Raw fish is not for everyone's taste buds, but my Mushroom Nigiri Sushi is built to please. Thick-sliced, and tender sauteed mushrooms make a tasty vegetarian nigiri sushi.
Sushi comes in many guises. Usually it's raw or cured like Mackerel; sometimes the fish is fully cooked, like Unagi (Japanese eel, topped with a sticky sweet sauce;) and even scrambled eggs formed into a yellow block, called Tamago, are presented balanced on ovals of sushi rice.
Sticky Sushi Rice is the unifying ingredient. A ping pong ball-sized mound of rice is squeezed and formed, then the sauteed mushroom slice(s) is placed on top. You can buy a sushi rice plastic mold to press the rice into, or just do it by hand. I recommend cooking a small pot of sushi rice and practicing forming rice ovals. I was sloppy at first, but quickly got better at it. While not perfectly formed, the rice held together, even when dipped in soy sauce.
You can get my Sushi Rice video recipe by clicking here. And make sure to have a small bowl of water nearby when squeezing together sushi rice - you have to keep your hand moist so the rice doesn't stick to your fingers.
The basic ingredient list is short: sauteed mushroom, sushi rice, sliced green onion, and a dipping sauce (optional.) Everyone knows how cheap white rice is. I get a pound and a half for about a dollar.
Mushrooms are much more expensive, but even that turns up frequently in my local 99c only Store. I like to use large portabella mushrooms, as they fit nicely on ovals of sushi rice. You could even use easy-to-get and cheaper white button mushrooms.
Portabella mushrooms take a little extra cleaning. Just brush off any dirt and remove the stem. And it's best to scrape out the black gills underneath the mushroom cap. I slice each mushroom in half. They seem like large pieces, but they shrink considerably while sauteing. For small white mushrooms, all you need to do is clean and slice them in half, stem and all.
If you've been following my Sushi Video Series then add this mushroom recipe to any sushi video you've bookmarked. Try out sauteed mushrooms instead of spicy tuna for a vegetarian hand roll; or stuff a regular roll with cooked mushrooms.
My bite-sized vegetarian Mushroom Nigiri Sushi is earthy and tasty, plus it's one meaty morsel -- enough to tantalize anyone's taste buds.
Ingredients (about 4 pieces)
Portabella mushrooms - 5 ounce package. Okay to use any type of mushrooms including the easy-to-get white button.
For portabella mushrooms brush off dirt. Break off the stem. Underneath the mushroom cap are black feathery gills that are best removed. I use a spoon and gently scrape them off. If you break a piece of the mushroom cap, don't worry as you can still use that as well.
Once the portabella caps are cleaned and the gills removed, slice them in half. Each slice will be cooked and placed on formed rolls of Sushi Rice.
To prepare regular button mushrooms, just clean off any loose dirt and slice each one in half, to get a flat surface.
Heat a frying pan to medium and add a tablespoon of cooking oil. Add the mushroom slices and allow to cook 3 to 5 minutes until soft. Don't stir or handle too much at the beginning to keep them from breaking apart, but again, if they do they can still be used.
While mushrooms are sauteing make the Dipping Sauce from the ingredients listed above. Just mix the soy sauce, wine or sake, sesame oil, and sugar together in a small bowl and set aside.
If you have a favorite teriyaki sauce you could use that instead.
Thinly slice green onion for an eatable garnish - discard stringy root and yellowing stem segments.
You can also start making Sushi Rice ovals for the cooked mushrooms. Click here to see my detailed directions.
Once the mushroom slices are cooked through and soft, remove from heat and set aside for final sushi assembly.
To assemble simply place a mushroom slice (or smaller button mushroom pieces) on a prepared Sushi Rice oval. Drizzle on a small amount of Dipping Sauce and top with a few thin slices of chopped green onion.
(For a slightly spicy version put a dab of horseradish or wasabi under the mushroom slice or directly on the rice.)
You can treat Mushroom Sushi-like regular sushi and skip my Dipping Sauce. Just hold the sushi and dip it mushroom-side into into soy sauce (or drizzle some on top, if the mushrooms are chopped into smaller pieces.)
My experience with sushi goes way back, to the mid-1970s. Little did I know that when I moved to Los Angeles, an explosion of sushi dining was underway. My first job in the "biz" was as a video editor for a Japanese-owned post-production company.
I was lucky enough to eat out almost every week at a different sushi restaurant -- on the company's dime! Growing up in the South, we did not eat raw fish, just raw oysters. Everything else was fried and I liked it that way. I was quite wary when my first plate of raw fish was placed in front of me, but I knew it was a test to get along with everyone at work -- I just dived in.
