Braised Sea Vegetable and Shiitake Mushrooms Chirashi Sushi, a recipe by Yuki Gomi
Hijiki is a sea vegetable like wakame and kombu. It is rich in fibre and minerals – a delicious health food, with a unique flavour. It is becoming more popular in western countries and therefore easier to buy at the supermarket. It is easy to store dried sea vegetables in the kitchen cupboard, and they are very useful when making salads or miso soup.
If you can’t find hijiki to make this recipe, you can use kombu seaweed, cut into very small pieces and soaked in water to soften.
The egg and edamame make a great colour contrast. This is the healthiest sushi ever!
Serves 4
- 2 Japanese cups (300g) of Japanese rice
- 2 Japanese cups (360ml) of water
- 50ml sushi-su
- 20g dried hijiki (can substitute with tender young kombu – see above)
- 1 large egg
- a few drops of vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon of sea salt
- A half-handful (roughly 30g) of mangetout
- 1 handful (roughly 30g) of frozen podded edamame beans
- 1 medium carrot
- 4 shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated
- 100ml dried-shiitake mushroom stock (from above)
- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of mirin
- 1 tablespoon of sake
- 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
Method:
- Prepare the rice and put it to one side. Put the dried hijiki or kombu (cut into very small pieces) into cold water for 15–20 minutes, then rinse and drain them well and put this to one side too.
- To make the kinshi tamago, beat the egg very well in a small bowl. Put a small, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and pour a few drops of vegetable oil into the pan. Carefully wipe the pan with a paper towel to remove any excess oil. Add the beaten egg and cook for 30 seconds, then flip the egg over and cook for a further 30 seconds. Make sure you do not overcook it. Remove the crepe from the pan and leave it to cool down for 10 minutes, then cut it into very thin (2mm) slices. It should look like noodles.
- Add the salt to a saucepan of water and bring to the boil. Add the mangetout and edamame beans and cook for 2–3 minutes until the vegetables are tender but still firm. Do not overcook them! Immediately drain them and plunge them into a bowl of cold water. Drain again and slice the mangetout diagonally into thin julienne strips. Peel the carrot and cut into long, thin julienne strips, about 2mm x 15mm. Drain the shiitake mushrooms from the stock and slice them thinly.
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a non-stock frying pan and sauté the hijiki (or kombu), shiitake mushrooms and carrot in the pan for a few minutes. Add the stock, soy sauce, mirin, sake and brown sugar, and simmer until the liquid has reduced (around 10 minutes), being careful not to let it burn. Mix the braised hijiki with the rice and serve on a flat plate, garnishing with the sliced mangetout and kinshi tamago on top.
Yuki's tips
Leftovers are great in a bento box for lunch.
You can buy edamame in their pods for this recipe, and pod them after cooking. Approximately 60g of pods will give you 30g of beans. The pods will take a little bit longer to cook, roughly 3–4 minutes.