East End Sushi Japan Food

Ingredients

• 1 pkt pre-prepared salt beef sliced thinly (available from Waitrose)
• horseradish, bagel chips
• black and white sesame seeds, toasted

For the pickled vegetables
• 4 carrots
• 1 mooli (daikon)
• 1 cup sugar + 2 tbsp sugar
• salt
• 1 1⁄2 cups white vinegar

For the sushi
• 500g brown sushi rice
• Sushi nori cut into 2cm strips
• 625mL cold water
• Sushisu vinegar

Methods/steps

For the pickled vegetables (prepare the night before)

1. Julienne carrot & mooli and rub with salt. Set aside for 30 minutes.
2. Boil 1 cup of sugar to 1.5 cups white vinegar until sugar dissolved. Leave liquid to cool.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar to the julienned carrot and mooli and set aside again for 10 minutes.
4. Squeeze dry the carrot & mooli.
5. Pour cooled sugar and vinegar mixture over carrot & mooli and leave overnight. For the sushi rice.

For the sushi

1. Place the rice in a bowl and pour some water into the bowl, washing out any impurities in the rice.
2. Wash the rice by stirring it with your hand, repeating up to five times until the water turns clear.
3. Leave the rice in a bowl of water for 30 minutes to absorb the water.
4. Drain out the water and place the rice and 625ml of water in a saucepan with a tight-fitting lit. Bring to the boil over a medium heat. When the boiling point is reached, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave for a further 10 minutes with the lid on.
5. Next, use a spatula to remove the rice from the pan, and place in a wide, shallow container. Spread the rice evenly across the bowl using the spatula, taking care not to crush the kernels./li>
6. Add the sushisu vinegar to the rice. Using the spatula, make gentle cutting and folding movements to mix the vinegar thoroughly into the rice.
7. As you cut and fold the vinegar through the rice, fan the rice with a paper fan to ensure it cools down quickly.

To assemble

1. Wet your hands with some sushi vinegar mixture used to make sushi rice. Take some sushi rice in your hand. Lightly shape it into oval mounds.
2. Put a dollop of horseradish onto the top of the rice mound.
3. Cut the slices of salt beef in half with a sharp knife. Take one slice and put it into the palm of your hand.
4. Place some carrot and mooli pickle in the centre of the slice and fold the salt beef in half lengthways.
5. Place the beef and pickle on top of the mound of sushi rice and sprinkle with the toasted black and white sesame seeds.
6. Take a strip of seaweed and wrap it across the width of the slice of beef, securing it together with a small amount of water on the underside of the sushi.
7. Add another small dollop of horseradish onto the top of the seaweed and place a bagel chip on the horseradish garnish