Oshizushi

Rice and fish pressed in a wooden box and cut into blocks with a wet blade.

Fish. Not vegetarian — contains fish.

Ingredients

the fish

• 2 mackerel fillets
• 4 tablespoons salt
• 200 ml rice vinegar
• 1 piece kombu

to build

• 500 g prepared sushi rice, as on its own page
• 2 teaspoons wasabi
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Method

1. PRESSED IN A BOX, NOT ROLLED OR SCATTERED. An oshibako is a wooden mould with a removable base and a lid that fits inside it; the lid is pressed down firmly and the block pushed out. A loaf tin lined with cling film works and the pressure is applied with a second tin on top.
2. WET THE BOX THOROUGHLY before every use. Dry wood takes the rice with it when the lid lifts.
3. CURE THE MACKEREL FIRST, which is a two-stage job. Bury the fillets in the salt for 1 hour -- they firm and release a good deal of water -- then rinse, dry, and submerge in the rice vinegar with the kombu for 30 minutes.
4. Salt alone leaves it soft; vinegar alone cannot penetrate. Both, in that order.
5. Peel the silver membrane off from the head end afterwards. It lifts in one piece once cured and is tough if left on.
6. FISH SKIN SIDE DOWN IN THE BOX FIRST, because the block is turned out upside down and that face becomes the top. Getting this the wrong way round gives a neat block with the rice on show.
7. A faint smear of wasabi on the fish, then the rice over it, pressed into the corners with wet fingers.
8. LID ON AND PRESS FIRMLY AND EVENLY, with both hands, for a slow count of ten. Uneven pressure gives a block that falls apart at one end.
9. Rest 10 minutes under the pressure before turning out.
10. Cut with a very sharp wet blade, wiping between every cut, into 2 cm blocks. Sesame seeds over.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Japan · All recipes