My workmates knew this and so they started me out on milder cuts of raw fish like tuna and salmon. While the first bite was more fish-tasting than I expected, it was not objectionable. I immediately liked the sensuous tender texture. And watching the sushi chef in action, I knew there was care and expertise at work behind the refrigerated glass counters -- displaying clear plastic-wrapped filets of beautiful orange marbled salmon, rosy red tuna, and chilling cuts of seafood I'd never seen.
I quickly moved on to musky silver-skinned mackerel and pungent creamy sea urchin. It was literally love at first bite.
For my first sushi stop-motion animated video, I prepared Tuna Nigiri Sushi. It's a gateway sushi that most novices start with. But it's also sushi that's highly prized when done right. I was spoiled in my first sushi dining experience, but I won't let that stop me from cutting corners, and getting seafood cheaply wherever I can.
I can only make this video because of the generosity of my neighbor Don. He goes out to Baja, Mexico once or twice a year deep sea fishing for bluefin (maguro) and yellowtail (hamachi) tuna. And, I am the sometime recipient of his largess. He'll knock on my door and say: "Come on over with an empty bag, we had a good catch this time." And he hands out 4 or 5 of the most beautiful vacuumed packages of freshly caught tuna -- for free! To see what I am writing about, just click here to see the video post I did last month.
It pays to be friendly and chat with your neighbors. But if you are not as lucky as I am, don't worry, I have plenty of sushi recipes coming up that anyone can afford, like a California Roll recipe that's made with fake crab (which is priced cheaply at any market.) And if you are not a pescatarian, then do check back because I have another vegetarian sushi option: Portabella Mushroom Sushi.
The thing with sushi is what a big deal the Japanese make of it. Now I'm all for perfection, but they take it way too far. The rice has to be short-grained sushi rice and the fish preparation is way too convoluted. (Just check out the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi sometime - click here to see the trailer.) If you can find fresh fish from your local grocery fishmonger or a fisherman friend that's good enough. As for rice, I use regular long-grain rice, it makes a decent sushi rice and the average person will not know the difference. My Sushi Ricevideo recipe is here.
Making Nigiri Sushi is not that hard. You will get better after a few tries at it. The hardest part is dealing with Japanese-style sticky rice. You want to make small 2 1/2 x1 1/2 inch ovals of rice that the raw slices of fish rest on. But if you keep your hands moistened with water, even that becomes easy to do. I would recommend steaming some Sushi Rice using my recipe and practice making a dozen or so ovals of rice - before you defrost and slice the raw tuna. That way you don't waste any expensive fish. And practice with a cheap topping like my recipe from a couple of weeks ago of Nigiri Carrot Sushi (click here to get the details.)
As for the raw fish you want to make blocks that are 1 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches wide and as long as the tuna steaks come. Then you just slice them across the grain into individual sushi pieces that fit on the sushi rice ovals. The tuna slices and rice ovals don't have to be a perfect uniform size. The tuna slice can be larger than the rice oval. And the rice ball can be square or longer -- it will taste delicious no matter how it looks. Is the rice oval lopsided and the tuna slice crooked? Don't worry about it; you'll get better with practice. Just go for it!
If you've had sushi before, you'll notice there is a slight heat that follows the cool tuna and sweet rice. That comes from a small smear of wasabi hidden underneath the tuna slice. Wasabi is a spicy root that is shaved and turned into a green paste. It is very similar to grated horseradish. Oriental and specialty markets carry it frozen. But I've substituted horseradish, and if you don't tell anyone, they will not notice the difference. Of course, you can leave it out completely and go for a mild sushi-eating experience.
The final accompaniment to eating sushi is soy sauce. I like to use low sodium, as soy sauce is too salty and overpowers the mild flavor of some fish. For Nigiri sushi you normally dip the fish side into soy sauce, not the rice side. You don't need to soak the fish either, just a thin coat of soy sauce is all that's needed. Since you have wasabi in the assembled sushi pieces you don't need to mix wasabi into the soy sauce (as many sushi bar patrons mistakenly do.) Click here to see a video about how to eat sushi.
Well, that's a quick rundown on making and eating Tuna Nigiri Sushi. Just check out my fun stop-motion video below to see how simple and quick it is to do.
So, make sure to wash your hands before handling raw fish. And check back for more tasty and cheap$kate sushi recipes.
Tuna Nigiri Sushi - VIDEO
Play it here, video runs 2 minutes, 14 seconds.
My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, justclick here.
