Chirashi Zushi

Date: Fri, 25 Feb 94 19:54:57 EST
From: BRRB11A@prodigy.com (MRS ROSE L GEIGER)

Finally located my book, the name is: "Quick and Easy SUSHI COOKBOOK" by
Heihachiro Tohyama and Yukiko Moriyama. The author's sales agency is:
A.K. Harono Company, P.O. Box 1022, Edmonds, WA 98020 Phone (206) 774-5490.

Here's one of my adaptations.
This is sort of like a Sushi Salad, and one of our favorites.

CHIRASHI-ZUSHI (Chirashi means "scattered" in Japanese.)
The recipe calls for tofu cakes soaked in dashi, sugar, mirin, and soy
sauce. It's probably delicious, but I've never added it, simply because I
was avoiding the fat.

3 1/2 Cups Cooked Sushi Rice (I always use Brown Rice.)
2 dried shitaki mushrooms
1 carrot
Stock for cooking carrot and mushroom:

1/4 cup dashi stock (recipe for dashi will follow)
1/4 cup shitaki soaking water
2 TBS. mirin (a heavily sweetened sake, used for cooking)
1 1/2 TBS. soy sauce
1 TBS. sake

1/4 oz. seasoned, canned bamboo shoots
1/4 cup shredded Bok Choy
1/4 cup sliced radishes
1/2 cup cooked snow peas
1/4 cup raisins
2 hard boiled egg whites

1. Soak the shitake mushrooms in lukewarm water until soft (30 min.) Put
Liquid aside. Trim off stems of mushrooms and slice thinly.
2. Peel Carrot, make 2 inch matchsticks.
3. Mix ingredients for stock to cook mushrooms and carrots. Cook carrot
in it. Add shitake mushrooms and continue to cook until done.
4. Dice bamboo shoot into 1/2 inch cubes.
5. Mix carrot, shitake mushrooms, bamboo shoots, radish, Bok Choy, and
Sushi rice.
6. Slice cooked snow peas.
7. Add raisins, snow peas, and hard boiled egg for decoration.

DASHI STOCK is Japanese clear soup stock. There are four types made from
kelp, dried bonito, shitake mushroom, or dried fish. Dashi stock is the
secret of Japanese cooking. To keep this strictly vegetarian, I omit the
dried bonito flakes and substitute with soy bean sprouts and or mushrooms.
It seems to work out fine. (I found this recipe for Dashi in the
March/April '94 edition of the EATING WELL magazine, which also has some
great recipes for using Japanese noodles) It's exactly how I make mine,
except I substitute one cup of bean sprouts or several Shitake mushrooms
for 1 cup of Bonito Flakes.

1 oz. dried Kombu (10 inches) (Dried Kelp)
1 cup soy bean sprouts

Lightly brush kombu clean without removing its coating of white dust.
Place in a large saucepan with 6 cups of cold water. Slowly bring to a
simmer over low heat and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the kombu and discard
it. Add 1 cup cold water and the sprouts to the broth. Return to simmer
for 5 minutes. Increase heat to high. Once the stock boils, remove from
the heat. Strain the stock through a cheesecloth-lined sieve, discarding
the sprouts. Stock may be stored in refrigerator for up to 3 days or
frozen for up to 6 months. Makes 5 cups.