Homemade Chirashi Don

One of the good things about making your own bowl of chirashi don (mixed sashimi ricebowl) is that you can put anything you want on it, how ever much you desire. If you have a soft spot for hotate (scallop), load it up! If your favorite sashimi is ika (squid), put it down. As you can see, ikura (salmon roe) is my favorite and I've generously topped it, along with those creamy sake (salmon). What is not obvious in this picture is that I've lined a layer of shredded seaweed on top of the rice, making it sort of like unrolled sushi.

Making my own chirashi don is not only more economical than having it in a restaurant, it is a very fuss-free affair. Besides making the sushi rice, you just need to chop the rest of the ingredients up. You don't even need to cook them (unless you want to make your own tamago (egg), which I want to try someday!).

Sushi Rice(serves 2)

1 cup medium grain rice (I use Calrose)
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons of mirin/sweet cooking rice wine/sushi seasoning - adjust to taste. I like mine with slightly more mirin.

Wash the rice until the water runs clear. This is to remove all the starchy coating on the rice.

Cook the rice in the rice cooker according to package directions. Mine didn't come with any, so I cooked it as how I normally would with jasmine rice.

Then, spread the rice out on a large bowl or a hangiri (a wide wooden tub) like how it is traditionally done by the Japanese. Stir in your mirin. Make sure to coat the rice evenly and to use the folding method, so as not to smash the cooked rice.

Then, wait for the rice to cool to room temperature.

When done, place a bed of shredded seaweed on top of the rice, followed by your favorite toppings. Itadakimasu! Tweet