Ingredients (about 6-8 pieces)
4-6 ounces of raw fish - I used tuna. Okay to use any fresh seafood like salmon, red snapper, yellowtail, halibut, seabass, flounder, sea urchin, fish eggs, and scallops. Cooked seafood includes octopus, squid, mackerel, shrimp, eel, and crab or fake krab. For a typical sushi restaurant seafood list, click here.
1 cup of sushi rice - depending on how large you make the rice ovals for the sushi slices, you may need a little more. Click here to see my Sushi Rice recipe with text and photos, or scroll down to the end of this post to see the video only.
1/4 cup of soy sauce - I like to use low sodium for dipping the prepared sushi. Mix in a little wasabi or horseradish for heat, optional.
1/2 teaspoon grated wasabi - okay to substitute grated horseradish. Usually, a pinch is applied between the fish and rice oval.
Small bowl of water - to moisten hands during the making of rice ovals. Sushi rice is very sticky, so you need to keep your hands wet to make forming rice easier.
Directions
You want to break down your raw fish into slabs that are cut about 2 1/2 inches long and 1 1/2 inches across. It can be as long as you want it. It's up to you how generous each piece of sushi you are serving will be. Each slice doesn't have to be exact - with practice, you will get better at measuring. You just want the rice oval and sushi slice about the same size.
And make sure your knife is sharp. An easier way to slice soft tuna steak is to firm it up in the freezer. Just put the plastic-wrapped steak in the freezer for about an hour until semi-firm. It doesn't need to be rock hard, just firm so slicing is easier. Remove, unwrap, and slice the tuna.
The main thing is that each fish slice matches your formed rice ovals. If some fish slices are too big, that's okay, I'm sure your guest or partner will not complain. Any small scraps of tuna can be set aside or frozen and used for a Spicy Tuna Roll(recipe here.) Or, since you are not at a sushi restaurant, where perfection is emphasized, you can combine irregular tuna pieces on formed rice ovals.
When slicing raw fish you want to cut across the grain, so each slice will hold its shape and not split apart when handling. Again, with practice, you will get the hang of it. It's similar to slicing a slab of steak.
On a small plate half add a teaspoon of grated wasabi or horseradish. Set out a cup of sushi rice at room temperature. Also set out a small bowl of water.
Now time to bring it all together. Dampen your hands and grab a ping pong ball-size of rice in your hand. Gently roll it around in your palm to form a ball. Lightly squeeze in your fist and roll the rice to form an oval. Press harder toward the end, when the shape is about right. You can use the moistened fingers of your other hand to help press and shape the rice oval.
The end result is an oval of rice that is about 2 1/2 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. It doesn't have to be perfect -- a little larger is okay. The main thing is to squeeze the rice together hard enough so it holds together when eating sushi.
Finally take a pinch of wasabi, or horseradish, and smear it on one side of the fish. Then place the fish wasabi-side against the rice. Now it's ready to eat. (It's okay to leave out spicy wasabi or horseradish.)
You can make a couple of sushi pieces at a time, or all at once.
Set out a small plate or bowl of soy sauce for dipping sushi. You can stir a pinch of wasabi into the soy sauce instead of under the tuna. It's optional -- taste the mixture for desired heat. (Sushi chefs will spice the pieces of sushi with wasabi, so normally you will just use soy sauce straight from the bottle.) Of course, you can leave out wasabi or horseradish for a mild sushi-eating experience.
It's best to dip the sushi fish side into soy sauce. If you dip sushi rice oval into soy sauce it may fall apart before it reaches your mouth. And your bowl of soy sauce will fill up with grains of rice.
Normally you eat sushi in one bite, that's why each piece is small. My video has sushi eaten away in small bites, that's just for fun -- don't eat it as my video shows.
For my vegetarian visitors, this sushi's for you! Most sushi eaters are associated with raw fish consumption, well, sushi is actually defined as anything that is combined with steamed, vinegar (and sugar) flavored, rice.
This is the first of my Sushi Recipe Series. Last week was just a warm-up with my Sushi Rice video. You'll need the recipe to make Carrot Sushi, so click here for a refresher.
I don't have to point out that carrots are low-cost; I get whole packages of carrots dirt-cheap. And if you are a sushi novice, this is the cheapest way to learn how to make your own.
All you need really, is to steam a couple of carrots and white rice. It's best to get the hang of working with sticky sushi rice using a cheap topping like a carrot. Once you get better at making Carrot Sushi, then you are ready to move on to more expensive seafood.
Even when you have some confidence in making your own sushi, it may still be a little rough-looking, but you will get better with practice. It's best to get all your fumbling out of the way by working with cheap ingredients. It took me a few tries, but now I'm ready to duel chopsticks with anyone!
