetable oil

1 Mix all ingredients, except the oil, together in a bowl.  

2 Heat a medium frying pan over medium heat. Brush with just enough oil to create a thin film. Pour in half the egg mixture and swirl to cover the base of the pan. Once the surface dries, turn the omelette (slipping a single cooking chopstick under one corner and picking up the egg in one go, if you fancy trying the Japanese method). Cook quickly, then flip onto a plate. Repeat with the remaining egg.

3 When cool enough to handle, cut omelettes into quarters. Stack the quarters and fold in half. Slice into fine ribbons.

For the sushi rice

3 rice cups (450 g) short-grain rice
Either
3 tbsp (45 ml) Sushinoko powdered sushi seasoning
or (homemade sushi vinegar)
6 tbsp (90 ml) rice vinegar
2 tbsp (30 ml) sugar
1.5 tsp salt

1 Cook rice as usual if using Sushinoko, or using slightly less water if making your own sushi vinegar.

2 For the sushi vinegar (if using), mix the vinegar, sugar and salt together in a bowl. 

3 Once the rice is cooked, sprinkle with the Sushinoko or rice vinegar, and stir. Turn the rice in a folding motion while fanning it to create a sheen. Once the grains are glossy, cover rice with a damp cloth and leave to cool.

For tri-colour rice and garnishes

1 handful of snow peas, blanched
shiso (perilla leaves), stems removed
1/2 a Japanese cucumber, grated
400 g bag of frozen edamame (soy beans), defrosted and podded
good few shakes of toasted sesame seeds
sakura denbu (pink fish "fluff"; if unavailable, use grated carrot)
150 g of red and/or orange sashimi (tuna and salmon are good)
slices of gari (pickled ginger)

1 Divide rice into thirds and place in 3 bowls. In one bowl, make green rice by mixing through the cucumber and most of the edamame. In another bowl, make yellow rice by mixing through enough sesame seeds to make it interesting (I used around 3 tbsp). In the third bowl, make pink (or orange) rice by mixing though sakura dembu (or grated carrot) until you reach the desired colour.

2 Cover the centre of a large platter with wrap and place the rice mould on top in a diamond shape. You may need to use bottles or similar around the outside of the mould to help keep the shape while you layer in the rice. 

3 Gently pat the green rice evenly into the mould, making sure to reach all the way to the sides and into the corners. Repeat with the yellow rice, then the pink (or orange) rice. Make sure your cake is firm by pressing gently on the sides of the mould, then cut the mould away. 

4 If the sashimi slices are thick, flatten gently with a rolling pin or similar, place a slice of pickled ginger on top of each slice, then roll them into rose shapes.

5 Top the rice diamond with the omelette ribbons, then the simmered shiitake. Decorate with the shiso, snow peas and sashimi roses. Make sure a little of everything peeks out. Garnish the plate with the pickled lotus root, if using, and the remaining snow peas, shiso and sashimi roses. Lastly, sprinkle with the remaining edamame and dyed daikon petals, if using.

Enjoy!

Sashimi rice bowl with ginger, garlic and sesame



 Sashimi rice bowl with ginger, garlic and sesame

This is one of the Young Man's favourite quick dinners. He can even make it, and the Korean-style soup we always have with it, all by himself!

With ginger, garlic, negi and sesame, the flavours are bold but fresh. Shredded perilla brightens the dish, but you could use basil instead, if that's what's available.

We usually make this with maguro (tuna) sashimi, but it was not available on the day, so I used buri (yellowtail) instead.

Domburi are a larger sized rice bowl used for oyako-don and other rice-and-topping dishes suffixed with a don! They have a capacity of around 550 ml, compared to 250-350 ml for regular rice bowls. It doesn't really matter how much rice you use in this dish, however, and you could certainly make it in one big bowl to share, if you don't have domburi.

This recipe is from the August 17, 2010 edition of Orange Page (no longer available for purchase).

Sashimi no zuke-don komi-dare: Sashimi rice bowl with ginger, garlic and sesame

Serves 4

700 g warm, cooked rice (about 4 domburi bowls full )
400 g block of sashimi (tuna, for preference), cubed
2 tbsp Japanese soy sauce
10 shiso (perilla) leaves

For the dressing
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and grated to a slush
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tbsp finely chopped negi (Japanese leek)
1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce
1 tsp ground sesame seeds
1 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 sheet yakinori (laver), torn into small pieces (optional)

1 Place the cubes of sashimi in a bowl, pour over the soy sauce, mix well to coat and leave to marinate for about 5 min. Cut the stalks off the perilla leaves, cut in half lengthwise, and slice into fine strips. swish in a small bowl of water and drain on kitchen paper.

2 In a small bowl, mix the dressing ingredients together. Fill 4 domburi bowls with rice and top with the marinated sashimi, including the juices. Pour over the dressing and sprinkle over the perilla and yakinori, if using.

Enjoy!

Shimeji & beef pepper fried rice



Shimeji & beef pepper fried rice

We are finally getting some colder weather in Yokohama, so it is time to dust off a favourite autumnal rice recipe. With meat, veggies and rice, you could just about get away with calling this a one-dish meal, but we often have it with a soup of some sort. Either way, it comes together in about 30 minutes (less if you have already cooked the rice), so it's great for those nights when  you can't be bothered with too much faff and bother in the kitchen.
The pepper here is quite full-on, so adjust the amount to your family's liking. Shimeji mushrooms are one of many great varieties of mushroom in Japan. The most readily available variety here is buna shimeji, but other varieties, or even other mushrooms will work well, too. The beef should be the thickness of bacon, or slightly thinner.

The original recipe, from the October 17, 2008 edition of Orange Page, calls for shungiku (chrysanthemum leaves), but any green will do really, so ring in the changes, as I have here with the komatsuna greens. The original recipe also calls for 200 g of rice per person, but I usually do 2 rice cooker cups of rice for 4 people, which comes out at around 700 g cooked.

Shimeji to gyuniku no pepper chahan: Shimeji & beef pepper fried rice

Serves 4

700 g of warm, cooked rice (enough for 4 domburi bowls)

40 ml toasted sesame oil, divided

4 packs shimeji mushrooms (about 400 g total)

200 g thinly sliced beef (kiriotoshi)

1 bag komatsuna greens (about 200 g), stalks only

2 tsp crushed black pepper

2 tsp Japanese soy sauce

1 Place the cooked rice in a bowl. Pour over 2 tsp of the sesame oil and 1 tsp salt and mix thoroughly. Remove the base from the shimeji and break the mushrooms apart. Cut the beef into bite-sized slices if large. Wash and slice the komatsuna stalks into 7 mm pieces.

2 Place the remaining sesame oil and black pepper into a wok or large frying pan and heat on a medium flame. Add the beef and shimeji and stir-fry for about 3 min. When the shimeji soften, add 1 tsp salt and the soy sauce and quickly mix through.

3 Push the beef and shimeji to the side of the wok and put the rice and komatsuna stalks in the middle. Using a wooden spoon to "cut" through the rice, stir-fry for about 2 min. Once the rice separates, mix the beef and shimeji through. Continue to stir-fry until the komatsuna stalks are done and the rice and other ingredients are well incorporated.

Enjoy!