Here’s a fun hands-on meal that will satisfy meat eaters as well as vegetarians. There’s quite a bit of preparation involved but none of it is time sensitive. When your guests arrive you can sit back and enjoy their company while everyone makes their own delicious meal.
The most important ingredient to make is sushi rice. If you intend to make brown rice, you will need to start much earlier. Wash 1.9 cups of short grain brown rice a few times until the water is almost clear and drain in a colander. Put the rice in a heavy saucepan with 900ml (30.5 fl oz) of water. Leave it to soak for at least 2 hours or even overnight. Start cooking the rice a few hours before you guests arrive. Bring to boil then put the lid on and reduce the heat. Let it simmer for 35 minutes then turn off the heat and let it stand with the lid on for another 15 minutes. While the rice cooks, make the sushi-su. In a small saucepan combine 120ml (4 oz) of rice vinegar, 9 teaspoons of sugar and 3 teaspoons of fine sea salt. Heat over low heat just until the sugar and salt are absorbed, making sure it doesn’t boil. Let the mixture cool. When the rice is cooked, transfer it to a wide flat non-metal container such as a ‘sushi oke’ or a baking dish. Pour the sushi-su over the rice and fold it carefully into the rice with a wooden spoon, being careful not to damage the grains. You can use a hairdryer, set on cold and directed at the rice, to speed up the cooling process. The sushi-su gives the rice more flavour and a sticky glazed look. For the white rice, choose good quality sushi rice. Wash 2½ cups of rice in a large bowl, agitating it to remove some of the starch. Drain in a colander and repeat the process a few times until the water is almost clear. Leave the rice to drain in the colander for one hour. To cook, place the rice in a heavy saucepan and add 2¾ cups of cold water and 2 tablespoons of cooking sake. Bring to boil then cover and reduce the heat. Simmer for 15 minutes then turn off the heat and let it stand with the lid on for another 15 minutes. Meanwhile make the sushi-su, as described above, with 170ml (5¾ fl oz) of rice vinegar, ¼ of a cup of sugar and 4¼ teaspoons of fine sea salt. When the rice is cooked, add the sushi-su as described for brown rice. When the rice is ready and has cooled, do not chill. Just cover and leave in a cool place. Now to the other parts of the meal. You will need sheets of toasted nori for wrapping. Cut them into quarters to serve. The steak was simply marinated in 45ml (1½ oz) of soy sauce, 1½ tablespoons of mirin (sweet cooking sake) and 2 crushed cloves of garlic for at least 20 minutes. To cook, heat a heavy pan (preferably cast iron) until smoking hot, smear a little oil onto the steaks and cook for 5 minutes or so on each side. Serve sliced and garnished with green onions. For salmon marinate in 2 tablespoons each of soy sauce and sake, 1 tablespoon of mirin and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Pan fry, grill (broil) or bake and serve garnished with spring onions. I also served surimi salad made by slicing surimi and mixing with Kewpie brand mayonnaise. The vegetable platter included firm tofu strips fried then dressed with soy and sesame oil; Japanese omelette – here’s a good recipe from NYT; cucumber wedges; fresh red shiso leaves (we grew these); avocado wedges; and spring onions. Purchased ready made: seaweed salad; pickled daikon and pickled ginger. The remaining condiments were wasabi (available pre-mixed or as a powder); spicy mayonnaise (made by mixing Kewpie mayonnaise with sriracha sauce) and dipping sauce or shoyu – I like to mix a little mirin into my Japanese soy sauce for this. Finally, a salad of mixed greens with a Kewpie sesame dressing.
michelle picker cooks 