My bright and savory Nigiri Carrot Sushi will not be replicated
in your typical sushi restaurant. And their loss is your gain! My sushi
twist is a welcome and nice veggie addition to typical pescatarian sushi
fare.
I simply peeled a large whole carrot. I steamed the whole carrot in white wine. I split the cooked carrot in half. And I sliced each half into sushi-sized chunks (about 1 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch pieces.)
All that's left is the assembly of Sushi Rice (click here for my rice recipe.) I tied my Nigiri Carrot Sushi together with a sliver of green onion. You can sprinkle on some sliced scallion (green onion;) or just eat it plain, with a dip into a small bowl of soy sauce.
Most sushi has a swipe of hot grated wasabi, between the fish and rice, which you can do to the cooked carrot as well. (Grated horseradish can be substituted for hard-to-find wasabi.)
You are not limited to just Carrot Sushi. Try lightly steaming florets of cauliflower and broccoli in white wine or a favorite stock, then slicing them in half for a flat surface, to fit on ovals of formed sushi rice.
It may seem bizarre to make veggie sushi, but there's nothing weird about the delectable taste of my Nigiri Carrot Sushi. And be sure to come back next week for my video recipe of Nigiri Tuna Sushi.
Ingredients (6-10 servings)
2 whole carrots - a thicker carrot is better for making sushi pieces.
1/4 cup of white wine - for steaming and tenderizing carrots. Okay to substitute with a favorite stock, like vegetable stock, or just plain water.
1 green onion - optional for topping. Slice the green stem lengthwise, and chop the white ends, discard root and any discolored stem parts.
Small bowl of water - to keep hands moist when handling cooked, sticky sushi rice.
Directions
Start with making Sushi Rice, my recipe is here.
To prepare carrots, first peel them and chop off ends. Depending on the size of you pan or pot, cut carrots to fit.
Add 1/4 cup of white wine to the pan or pot. Turn on heat to medium and add carrots. When wine starts to simmer, cover the pan or pot and low-steam carrot(s) for about 3-5 minutes, to desired tenderness. Add wine (or broth) as needed during steaming.
You can check tenderness with a knife: insert it to see how easily it pierces the carrot into the center, an easy puncture means the carrot is very tender, while some resistance means a more crunchy carrot. It's up to you how you like it.
Chop and slice green onion (optional ingredient.) Chop off and discard the root and any yellowing stem. I like to thinly slice and chop the white part of the green onion. For the long green stem, I sliced the green parts lengthwise to make a "string" for tying the carrot to the rice. This last stem "string" part is optional -- while it's easy enough to simply sprinkle on chopped green onion pieces.
Once the carrot is done to your liking, and it's cool enough to handle, time to assemble.
Take room-temperature Sushi Rice and form it into ovals. You need to dampen your hands and fingers to handle sticky rice. Take a ping-pong-sized amount of rice and squeeze it into your palm and fingers. Try to form it into an oval. Give rice medium pressure, and use other fingers to form rice into an oval - about 1 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches. Doesn't have to be perfect, you are going to slice carrot to fit the rice.
I learned to roll Sushi Rice by practicing with a couple cups of cooked rice. I just kept rolling sushi ovals in my hand until I felt comfortable. The main thing is to squeeze the rice together enough, so it doesn't break apart when eating the sushi piece.
Everyone understands that perfect-appearing sushi takes a lot of experience, but I found just a little practice is good enough for homemade sushi. And you will get better the more you do it.
Make a few rice ovals at a time. Slice the cooked carrot to the length of your rolled sushi rice pieces, then slice the carrot lengthwise down the middle -- so you get a piece of carrot that is about the same size as rice oval, (now the carrot has a flat side that fits on the rice.)
Place the flat side of the carrot slice on the rice oval. Optional to tie down the carrot with a green onion stem "string," just sprinkle on some chopped green onion, or leave it plain.
Eat Nigiri Carrot Sushi like you would regular sushi. Just dip the carrot side of sushi into a small bowl of soy sauce and chow down. (Leave off chopped green onion of course - or sprinkle on a few pieces after dipping.)
Hindsight
Other veggies that work well as Nigiri Veggie Sushi include: broccoli and cauliflower (slice florets in half, lengthwise, to get a flat surface that rests on a formed sushi rice oval,) zucchini, squares or ovals of squash, baby corn, and cucumber. Almost any veggie that you can trim, to fit formed sushi rice. And it's up to you if you want to steam veggies in white wine and broth, or not.
