(Recipe) Chirashi Sushi

Chirashi sushi, which translates to "scattered sushi" in Japanese, is a traditional and visually stunning dish consisting of a colorful assortment of ingredients artfully arranged over a bed of seasoned, room-temperature sushi rice. Unlike traditional rolled sushi or hand-pressed nigiri, chirashi is a deconstructed meal served in a large bowl or a decorative lacquered box. The foundation of the dish is always short-grain rice flavored with a precise blend of rice vinegar, sugar, and salt, which provides a sweet and tangy contrast to the rich toppings. The dish generally breaks down into two distinct regional variations. In restaurants, you will most commonly encounter Edomae Chirashi, a Tokyo-style presentation featuring premium, thick-cut slices of raw sashimi like tuna, salmon, and yellowtail layered elegantly across the rice. In Japanese homes, Gomoku Chirashi is the preferred style, especially during festive spring celebrations. This home-cooked version relies on cooked, cured, or pickled ingredients like simmered shiitake mushrooms, sweet-and-sour lotus root, boiled shrimp, and bright ribbons of egg crepe mixed directly into the rice or scattered across the surface. Because it balances a variety of textures - from the soft density of fresh fish to the crisp crunch of pickled vegetables - chirashi is celebrated as both a comforting meal and a beautiful culinary work of art.

Nagatanien, Sushi Taro Chirashi-Sushi Seasoning

To make the festive, home-style version of this dish highly accessible, the iconic Japanese food brand Nagatanien created Sushi Taro. This product is a widely popular, instant chirashi sushi seasoning mix sold in a convenient outer packet, designed to eliminate the hours of prep work usually required to clean, chop, and simmer traditional Japanese vegetables from scratch. It allows home cooks to transform plain, freshly steamed white rice into an authentic, deeply flavorful sushi base in just a matter of minutes.

Inside the main packaging packet, you will find inner liquid seasoning pouches that contain a perfectly balanced mixture of rice vinegar, sugar, salt, soy sauce, and umami-rich kelp extract. Submerged in this seasoned liquid are finely sliced, pre-cooked traditional ingredients such as lotus root, carrots, bamboo shoots, shiitake mushrooms, and dried gourd strips. To prepare it, you simply fold the contents of an inner pouch into hot, freshly cooked white rice using a gentle slicing motion with a rice paddle so the grains absorb the liquid without becoming mashed. The packet often includes separate smaller sleeves of toasted sesame seeds or shredded nori seaweed to scatter over the top. Once mixed, the flavored rice can be enjoyed immediately on its own, packed into sweet fried tofu pockets for a quick batch of inari sushi, or customized with your choice of fresh seafood and vegetables to create a gourmet meal.

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(Recipe) Hinamatsuri Sushi Cake

Ingredients (18 cm mold/4-6 servings):

3 cups (2.2 lb/1 kg) of freshly cooked rice

*1 pack of Sushi Taro

3 eggs

Ingredients of your choice (tuna, salmon, broiled eel, edamame, etc.)

1 tbsp of shiradashi soup stock

1 can of tuna

1 tsp of mentsuyu soup stock

1 tbsp mayonnaise

10 shiso leaves

Appropriate amount of broccoli Sprouts as garnish (We do not offer them at Maido.)

Appropriate amount of shredded nori seaweed as garnish

*If you do not have Sushi Taro

For 3 cups (2.2 lb/1 kg) of cooked rice

3.4 fl. oz./100 ml of sushi vinegar

*If you do not have sushi vinegar...

For 3 cups (2.2 lb/1 kg) of cooked rice

5 tbsp of rice vinegar

2 tbsp of sugar

1 and 1/3 tsp of salt

Simply combine the ingredients in a container and mix thoroughly. No heating is required.

Directions:

1. Put the Sushi Taro into the freshly cooked rice, mix, and let cool.

2. Mix the eggs with the shiradashi soup stock and make well-done scrumbled egg.

3. Drain the oil from the tuna can, add the mentsuyu soup stock and mayonnaise, and mix well.

4. Cut shiso leaves in half lengthwise, then cut into thin strips.

5. Cut ingredients such as salmon into desired shape.

6. Line a cake pan with plastic wrap and place the scrambled egg on the bottom. Place 1/3 of the sushi vinegared rice on top and press down lightly.

7. Add the tuna that you made in step 3, another 1/3 of sushi rice, shiso leaves, and the last 1/3 of sushi rice in that order, and press down lightly. Leave it for about 15 minutes to blend.

8. Cover with a plate, turn over, and sprinkle with your favorite ingredients and garnish with things such as shredded nori seaweed to complete the dish!

Tips:

• The rice will harden when placed in the refrigerator, so top with the ingredients that cannot be heated up, like sashimi, just before eating!

• Depending on the size of cake mold, there may be some left over sushi rice, but do not worry about it. You can reuse it for sushi or sashimi over sushi rice etc.

• Using broiled eel is also an outstanding choice that elevates the dish!

  
  

  

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There are a lot of food items, housewares, stationery, and gifts available at the store and our online store, Maido! Kairashi Shop, where you can place your order for shipping or store pickup! Happy shopping. :)